Gratitude Monday- Mountains of Gratitude Edition

Along the river at the bottom of Sunwapta Pass.

Mike and I go to the mountains for a drive and/or a hike almost every weekend. I am very grateful we both like to do this and have the opportunity to do it.
Saturday we went north on the Columbia Icefields Parkway looking for the falls that one sees from the highway just before going up the very steep and very scenic Sunwapta Pass.
We walked along the river for a while to a different set of falls and then made our way back eventually finding the falls we set out to see.
I am grateful for the day, the walk, the Rockies, and for my husband.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Along The Parkway

This scene is in Banff National Park. It's the stopping point for the Weeping Wall, but this is a fine scene in its own right.

Please click to get the big picture.

 

A View Down the Parkway

Looking southward along the Columbia Icefields Parkway from near the top of Sunwapta Pass.

Please click to get the bigger picture.

Photo-Finish Friday --A Moody Look at the Rockies

Peaks along the Icefields Parkway.
I found the blue sky most striking.

Photo-Finish Friday -- A Bear in the Woods

A black bear forages for berries along the Columbia Icefields Parkway. May I suggest clicking on it to get to Flickr and then selecting full screen?

Photo-Finish Friday --Mountain Mood

Socked in along the Columbia Icefields Parkway.

Gratitude Monday -- Icefields Parkway Edition

Yesterday Mike and I went for a drive north on the Columbia Icefields Parkway (aka the Jasper-Banff Highway) to Jasper. It's about four hours of steady driving, but few drive that highway without stopping.
Being off-season, there was hardly any traffic. This makes it easier to stop for scenic views.
The only wildlife we saw were a few whiskey jacks (gray jays) but that's fine. It's their off-season, too.
We had lunch in Jasper, walked a bit, went to the rock and jade store and came out both richer and poorer, and made our way home.
I am grateful for the day, for being within driving distance of Jasper, of being two hours away from the Banff Park Boundary and the parkway, and I am grateful for the time spent with my husband.

Gratitude Monday - Flowing Better Edition

The Weeping Wall in Banff National Park

We visited the Weeping Wall during our recent drive along the Icefields Parkway. I am grateful to pass along the waterfalls on it look healthier than they have in the past few years.
I love this spot. It's peaceful, protected, and shaded. There's a good-sized pullout on the opposite side of the road which makes for good viewing, and there's a very pleasant body of water along the road.
It's a nice place for a break during the drive and I take one there whether I need it or not. Water, running or still, restores my soul.
The Weeping Wall is flowing better this year. I am, too, for having seen it, and I am grateful for it.

Griz Along The Parkway

We were treated to a rare sight the other day as we drove along the Columbia Icefields Parkway.
We were blessed to see a Grizzly Bear.
This one is a young adult, we think it might be about three years old. Despite it's relative youth, it was huge.
The photo above shows off its shoulder hump. That's one of the distinguishing characteristics for telling a griz from an ordinary brown bear or a cinnamon black bear.




This shows griz in profile. The dished in look of the skull is another distinguishing physical marker. Brown and black bears have rounder faces.

Alberta Grizzlies are a threatened species. There are only a few hundred left in the Province due to the massive oil exploration here and up until recently, they were hunted.

We'd be a much poorer people without the grizzlies.

Got My Goat!

A magnificent mountain goat and a young 'un at a pull out on the Jasper-Banff highway.

I finally got my goat. I have been wanting to get a proper goat photo to go on the blog for quite some time now, but it has taken me awhile.

Mr. Goat's Lunch Pail and I took a trip up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper last Friday and were blessed by many bear sightings and a small herd of goats. Mr. Goat took care of getting the bear pictures and I'll be posting them at some point.

Said caprines were nuzzling the gravel at the pull out. The point of the trip was to get goat pics and we'd expected to find them at a salt lick along the highway near Mt. Kerkeslin close to Jasper. It's so common to see them there it's listed on tours.
Instead we found them on the way home and much further south. It was after 7 p.m. and the sun was getting low behind the mountains which gave some interesting back lighting.

I was thrilled to get these pictures.

"There's nothing cuter than a goat."

-- my dad about 10 years ago.