Adventures and times in the life...: Big Horn Sheep

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Fabulous Fall.. being aware

I am very aware of how long it's taken me to post something new here, or even finish posting about my trip west, however there are two things in the way; one of them being that it is fall and it is my favourite time of year to get outside and take shots, the second being that my Dad has been sick and I've been so caught up in family and work that I haven't been spending much time on my self. I am also aware that when I do this (as it's happened in the past) I sometimes feel consumed by the energies of worry, negativity, doubt etc. I look to all of the strong things in my life when this occurs i.e. job, loved ones, freedom, and I remember how important it is to be grateful for how I've got to where I am and where it is that I want to go, all the people who have helped me along the way. I can honestly say that when things are happening in you life, the good, the bad, the happy and the sad, there are always people there for you, people who will relate to you, people who will fill your days with joy. I am quite terrified of what could happen with my Dad, I truly am, do I let that show everyday, no, am I thankful for everyday I have with people I hold close to my heart, yes.

Enough of the sap. For all of those who know where I'm at, I feel you too. Why does the heart grow so heavy? As if the worry isn't causing our brains enough trouble, the heart has, has, has to feel it too.

So!

Let's sum up the rest of my trip west so I can move on =) (this is going to involve posting more photos and letting them speak for themselves!). After day three we packed up the next morning, headed to Jasper. This day was full of shots of the mountains due to the drive, we stopped at the columbia icefields, peyto lake, athabasca falls and then hit Jasper. We had a wilderness tour in the evening. When we arrived at the campground (Whistler's) the park attendant working at the station bluntly noted that we should sleep in the truck if we plan on camping there, that they quite frequently have bears roaming the park on a daily/nightly basis because at this time of year the bears head north. So... if that wasn't enough to suggest that camping there in a softshell tent hoping there was not a scent of food on the truck or in the cab was not a great idea, I don't know what was. Jacq quickly offered to pay for a hotel room for the night, and I quickly obliged. We bartered a room at one of the hotels and managed to get a 15% discount. Good enough. The wilderness tour was somewhat worth the money we paid ($58/2 people) the tour guy told us where to go and what times the animals were active (dusk/dawn) so we ventured out in the tour bus, which was a bit crammed, and observed the animals. We saw an osprey, elk, big horn sheep and, deer. It was somewhat eventful, however the next day (our last day in the mountains) was much more eventful. We went to Maligne Lake, and hiked Bald Hills and ran into a bear on the way in, as well as mama bear with her cubs 25feet in front of us on the trail on the way out. It was alarming to say the least, I don't remember the last time my knees shook so bad... actually I retract that, the last time I was that nervous and trying to hide it was when I did my speech at my brothers funeral, that's how nerve racking running into a bear that close is when she has her cubs and she's walking towards you. I will give props to my cousin for her efforts in getting me to "face the bear" LOL, I will never for the life of me forget that moment.

So below are some shots from the rest of the days in the mountains, enjoy!

Monday, 26 August 2013

Rewinding and Unwinding - Taking it back to the 15th of August

August has been grand. I have had such a great summer. The weekend prior to the 15th we threw somewhat of a housewarming/backyard party for my brother and my Aunt who were celebrating their birthdays, it was a success, quite a large turnout too. I really enjoyed myself, I believe most everyone did. One thing I forgot to do was snap photo's of everyone, I was running around quite a bit so it was kinda hard. There is always next time.

On the 15th I set off on my trip to the west, I had to be at the airport for 6am (boarding was 6:15), you can only guess what kind of a morning approached. I didn't get to sleep until late (which isn't a huge suprise). I had a leave a key for my friend to get in and feed Storm over the course of the 10 days I was away and I forgot where I placed the key I had made the day before. I purposly left it on a wrist coil and put it out of sight while packing so I didn't accidentally pack it in my suitcase or carry-on. I rechecked all my bags three times, checked the car, checked under the plant pot... no where was this key to be found. So here I was driving to grab a coffee to wake up and head to the airport (time was running short and I had to park 'N fly), so what do I do when I'm in the drivethru to get my coffee? Look up at my rearview and see the damn key hanging from it on the coil. I bolted out of the parking lot, all the way back to my place (2 blocks away) and placed it where I told JK she could find it. Once that was settled I finally made it to park n' fly it was already 6am, I asked the rest of the people waiting for the shuttle how long it would take and they said their flight was at 7am (mine was 6:50) so if I wasn't going to make my flight neither were they, but they were confident we'd have plenty of time. I wouldn't say I had plenty of time, but I did make it and I was some glad.
Also worth noting - when/if you park 'n fly look for deals online, the cost without it is double, I woudl have paid $160 for 10 days where I actually only paid $87.

The flight was 4 hours and some, there is a 3 hour time change flying to Edmonton, so in one sense you feel like you gain some of your day back, but it totally catches up to you at night and when you return home. I couldn't believe how long the flight was, getting out of Ontario was the longest part, and boy is it flat across the praries. Quite a few pretty skylines I captured, but I fell asleep as it was so early. I also had to block out the grumpy couple beside me, it was one of those days where the man can say nothing right and the woman makes him very aware (LOL).

So I landed, Jacq picked me up, it was so great to see her! She gave me a tour of Edmonton, we took Will (her hubby) some coffee, picked up groceries for camping, made the salads, packed everything, drank some wine and relaxed. We set out early Friday morning (6:30am 'ish), made it to Banff around 11:30/12 we stopped a few times, couldn't get a campsite at Two Jack Lakeside but got one at the main campground, it was nice, lots of privacy. The weather held nice for the first day, it rained at night. There was a grizzly feeding on a black bear carcass in the sunshine meadows area so we didn't really want to be too close to the water or hike in lots anyway. We fit in the upper and lower canyon of Johnson falls - what a great steep hike for day 1 and beautiful set of water falls. We saw bighorn sheep the first day, some eagles, Lake Minnewanka and Two Jake Lake, also part of Bow Valley river/summit which was beautiful.

setting out

Setting up camp was fun, building a fire was a bit of a challange as the wood was a bit damp, making food was the challange. The campstove Jacq's ex-coworker gave us didn't work properly, so we had to make our ravioli over the campfire, this was after multiple attempts of getting the campstove to work and the fire going out. So after restarting the fire, getting the food hot, you could only imagine how greatful we were to have a warm meal, the fire roaring, and to be able to relax. I'm attaching some of our shots from the day I arrived and from the first day in the mountains, enjoy, the best part was Johnston Falls - super pretty.