Smith-Dorrien Scenes

Earlier this week, I traveled down the Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail, accompanied by my friend and fellow photographer, Stewart Hamilton. This trail is a good dirt road that leads south from Canmore to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, where it connects to Highway 40. You can identify the Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail on the following map as Route 742. It’s 62 km in length, very scenic and puts the traveler in close proximity to the wilderness and its inhabitants.

Our purpose for the day was to capture some of the scenic beauty along the trail. We were favoured by some beautiful weather for landscape photography; lots of sunshine, intermittent clouds, some wind and clear skies. With the sunshine, it felt warmer than the actual temperature of 3 deg C (37 deg F). No frozen fingers to report.

This photo was taken near the upper end of Spray Lake. It features three peaks which are also very prominent seen from their opposite side, near Dead Man’s Flats. This view faces northeast with Spray Lake to my back.

Facing south from a nearby location, I took this next picture down the lake with the Kananaskis Range of mountains on the eastern shore (left).

Further south, we paused near Mount Engadine Lodge, where I photographed its namesake, Mount Engadine and an adjacent peak, The Tower.

I took this next picture in the same area. This time I was facing southwest toward the Spray Range, which bounds the Smuts Valley and its large bog, where moose can be often seen. But not on this day. That’s Smuts Creek in the foreground.

Our final stop was Buller Pond, where ice was beginning to form around its edges. Winter can’t be that far away. In the background, you can see Mount Shark and Cone Mountain.

Turning my view toward the southwest, I captured this photo of Mount Shark across the pond.

I couldn’t resist this final shot of the hardy grasses protruding through the thin mantle of ice.

It was a great day and a great place visit. I’ve made a mental note to return a few months from now for some winter scenes.