Winter Day in K-Country

I recently made a photo excursion to Kananaskis Country, a nearby area that’s always been a favourite photographic destination. I was accompanied by fellow member of the Canmore Camera Club, Harv Emter. We spent the better part of a crisp winter day, photographing in various areas of K-Country.

We began at Canoe Meadows, a location on the Kananaskis River used in summer by white water kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts. It is the site for many competitive events. Water levels and water flow rates are controlled by the Barrier Lake Dam, located upstream. Water flow and level are reduced at this time of year, as evidenced by the photographs.

My first photograph shows a quiet area of the river where stream velocity is low and ice has covered most of the water surface. My attention was attracted by the array of colours and the ice texture in this scene.

This is a steeper section of the river where flow velocity is a little higher but not comparable to what you would see in spring and summer. It’s evident in both pictures that the water level has been lowered recently, leaving ice and snow stranded above the present water level.

We then moved on to an area close to the Nakiska Ski resort. We hiked in from a parking area to the Troll Falls, a 3.4 km round trip to photograph the frozen waterfall. A week day in winter is a good time to see this popular site, normally quite busy with visitors. It’s a modest, little falls but a good photo subject, particularly in winter.

Our next stop was a location on the bank of the Kananaskis River, just south of Mount Kidd. We snowshoed in a short distance to get a better view of the mountain. It was windy with scattered clouds, offering some great light and some snow blowing off the peaks.

Turning 180 degrees, I took this following picture, facing upstream. It was a good view of some open water.

We concluded our day with one of my favourite locations in Kananaskis, a view of Mount Blane at the far end of King Canyon. We took it easy on ourselves this time, taking this picture from the roadside. No more hiking, no more snowshoeing.

We arrived just as the sun was dipping below the mountains on the opposite side of the valley. I captured a last glimpse of light on Mount Blane and moments later we realized our day was coming to a close.