Alberta’s Mountain Parks
Earlier this week, Bob Bear and I traveled to Kananaskis Country. The Kananaskis region stretches from east of Calgary to the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Nine provincial parks and over 50 recreation, wilderness and natural areas provide outdoor adventures and protected wildlife habitat.
We spent most of our time in the areas located within the front range, primarily Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.
My first photograph features Misty Mountain, seen in the background of this scene.
I took this photograph of some colourful fireweed, growing along the edge of Storm Creek.
The next stop was along the downslope of Highway 40, just west of the Highwood Pass. It features Elpoca Mountain, a prominent peak in the area.
This is a slightly different view of Elpoca Mountain, taken from a vantage point, further back. With this one, I had some difficulty getting a good looking sky. I chose to insert another sky, from a collection of sky images I maintain for occasions like this. I like this choice; it’s much more dramatic than the sky I captured in the original image. I made the conversion to black and white to further enhance the visual impact of the picture. As with the original, the sun is directly behind the mountain, but the illuminated clouds in this image are more effective in creating the “look” I was seeking.
Continuing on past Elpoca Mountain, my attention was drawn to the sunshine on this flank of the massif. Soon after arriving here, it began to rain lightly, creating a beautiful rainbow to complement the scene.
Further along, I got this photograph of the ridge running parallel to the highway. The late afternoon sunlight highlighted the rugged detail of the face of the ridge.
The next two stops were along the Smith-Dorrien Highway, where I was able to get numerous pictures of two lakes, including this shot of the Opal Range of Mountains, with Spillway Lake in the foreground. The late afternoon/early evening light was warm and soft, always good for photography.
This photograph, featuring mountains on the opposite side of Lower Kananaskis Lake was taken a little earlier. It was a little hazy at this time, creating another soft look in conjunction with light from the setting sun.
At this point, we realized that we had met our goals for the day, most notably catching the soft warm light of the sunset. We packed it up and motored for home.