Today’s photo site was located in Kananaskis Country, a large valley south and east of Canmore. We traveled to an area where Evan Thomas Creek crosses Highway 40 to get some early morning pictures. Sunrise comes early at this time of year, about 5:30 am and it’s chilly at an altitude of 5250 ft (1600 m), -2 deg C when we arrived. One of the advantages of this location is the choice of scenes available, three picturesque peaks all complemented by a healthy flow of water in the creek at this time of year, the spring runoff.
The first picture centers on Fisher Peak about 12 km southeast of our location. This picture shows the early morning sun shining on the north face of the mountain. At this time of year the sun’s rays come from a northeasterly direction at sunrise. The water level in the creek seems to be subsiding from an earlier high water mark, but not as high as the full width of the creek bed. Later on this channel will be virtually dry and will remain that way for most of the year.
Turning to the right, about 90 degrees, I was able to get this next picture of a well known peak in Kananaskis Country, the Wedge. The picture was taken before the sun’s rays reached it, so not a lot of colour in this scene beyond the turquoise of the water. I like the soft look of the water, an effect created by the long exposure, 2.5 seconds in this case. Anything that moves gets blurred.
My final picture for today features Mount Kidd, about 4 km northwest of our location, in the opposite direction of Fisher Peak. By the time this photo was taken, the sun had cleared the mountains on the opposite side of the valley and was shining directly on Mount Kidd. Much brighter and more colourful.
