Tag Archives: countryside

nature, Photography

Athabasca River and Ice Fields Parkway

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We travelled south on the Ice Fields Parkway – so named because of all the ice fields or glaciers that are visible along the way – through the Rocky Mountains from Jasper National Park to Banff National Park.

This beautiful route parallels the Athabasca River along the way.

Athabasca River

This river is quite murky because of all the rock particles it contains …

… but its power and beauty are nevertheless undeniable.

Upper Athabasca Falls
Mist rising from the pounding water.
Here’s a short video.
The falls are squeezed into a tight Venturi-like chute …
… accelerating the water’s velocity.
One more video.

Happy Wednesday.

Commentary, nature, Photography

Muncho Lake

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After we enjoyed the hot springs at Liard River, we stopped at Muncho Lake Lodge for the night. We had a great dinner and more fantastic views.

Amazingly crystal clear, Muncho Lake is a feast for the eyes. Can you tell if this photo is upside down or not?

Actually, it’s right side up; you can see some irregularities in the reflection if you look carefully. Nevertheless, that’s a fantastic mirror image of some of the Northern Rocky Mountains, isn’t it?

Muncho Lake, like many of the Rockies’ lakes, is green. Caused by glacial sediment, some lakes can also be various shades of cobalt blue interspersed with green. That green shade isn’t evident in the first picture because of the light’s angle refracting from the lake’s surface.

No photoshopping; no dye! It’s just green.
A float plane parked at Muncho Lake Lodge; a fine piece of Canadiana.

The next day we stopped in Fort St. John, after having travelled much of the stunningly beautiful highway 97 (Alcan or Alaska Highway), so there is another post coming about the fantastic sights we were able to experience during that fantastic drive.

Commentary, nature, Photography

Liard River

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The Liard River is one of the more major rivers in northern British Columbia.

As we left Yukon and began to drive south on highway 97 (also known as the Alcan Highway or Alaska Highway), we paralleled it for some time before it made its way east.

Before that, however, we stopped at the Liard River hot springs for a dip. I was glad that we didn’t have far to go afterward because following that appealing break we were very, very relaxed!

On our way into the hot springs we saw loads of lovely wild violets.

Rugged and swift, the Liard River is a part of highway 97’s extremely scenic landscape and with the added bonus of lovely natural hot springs, our first day’s drive on this route was wonderful.

Northern Rocky Mountains

There’s more to come from this spectacularly gorgeous drive. I thought that the Stewart-Cassiar highway was at the top of the heap for beautiful drives, but highway 97 is right there, too!

nature, Photography

Northern Mountains

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During our trip through northern British Columbia and into Yukon we have seen some beautiful mountains and mountain ranges.

This is part of the Coast/Central Mountain range that bisects British Columbia. We paralleled or drove around much of this range while en route to Yukon on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. I love the pea green, new deciduous growth that we saw everywhere. Spring is definitely later in the north.

We experienced quite a few showers interspersed with sunny periods, but saw that a lot of snow was still falling at the higher elevations.

Neither M nor I had ever driven this route – the Stewart-Cassiar Highway (highway 37) – before and found it spectacularly beautiful. The Coast/Central Mountains aren’t as tall or rugged as the Rocky Mountains but still breathtaking. It’s well worth the drive and if you’re inclined, there are lots of opportunities for camping, hiking and fishing.

Highway 37 goes north from the junction with highway 16 just west of Prince George and Hazelton and is a total of 725 km (450 miles).

Below shows the highway’s terminus at the Yukon boundary.

This highway is very remote and there’s no cell service (except emergency), but we found that quite attractive. If you’re interested in this trip, here’s a website that might be helpful.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/transportation/driving-and-cycling/traveller-information/routes-and-driving-conditions/highway-37-stewart-cassiar

Happy Monday.

nature, Photography

Be Beary Careful!

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We saw this very healthy-looking but groggy guy while stopping for a break on the Cassiar Highway.

We were careful and stayed in our vehicle but we did enjoy observing him. This yearling was eating a plant that he seemed to like a lot but also appeared to be very sleepy. This far north (60° north latitude) the bears haven’t been awake from their winter slumber for very long.

Happy Sunday.

nature, Photography

Water Views

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The swollen creeks and rivers are sending a lot of water into the lakes.

At present this creek looks like a river; it’s moving swiftly and delivering a lot of snow melt to Okanagan Lake. Normally it’s just a very somnolent trickle.

All that water from the many creeks and rivers is elevating the lake’s levels, a wonderful thing after the previous three years of drought conditions. This is leading to amazingly explosive growth …

… everywhere!

Happy Monday.