Tag Archives: Forests

Reblogs

Reblog: Backlit Fall Colors

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Backlit Fall Colors 1 More images from the fall colors along the Dosewallips River trail in the Olympic National Forest. The maples here usually are …

Backlit Fall Colors

Allan at Allan J Jones Photo Blog posted these stunningly beautiful autumn images from the Dosewallips River Trail in the Olympic National Forest, Washington. Please click the link above to see more of his gorgeous nature photography.

nature, Photography

A Mountain Lake

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I post lots of pictures of Okanagan Lake since it’s very close and I walk next to it almost every day.

Okanagan Lake about a month ago.

But as I’ve written before, Penticton sits between two lakes; the other at the south end of town is called Skaha. It’s smaller and shallower and as result the swimming, canoeing, paddle boarding and other activities that might lead to a dunk in the water start there earlier because it warms so much faster. Despite the fact that it’s a mountain lake, by the time the end of July arrives, Skaha is about as warm as bath water!

Recent Skaha Lake.

Since moving from the south end of town, we don’t often visit Skaha, but it has a beautiful beach and very calm summer waters.

A sunny, late afternoon Skaha Lake Marina.

We recently did a short hike across one end of it and marvelled at how pretty it is; we may do a beach visit a bit later this month before it becomes really busy.

At the south end: pretty at mid-day.

Happy Wednesday.

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

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!

Reblogs

Reblog: Patience

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It takes centuries to grow an ancient woodland. A springtime to grow blossom. Eight minutes for sunlight to reach Earth. Eight years for a white …

Patience

A beautiful walk through the English woodland from Adele at Walk with Wildlife. Please click the link above to see the rest of this lovely nature post and the many others available on Adele’s blog.

nature, Photography

Looking Back, Again

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A week ago I started a “looking back” series, where I post pictures from years ago – those that are special to me but not necessarily great. Here are a few more.

Sleeping grape vines, January, 2016.

These are from our first year in Penticton, before I decided to take a job in the Northwest Territories the following year. Like this one, that winter had been very mild, unlike the ones awaiting us in NWT.

Mountain snow melt, February, 2016.
Pacific Ocean off Vancouver Island, March, 2016.
Arrowleaf Balsamroot, commonly known as the Okanagan sunflower, April, 2016.
Grape vines, July, 2016.
From a mountain hike overlooking Okanagan Lake, October, 2016. In the distance you can see Kelowna. This area was recovering from a fire that had occurred ten years earlier; unfortunately it burned again during the severe fires of 2023.
Tamarack glory, October, 2016.

Four months later, in February, 2017, I took on the adventure of working in the Northwest Territories after deciding we would keep our home here in Penticton. We were about to become very spread out over this huge country!

Happy Monday.