Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Animals We Saw / Farewell to Blogger (maybe)

Invariably one of the questions asked of us about our vacation was about animals: "What kind of wildlife did you see?" (not much)  "Did you run into a bear?" (no, but we thought about it at times because there were sightings they warned us about)  "Did the wolves howl?" (we weren't in the wilderness at night)  "How many mountain lions did you have to fight off while hiking?" (none, though with my sciatica it would have been very difficult)  "How many bald eagles did you see plucking fish from the lakes?" (none around while we were there)  "How many bald eagles does it take to pluck a fish from a lake?" (one, at times two if they're fighting over it)

No, these were the only creatures we saw...a few small birds and a couple of rodents.

And that does it for our Canadian Rocky adventure.  We were very fortunate in that the weather cooperated when we were most active outside, we made the right decision in basing at Lake Louise Village instead of Banff, and the latitude got us away from this dreadful Houston heat!  In my older age I've taken a shine to the cold, and that alone made it worth all the expense and hassle of traveling.

_______________

So farewell in more ways than one.  This is the last post of one of the more productive vacation shoots, and this may well be my last post in the Blogger platform.  I'm taking some time to scope out other digital venues to showcase my work, which will be linked below if I find one.  It's been a blessing having a place to deposit the better of my pics, as well as a place to archive some of the stories from my rich and varied past.  Hope you've enjoyed it!

-Jim

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Sprig of Three Colors

As a follow-up to this post from Emerald Lake, found it interesting that one sprig could have three distinct colors as seen above.

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Small Tree Branch Pattern

 

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Swirly Pattern

Ever on the lookout for patterns and nature's design for plants, caught this at the entrance of the restaurant, and decided to try the Found and Glowing Edges effects in these bookmarks.

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Trail on the Hill

The first pic posted in this series on Moraine Lake, a few days ago on December 10th, was captured from a vantage point fairly high up on a huge hill.  The shot above was taken on the trek upwards on this hill, as was the scene below with its accompanying bookmark:

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Canoeists

As mentioned in an earlier post, we found out that renting a canoe in these parts is upwards of $100/hr.  Would be fun, but not that much fun.

After zooming in, due to their forward motion, had to act fast to get the focus shift below:

...and last but not least, a semi-reflection shot of the rental place made into this bookmark:

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, View of Moraine Piles #2

 

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, View of Moraine Piles #1

I worked on the reflection here (as done for the Emerald Lake pics) which took some of the blue out, but was pleased with the result in this 4-shot panorama.  Standalone pic below presents a zoomed-in shot of a portion of this view:

Canadian Rockies - Moraine Lake, Wide View from Above

Moraine Lake was the last excursion in our Banff area adventures.  This three-shot panorama is fairly typical, something you'd see on a postcard or brochure.  The incredibly blue water is one of the main attractions; that, along with the pristine air found in the higher elevation, this is a must for those who can make the trip.  And for those who can afford it, there is a nice group of cabins for rent to the right of this frame.  As a fortuitous side, this is where we encountered SNOW for the first and only time while in the area, albeit it was nothing more than a light flurry.

At left you can see the huge piles of scree and moraine, after which the lake was named.  Tomorrow's post will feature a head-on view of that side of the lake.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Mossy Tree

Well...not sure if the bright green stuff is actually moss.

This bookmark is the last post of Johnston Canyon.  Definitely a winner in terms of photographic opportunities, and definitely a highlight of the entire trip.  We went on this hike in the middle of September, and it would be interesting to see all of this a little later in the year after a good snowfall.  Maybe one day...

Let's go to Moraine Lake next.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Millennial Rocks

Had to get this one in because it reminded me so much of the picture below, captured in Greece in 2009:

In both you can see that the rock has been worn down to a smooth shine as a result of millions of footfalls over (perhaps) hundreds of years in the top pic and (definitely) thousands of years in the bottom pic.  To be more specific, the second picture was shot on the way to the top of the Aereopolis, where Paul preached his sermon almost two millennia ago.  The dog hasn't been there quite that long...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Color Contrast with Darkness

Done with the waterfalls now, wanted to share a couple of pics that highlight bright colors against a dark background.  Besides these two, saw another one of some bright leaves against a stump on the ground that would have been really, really good, but would have required some time to set up for it and had to stay with the group.  Another one that got away...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #8 (Upper Falls)

And alas, our final destination, the Upper Falls.  Headwaters below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #7

This one somehow looks better at a distance, perhaps the reason I didn't bother to give it a try at 1/10 sec.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #6

Zoomed out a tad for the shot below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #5

The "Lower Falls", the first of the two listed on the sign going in.  The differences between the shots above and below are a little more subtle when compared.  I've concluded that, being much taller than those heretofore posted, the water in this fall is rushing faster so there's a little blur that comes in at the bottom even at 1/250 sec:

To the right there appears to be the entrance to a cave, but just a natural nook from which hikers can squeeze in for a closer look.  We stood in line (at bottom below) for a little while but concluded it's not worth the wait:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #4

 

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #3

Had to zoom in a bit to capture this one, which made hand-held shots at 1/10 sec a little more difficult.  Seems it turned out OK, though.  Wider view below at normal shutter speed:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfall #2

 

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Waterfalls #1

Now time for a look at the stars of the show at Johnston Canyon - the waterfalls - of which there are many.  Adjusting to my preferred shutter speed setting of 1/10 sec, I did my best to steady the Bigger Cahoona using a tree or pathway railing.  Considering these were handheld, most turned out better than expected.  The surroundings were deliberately kept a little darker to highlight the falls themselves.

Same at more normal shutter speed below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Cliffside Forestette

"Where life can exist, it will."  Another post that reminds me of this phenomenon...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Vertical Panorama

Another rare, successfully-stitched vertical panorama (2 shots).  

Took a look at some of the other pics online of this creek; the color of the water was saturated quite a bit to bring out the blue, so I did the same here (to a lesser degree, just 25%) and am pleased with the result.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Tree-topped Bookmarks

 

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Smooth Walls

Would be interesting to know the reason for the sudden change in this portion of the canyon wall.  At first glance it's easy to imagine a bear living in the caves at the top or bottom, but probably not...must have been created by seasonal heavy rains or snows over the centuries.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Cliffside Walkway

And how is it possible to capture these pictures from such a good vantage point?  Incredibly, they attached the walkway to the cliffsides so that they literally jut out above the creek, as can be seen in the upper-left above.  And it was maintained so well - no rust, trash, or run-down look.  This is what we encountered on all of our hikes in Banff.  The Canadians do a very good job of maintaining their parks...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Craggy Walls

Very typical of the canyon wall; for these I used an extra measure of sharpening in post-capture to bring out the cragginess of the rocks.

Another typical scene below:

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Johnston Creek

Immediately after starting on the trail we crossed the star of the show, Johnston Creek, which flows southward to the Bow River a couple of miles away.  The foreground was kept deliberately dark to highlight the flowing waters in this and the two focus-shifted pics below:

Canadian Rockies - Johston Canyon, Trailhead sign

This is what we saw at the trailhead...not good news for my sciatica!  But I "soldiered on", as state previously.  The goal was to make it to the Upper Falls.

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Sunlit Tree

As we were headed for the entrance gate I saw these leaves lit up by a ray of sunshine peeking between the trees.  Clouds were on the move so I had to scramble to make adjustments on the Bigger Cahoona to capture the moment.  Three seconds after this was snapped the clouds again obscured the sun, making this guy look like just another tree...

Canadian Rockies - Johnston Canyon, Entrance Sign and Crow

We all eagerly anticipated visiting Johnston Canyon, as others reported that it's one of the best hikes in the entire Banff park system.  Turns out they were absolutely correct.  This is what greeted us on our way in after parking.

Also here was a very large crow which was obviously used to being in the presence of humans, as it allowed us to get very close: