Category: Out & About

We went out west… choosing the warmest day of the week (+6C), but … a chinook was coming in and it was WIN-DEEEEE!!!! Gusts up to 100 km/h!! We stayed as sheltered as we could all day!

First stop… Crescent Falls

Here’s Mt. Michener from near the top of Crescent Falls.

Mountains off to the west of the Falls…

Just upstream of the Falls, this little (unnamed) creek flows from the right side of the photo to the left and into the Bighorn River … and floods out to the west …

Crescent Falls …

More mountains to the west …

Zoomed in a little more …

We left Crescent Falls and headed towards Abraham Lake.

Abraham Lake, and Mt. Michener again … this time from the Windy Point pull-off/viewpoint …

It was too windy out at Abraham for our picnic lunch, so headed back towards home. And we found a reasonably sheltered picnic site just west of Nordegg.

And this stinkin’ cute Gray Jay (Whisky Jack, Camp Robber) was hanging out… robbing us of our chips! 😂

Ya Ha Tinda is one of the most special places… and we’re fortunate to live so close! We missed going out last year, so made sure we went this year! We were a couple days late for catching the Fall colours, but it was still a beautiful Fall day!!

Our first stop was up near the Ranch House… as near as we could get! A panorama looking to the west …

Looking east …

Looking north …

Then we walked up to the base of Bighorn Falls …

We’re looking forward to going back this Winter on a nice chinook day!

We went on several rides out west on David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11), and snapped a few shots on a couple of the rides. We had beautiful days to ride on both of these days!

On September 4th, we went all the way up to the Columbia Icefields. And we stopped for a bite of lunch in a picnic area along the North Saskatchewan River …

Looking back east from our lunch spot …

We stopped at the overlook just above where the N. Sask. River comes out of the valley and joins the highway. It wasn’t packed with people and cars, and we could get a spot to stop! …

October 2nd

On October 2nd, we went as far as the Banff Park Gates, then turned around. We stopped at Windy Point Overlook on the way up.

Abraham Lake, looking west towards Mount Michener …

A panoramic shot looking south… east on the left, west on the right …

After not making out to Limestone Mountain in 2019, we went twice in 2020 … once to see the wild flowers in bloom, then again to see the Fall colours! It was spectacular both times! What an amazing part of the world!!

Wild Flowers in Early July

First stop, along Wilson Creek …

A wee bit of fishing! …

And then up to the top of Limestone! You can see for miles and miles and miles!!

Looking NW …

Looking SW …

Wild flowers …

Looking West …

Nap time! Gregor, having a nap in the sun! We’re looking NE over-top of Gregor …

A couple panoramas … South on the left to West on the right …

West on the left to NNW on the right …

Fall Colour in Late September

Our first stop was along James River. Here’s Linda, near “the campsite” built along the river …

Looking for fish …

“Gregor, the fish go this way!” …

Next stop at a ridge to look at Fall colours in the Foothills! Looking West …

Looking East …

Looking Southeast …

A weather system coming in from the east …

But still spectacular on the top of Limestone and west. Looking NW …

Looking NW

And then that weather from the east socked in at the top of Limestone. The temperature dropped a few degrees, but we still had a great lunch and visit with friends!

Wild horses …

We had a beautiful afternoon of fishin’ down at Burntstick Lake! Maggy insisted on coming – she even hid in the lifejackets in the truck so we couldn’t grab her to get her out! 🤣 And she did just great in the boat, lovin’ hangin’ with Brian!!!

Looking SW …

Off in the distance we saw something in the water! This deer swam all the way across the lake! …

Looking SW …

A loon on the lake! …

Got one! … Northern Pike!

We had a beautiful day for Brooke and Kyle’s Wedding!! They did a terrific job planning and organizing and executing! It was a wonderful Wedding!!

The Wedding was at Brooke’s grandparents’, south of Caroline. The trees had started to change to their Fall colors in the week before the Wedding!

Bridesmaids… Bailey and Billi!

The Bride and Groom ….

Walking down the aisle, giving her away, marrying her! Yes, Brian had the joy and privilege of marrying Brooke & Kyle …

“You may kiss the Bride”! …

Mr. & Mrs. Kyle & Brooke Irvine! …

A gorgeous Bride, inside and out, in a beautiful dress! …

Brian with his mom and brothers, Brad and Wayne …

Brian having fun with his brothers! …

Looking across the lake …

… to where several photos were taken by their photographer…

What a glorious day we had out on Beaver Lake on June 2nd!!

Starting out …

Brian is in his Happy Place! 😃

Osprey …

Loons …

Calm waters in the sun! Couldn’t ask for it to be any better!

Focusing …

… on adding a bobber …

Ready to go some more! …

A near perfect reflection …

And how did we do on the “catching” fish? Several nibbles, but Brian only landed this one …

Looking towards the very south end of the lake… but it’s quite shallow down that way …

An island in Beaver Lake …

Looking towards the west shore …

Looking northwest, back towards the parking/launch area …

A male Red-Winged Blackbird …

This Osprey fishes better than we do! Fabulous to see him dive and strike! Finally got the camera up to catch him flying away with his supper! 😃

We celebrated my birthday with a picnic lunch and a drive Out West! Out to the Trunk Road, then north over Cork Screw Mountain towards Ram Falls. Spring is coming to the Foothills!

We saw a Beaver Lodge! …

Zoomed in a bit … the cell phone takes fairly good photos but not on zoom. And unfortunately, I forgot the big camera and zoom lens at home! 😕

We went off the Trunk Road and found this pretty little pond …

Then we followed another trail to see if we could get to the South Ram River! Success! We are downstream of Ram Falls (where we went in February with our cross-country skis and snowshoes) …

The cliff goes straight down!

On our way back south … the mountains were spectacular!

On a sunny, sorta warm Monday in February, we headed out west for a drive to The Hummingbird and Ram Falls. Armed with cross-country skis for Brian, snowshoes for me, and lunch, we had a glorious afternoon!!

We drove in to Peppers Lake, but dang it, I forgot to take photos! 😕

We got a little ways up The Hummingbird before we had to turn around … the road isn’t plowed up there and there hadn’t been much traffic. We sure didn’t want to get stuck someplace without cell service and without a soul in sight to help us!

Here are a couple photos from up the road into The Hummingbird …

After going into The Hummingbird, we headed back to Ram Falls. Here are some photos from a wee ways upstream of Ram Falls …

Then we skied (Brian) and snowshoed (me) out to the walkway over-looking Ram Falls. It was windy that day … in this first photo you can see snow blowing off the peaks in the distance, especially on the left side of the sun.

It was a short ski/walk, but lovely to get out and get some mountain air!

Our annual “Tree Day” has come and gone (hum… and so has the Christmas Season… I’m a wee bit tardy getting these up! 😃 ).

We had a grand time with friends, and this year with some family too! We headed out west of our place a few miles and had a bonfire and a wiener roast and mulled wine (our version of Glühwein!!! 😂). Those who wanted to got a tree. Then we went back to our place and had a Potluck Supper. We ended the evening with Christmas stories.

Here are some photos from “Out West” of our place…

We enjoyed Mulled Wine and EggNog! And Hot Chocolate and Hot Dogs and Smokies and treats and visiting and laughs!!

We set up the camera on the tripod for a group shot!

Dang it, the battery died after ONE photo! 😕

Brooke to the rescue – she takes the best selfies!! 😃 And got us another complete group shot! 😃