The Monochrome Guild Spring Photo Weekend has not been a tradition for quite as long as the Fall trip, and doesn't happen every year. But, it has become a more regular event in recent years. This time around five members of the group set out for a weekend trip to Fairmont, in the Columbia Valley. Guild member and long time friend Andy has a family vacation home there that we were able to use. Always nice to have the opportunity to keep travel costs down.
Andy, Steve and Peter set out from Edmonton on the afternoon of Friday April 21st. I had to work that day and did not leave until the evening. New Guild member and neighbor of mine, Daniel, rode along with me. Daniel is a university student that lives just up the road from me and is new to film photography. It was about 5:30pm when we hit the road and we made good time and arrived at the property in Fairmont at around 11:30pm. The Columbia Valley follows Mountain Time, rather than Pacific time like the rest of British Columbia, so there was no time change when we crossed the continental divide over the Rockies. We visited for a bit as we unpacked and relaxed after the long drive.
The next morning we slept in a bit but I think we were all up by about 8:30am. After breakfast we set off up the valley. Our first stop was at an abandoned service station near the town of Edgewater. We photographed here for a little while and Andy took the first shot with his new 4x5 view camera. He used to use an old Sinar F1 monorail but recently switched to a new chinese made Chamonix as it is folds down much smaller and is significantly lighter. This was exactly the same reason that I made the switch from my old Sinar's to the lighter Ebony's that I now use. After shooting here we continued on to the Brisco Road and up to Templeton Falls. This has been a favorite stop of ours on previous trips to the area. Some severe flooding a couple years ago kind of ripped the place apart and it has changed significantly since our first visit.
After shooting at the falls for a while I crossed the road and wandered into the forest. This area must have been logged 50 years ago or more as there are some huge cedar stumps in the forest, surrounded by a second growth of mature trees. I photographed a couple of these before we packed up and continued further up the Brisco Road.
Some other hikers had told us about Lower Bugaboo Falls so we decided to check them out. After a short drive up the West Side Road we arrived at the trail head. It was a bit of a hike and as Andy was having back issues, he decided to wait at the trail head. The rest of us set off down the trail. I would hazard a guess it was about half a mile, with quite a descent near the end. Daniel and I went all the way to the falls but Peter and Steve turned back part way. After hiking back out to the truck we packed up and headed back towards Fairmont. We made a stop at the base of Hoodoo Mountain and attempted some evening photos there, but the light had gone really flat by this time and no one got too serious about it.
We arrived back at the house at around 8:00pm and fired up the BBQ and threw together a big meal of steaks, baked potatoes and salad. We sat around after dinner visiting and sharing a few drinks. Unfortunately we could not get the TV to work, so we were unable to watch the Oilers playoff hockey game. We did manage to keep an eye on the score on our phones and celebrated their victory over the San Jose Sharks to take the first round in six games.
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