Spring Photo Weekend 2017 - Part 2

We got up on Sunday morning, again at a pretty reasonable hour.  Andy needed to be back in Edmonton by evening as he had to work the following morning.  Peter decided that he would travel back with Andy.  I had booked Monday off from work and was staying an extra day.  Steve is now retired, so he decided to stay.  Daniel just finished his final exams at University and was also free to stay the extra day.  

We packed up in the morning and headed out for the day.  Andy and Peter slowly made their way home, shooting along the way.  The rest of us set out to hike up to the top of Hoodoo mountain.  The weather had been pretty good throughout the weekend with a mix of sun and clouds, and afternoon high temperatures getting up around +15C.  I've become a little careless in recent months and starting throwing too much gear into my backpack.  It must be up to over 40 Lbs now and my back reminded me that the long walk into Lower Bugaboo yesterday, combined with this hike up to the summit of Hoodoo Mountain was getting to be a little much.  I think I have to go through my gear and lighten things up a little bit.  We spent the entire morning up on the summit making photographs and it was early afternoon by the time we hiked down. 
We continued on up the West Side Road for a drive, looking for any other photo opportunities.  We made a stop at an old beaver pond where there were a number of dead stumps in the water.  A couple of light showers passed over us in the afternoon but nothing too serious.  After shooting here for a while we explored for a bit up near Invermere and eventually made our way back towards Fairmont.  We made a second attempt at shooting from the base of Hoodoo Mountain, along Dutch Creek and this time the evening light was better.  It was about 4:30pm by the time we finished up here.  We dropped our gear off back at the house and then headed over to the Hoodoo Grill.  This is a small pub in the settlement just outside of Fairmont, below Hoodoo Mountain.  We had burgers and beer and watched Steve's beloved Toronto Maple Leafs lose their first round series to the Washington Capitals.

After the hockey game we headed back to the house and capped off the evening with a fire and a glass of scotch.

The next morning we were up and getting packed and cleaned up for the departure from the house.  The weather had taken a bit of a turn and it was cooler with heavier clouds.  We locked everything up and shut things down and hit the road.  By the time we crossed over Sinclair Pass into the Kootenay Valley of Kootenay National Park, the weather had taken a turn for the worse.  There were rain showers, with snow at higher elevations.  We continued on to the Vermilion Valley and made a stop there to photograph for a while.  In the upper reaches of the valley, at Numa Falls and Marble Canyon there was still quite a bit of snow, and we didn't bother to try to hike any of the trails.  Once we got over the Vermilion Pass, back into Banff National Park and Alberta, we turned north towards Lake Louise.  I was driving up to Saskatchewan Crossing and then on to home through Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House.  We made a stop at Crowfoot Glacier for some photos and it was actually quite pleasant as the sun had broken out for a while.

By the time we got into the North Saskatchewan Valley and Abraham Lake it was quite cold, and like usual, the wind was howling through the valley.  We stopped a couple of times to check out the ice conditions on Abraham Lake but the spring melt was too far along to make viewing of the ice bubbles possible.  I made a brief stop at our property in Nordegg and then we just continued on to the city.  We dropped off Steve at his place and I made it back home by around 8:00pm.  

All in all it was a pretty successful trip with poor weather conditions only hampering us a little at the very end.  I haven't done an exact count yet but I think I shot about 40 sheets of film.

I've been away from home a lot lately, between the Easter trip for the ghost town documentary and now this one with the Monochrome Guild, my poor wife Margarit has been stuck at home with the girls a lot lately.  To make matters worse, she suffered through a bad migraine while I was away this time.  She is pretty tolerant of all of my crazy projects and I'll have to make this up to her by being more involved with the girls and giving her a break over the next few weekends.

Spring Photo Weekend 2017 - Part 1

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.

Documentary Film - Prairie Ghost Towns - Day 4

I closed my shop back in Edmonton for Easter Monday.  This gave all the staff an extra day off, as well as permitted me to extend my weekend for the documentary film project.  

For the fourth day in a row we headed over to the local A&W restaurant for our morning coffee, after checking out of our motel rooms.  In addition to this being Easter Monday, it was also my birthday and Byron graciously bought breakfast, not only for me, but for the entire group.

On this day we had plans to explore the town of Loverna.  I have been to this town several times before.  Chris had arranged with Ray and his wife Sheila, two of the few remaining residents, for permission to explore in town.  I had met them on a previous visit and in fact sent them a print of the old Monarch Garage, following my last visit. They once owned this building which has since been demolished.  This used to be a thriving town that extended for several blocks in all directions.  It was historically the business center for much of this part of southwestern Saskatchewan and had stores and shops of all description.  Much of the town was lost to fires in the past and there is not a lot remaining.  Even since my last visit, in the fall of 2013, there has been a noticeable deterioration.  The town includes a handful of older houses, most abandoned but a few still occupied.  There is a local post office and Ray still operates a mechanical and welding shop.  There is an old Legion Hall, a couple old stores, two churches, a community hall and a war memorial.  The grain elevators, the rest of the businesses and the rail line are long gone.  The old curling rink still stands at the edge of town though it has not been used for 20 years.

We were hopeful that the weather would improve on this day, particularly in light of the nice [relatively speaking] weather of the previous afternoon.  But, that was not to be the case.  Like most of the rest of the weekend it remained cool, windy and overcast.  After finishing up our explorations and photography, we warmed up with a coffee and visited with Sheila and Ray for a while.  We all had a realively long drive back home so we wrapped things up a little earlier on this day.  Byron departed for Calgary at this point while Rueben, Chris and myself headed back over to Esther.  Despite the fact that the weather conditions were not ideal, it was significantly better than it had been when we first visited Esther on Good Friday.  We made a brief stop for a couple more photos and a little more video footage and then set off in different directions.

It was about 3:45 when I hit the road back to Edmonton.  I basically drove non-stop back to Edmonton and arrived home around 7:30PM.  Margarit and the girls were visiting with her Mom and her brother Shawn and his kids when I arrived.  They had just wrapped up their family Easter dinner, but I arrived too late to join in.  There was an opportunity to visit for a bit before they left after which I had to deal with unpacking all of my gear and putting it away.

I really enjoyed this trip and the opportunity to become friends with Rueben and Byron.  I look foward to seeing the finished product once Rueben has completed the editing and production work.  In the meantime, here is a link to Rueben's website for anyone that is interested in seeing his work.

www.thecacheproject.ca

Documentary Film - Prairie Ghost Towns - Day 3

The third day of our trip was Easter Sunday.  Our routine thus far on the trip had been to stop at the local A&W restaurant for a coffee and something to eat on the way out of town.  This day was no exception and surprisingly it was open.  Like usual there was a large gathering of locals clustered around a couple of tables, having coffee and swapping lies.  Before leaving I made a stop in the rest room and was surprised to see that the cubicle around the toilet had no door.  Who knew there was such an openness in a part of the country that is traditionally red neck conservative.

On this day we were traveling up to the town of Hoosier.  It is a small town with a handful of occupied houses.  One of the locals that we talked to later in the day said there were 10 residents.  It was a somewhat unusual place in that there was a restaurant, and small Co-op store, and a maintenance shop for the Rural Municipality.  But there was also a large brick schoolhouse, built in 1930 and now completely empty and somewhat vandalized.  There was also a United Church, not used for quite some time.  A handful of abandoned houses were also scattered about.  Once again, Chris had arranged permission for us to be here.  As it was Easter Sunday the lady that Chris had dealt with was busy with family activities and did not meet with us, so we were left to explore on our own. 

It had snowed overnight and there was a skiff on the ground by the time we arrived in town.  It appeared that the cloud cover that had been heavy in previous days, was beginning to get a little thinner.  That relentless wind was still blowing, though we all thought that perhaps it was dying down just a little.  I went down in the basement of the old school and took a few photographs with my view camera.  Once that was finished I put away the 4x5 and dragged my big 8x10 view camera down there and did a few more.  By this time the sun was beginning to burn through the clouds a little and the wind was easing off.  We set up my small portable BBQ and made ourselves a lunch of grilled smokies and potato salad.  It had been our intention to do this every day, but this was the only day that it actually happened.

After lunch we photographed both the exterior and the interior of the old United Church.  According to the information that we were able to find, this church was built in 1916.  There seems to be conflicting information as to when it ceased being used but some suggest that it was as long ago as 1966.  The foundation is failing and collapsing inward so the building is no longer safe, but it appears as though it was used much later than the 1960's as there are still pews, hymnals and a organ inside.

This was the most enjoyable day of the trip from the perspective of weather.  Chris had to leave a little early to drive Connie over to Oyen, so that she could catch the Greyhound back to Calgary.  She had to work the next day, but the rest of us would remain until Monday.  Rueben and I stopped in a community pasture to photograph some solitary trees in evening light.  While driving around on the backroads, specifically on this day, due to the improved weather, but also on the other days of the trip, we saw a lot of wildlife.  There were huge flocks of both Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese making their spring migration north.  I counted over a dozen Short Eared Owls flying low over the fields looking for mice.  We also saw many hawks, mule deer, coyotes and lots of ducks, geese and swans.  Later we met up with Chris, and Byron who had gone with him for the ride, back at the motel in Kindersley.  The only option for dinner was back to the local sports bar as everything else was closed for Easter.

In looking back over my snapshots from the trip I found that I didn't take very many in Hoosier.  The only ones I have are of the school.  I guess that is because the weather finally cooperated a little, and I spent most of my time working with the view camera...

Documentary Film - Prairie Ghost Towns - Day 2

Saturday dawned overcast, cold and still windy.  At times there was a light drizzle or even a few snow pellets.  This sure made the exploring and photographing a challenge.  Rueben was pleased that the conditions made the locations seem even more desolate and bleak, and from the perspective of the documentary, it was ideal, even though we all were very uncomfortable. 
I can't stress strongly enough that we had permission to enter all of the towns and buildings that we explored during our trip.  It is critical to note that these places all remain, despite their condition, privately owned.  This report is not intended as an invitation to go out and explore places such as these.  The utmost respect must be shown to the owners of private property and they should only be explored with consent.  It takes a significant amount of time to track down the owners and make the contacts and gain this permission, but it is the only way to go.  My hat goes off to my friend Chris as he did all the work in this regard and I owe him a great deal of thanks.  I used to be one of those lazy photographers that would wander in without specific permission, but have come to respect and appreciate that there is a better way.

On this day we headed up to the town that was once Fusilier.  This town is located on private property.  We stopped at the nearby farm of an elderly gentleman named Jack.  Aside from a large amount of farmland in the area, he also owns the railway right of way and the grain elevator in the town.  Another neighbor owned the land across the right of way where a few other old buildings remain.  We visited with Jack for a while in the early afternoon and he showed us around his yard and shared some stories of his life spent in the area.  Then he took us over to the townsite.  Jack was a very interesting guy and spent the entire day with us.  He lives alone on a remote farm and at 87 years of age, his memory is becoming a little foggy.  He told us that the rail line came through the area in 1915, and once that date became stuck in his head, it seemed to have become a favorite. Almost every other memorable event also coincidentally happened during that year... despite the fact that Jack himself was not born until 1930.

This day included some exploration and photography and interviews with Jack as well as location interviews with those of us taking part in the trip.  Much of time was spent seeking shelter from the relentless winds.  At the end of the day it was with a sense of sadness that we had to say our goodbyes to Jack.  It ended with him giving each of us a hug.  We all want to make a point of stopping in some time to see him again... maybe together, or perhaps each on our own.  Obviously his days are numbered and it will be sad when he is no longer with us.  So many old stories will be lost when that day comes but hopefully we managed to document a little about him and the place.

We returned to Kindersley in the evening.  On the way back we made a stop at a nearby town called Smiley.  This place is also in decline, but is not as desolate and abandoned as the other towns we visited.  Nearby there is a rock wall made of field stones, and a sod house.  Some local farmer spent years accumulating the rocks and building this wall that must be several hundred yards long.  Perhaps a testament to what the wind and solitude does to a person's mind?
As this was Saturday, more restaurants were open and we had more choice than the night before.  We settled for a local Greek place and it was OK.  We then returned to our motel and visited until the wee hours.  We couldn't agree on whether the Scotch or Irish Whiskey was better so we continued to sample both.