Spreading Creek Burn

While Jon and I were out exploring with our cameras, we stopped to photograph the Spreading Creek Burn.  We photographed in several spots just outside of Banff National Park.  The late afternoon light was beautiful and we tried to take advantage of it.

This fire started in July of 2014.  Originally it was a controlled burn, intended to thin some of the old forest within the National Park, and reduce the risk of future wildfires.  I believe this one got out of control beyond what was intended as it burned well outside of the park, along the David Thompson Highway, all the way to Whirlpool Point.  Old news reports talk of the fire being about 7000 hectares [17,300 acres], but I think that may have been before the fire got out of control.  It may have ended up even larger than that.  The fire was very erratic.  In some areas it was very intense and everything is burnt right to the ground.  Other areas must have burnt off quickly, and the devastation was not as intense.  Some areas were passed over altogether.  I have tried many times to photograph the aftermath, with mixed results.  On this day I made yet another attempt.

Old Right of Way

While we were out at Nordegg, Jon and I went for a hike on the old Right of Way of the Icefields Parkway.  This area is in the northern end of Banff National Park, near the Big Bend.  I had hiked this area about a year ago, but this was the first time for Jon.  Shortly after coming off of the Saskatchewan Glacier, the North Saskatchewan River disappears into a cleft in the rock.  The old right of way of the Icefields Parkway branches off from the new highway at this point.  There is an old concrete bridge, dated 1938, right near the spot where the river disappears.  We followed the old right of way for about half a mile or so and then came upon a second bridge, dated 1939.  It is at this point that the North Saskatchewan River exits that cleft in the rock.  A short distance further is a third bridge, also dated 1939.  This one spans Nigel Creek, which joins the North Saskatchewan a short distance downstream.  The current steel arch span of the new highway can be seen above the old bridge.

There were lots of yellow flowered avens in seed all over the roadway and in addition to photographing the old bridges, we also did some shots of these.  It was an enjoyable walk on a comfortable fall day.

Aspen

On Monday October 25th I drove out to a small lumber yard 20km south of Calmar.  Minchau Lumber is a small operation that makes a number of specialty products.  I ordered a bunch of 1x6 Tongue and Groove Aspen Paneling back in the spring.  I also ordered a small amount of 1x4 balsam to use for baseboards and maybe some casing.  This will all become the interior finishing of the new guest cottage.  I expect that I will probably not heat the guest cottage over the cold winter months, so I don't want to finish with drywall.  I am concerned that the drywall joints may crack in the cold.

The aspen was dried over the summer months and then cut and planed in early October.  A short time ago Martin advised me that it was ready for pick up.  

I have about 6000 lineal feet of material, in various lengths.  I headed out on Monday morning and picked up the first load.  On Tuesday I went back out for a second load.  I managed to get all the remaining material on a second load and did not need to make a third trip.  I will store this material in the city, and take it out to Nordegg when I am ready for it in the spring.  I intend to use a lacquer finish on this wood, and that needs to be applied in a well ventilated space, at temperatures above freezing.  So it seems unlikely I will get to this paneling material before the spring.  But there is lots of other work for me to continue with over the winter.

Quinn

On Monday October 25th the girls and I had to say our goodbye's to the family dog.  Quinn was fifteen years old and lived a really good life.  She was adored by three young girls that grew up with her.  During a recent veterinary examination it was found that she had a large tumour on her liver and spleen.  It was an aggressive cancer that was spreading through her body.  She was getting on in dog years and had a number of other ailments that were not as serious.  The tumour had some lesions on it, and there was a risk that at any time it could rupture and she would be in agonizing pain.  We got a second opinion from another vet and he said exactly the same thing.  Quinn slept a lot and was easily tired.  She was also almost deaf, and had bad cataracts.  She panted a lot as she tried to draw enough oxygen to overcome her anemia.  But she was not in any pain.  On Sunday the girls spoiled her and took her out for a couple of walks, including her favorite dog park.  They spoiled her with lots of food and treats.  But by Monday afternoon the time had come and the girls took her to the vet for the end....

I'm not much of animal lover and wish that we didn't have as many pets as we do.  But this old dog held a soft spot with me and I was really saddened when the end came.  I could not bring myself to go to see her put down... so I went and picked up some lumber instead.  It is indeed a very sad day.  As I write this I am drinking a toast of scotch to a really sweet old dog that was a big part of our family...

Back in 2008 I took some studio portraits of the girls with my 8x10 view camera.  At the time Margarit was pregnant with Helena.  Hailey would have been five or six years old and Annelise would have been two or three.  At the time Quinn would have been one or two.  I included scans of those three negatives here, as well as some more recent snapshots.

Un-Named Waterfall

My friend Jon came out to Nordegg with me on October 20th.  Jon understands electrical a little better than I do, and volunteered to give me a hand finishing the electrical rough in.  On Thursday the 21st we decided to take advantage of a favorable weather forecast and headed out for a hike.  We left the electrical work for the next day, which was not forecast to be nearly as mild.

We drove west into the mountains and hiked in to a waterfall.  I had been here previously, but didn't spend much time then.  This time around we spent a couple of hours photographing the waterfall.  The flow is quite low at this late point in the season and we were able to wander around among the boulders that are probably submerged during times of high water.  I was shooting with my 4x5 view camera and Jon was shooting digital with a Nikon mirrorless camera.  It was a little cool when we first arrived but as the sun got higher in the sky, it warmed up nicely.

I think we both got some pretty good images and I've included a bunch of phone snapshots here.

Forest Dawn

I took this shot in the back yard at Nordegg, in May.  There was a heavy fog at dawn.  By the time I got out with my big camera, and got it set up, the sun and crested Eagle Peak and was starting to burn off the fog.  I like this shot though, as it gives kind of a feel for what I property is like.

Community Hall

This is another scan from the batch of Ilford FP4 4"x5" sheet film that I processed just before Thanksgiving.  This is an abandoned Community Hall out in Lamont county that I explored last spring with my friend Arturo.  I think I like this composition better than one that I previously posted.  This one in Landscape format is a little more interesting that the previous one, in Portrait format.

Blackmud Creek

It was a beautiful fall day in late September when my daughter Annelise and I went for a walk in nearby Blackmud ravine.  This area is only minutes from our house, and is largely untouched.  There are residential neighborhoods on both sides of the ravine, and people regularly walk down there, but the riparian habitat remains much as it always was.  The diversity of plant life down in the ravine, as compared to up on top, is amazing.  In our short little walk we saw dogwood, wild rose, gooseberry, high bush cranberry, choke cherry, saskatoon and mountain ash, just to name a few.  This was in addition to the common shrubs and trees found in the parkland above... aspen, birch and spruce.

The fall light of the early afternoon was very clear, and the leaves were in full color.  The water levels in the creek were very low, which allowed me to walk right out onto the gravel bar.  I shot with with my 4"x5" view camera on Ilford FP4 film.  I used a yellow filter to brighten the fall foliage and developed in Perceptol developer.  I think this one may be worth printing.

Sunrise

On Sunday October 17 I got up at 5:30 in the morning.  I spent the evening before cleaning up the cottage.  I hate to come back to a dirty place so I always make sure and tidy it up before I leave.  This time, because of my extended stay, part of the time with the girls there, the cleaning required was a little more extensive.  I did some laundry and the dishes.  I swept and mopped the floor, and vacuumed the rugs.  I emptied the ash from the woodstove and took out all the garbage.  By the time I finished all of this on Saturday, it was too late to head home to the city.  So I got up early and hit the road the next morning.

When I got up it was clear and once again there was a tapestry of a billion stars in the dark sky.  The temperature was +10C, but there was a wind gusting out of the west.  I had a shower and some breakfast and loaded all my stuff into the truck.  I pulled out of the driveway, shortly after 7:00AM and it was still dark.  As I got closer and closer to Rocky Mountain House, the wind dropped off, along with the temperature.  But there was a glorious sunrise and I watched the colors intensify and shift as the sun broke closer and closer to the horizon.

October Game Camera Photos

I was out at Nordegg for over a week, starting before the Thanksgiving Long Weekend.  The girls came out for the holiday and we had our big Thanksgiving feast together.  I stayed a few days extra and continued working on the guest cottage.  I got most of the electrical rough in completed, and will be heading back out soon to finish the rest.  I headed back home to the city on October 17th to catch up on some chores around home, to pick up some supplies, and to spend some time with the girls.  Before leaving the cottage I pulled the memory card from the game camera.

It included the usual photos, mostly of deer, with a few of the fox.  The rest were just birds... ravens and magpies, with quite a few shots of the neighbors dogs.  The doe that survived what I assume was a cougar attack seemed to be fairly well healed now.  She comes around on a regular basis and is not showing a limp or any serious after effects.  The images attached below are some of the more interesting ones.  The date on the game camera got messed up when the batteries died a month ago.  When I replaced the batteries I forgot to reset the date.  Eventually I did that, but got the month wrong.  So, any of these photos with a 2015 date were actually captured in late September of 2021.  The time shown is not correct.  The rest have the right day and time and show a 2021 year.  But the month is wrong... it shows as November but was really October.  I will have to reset the camera that next time that I go out.