6th Birthday

Annelise turned 6 on September 6th.  She had a birthday party for all of her friends at our house a few days after her actual birthday.  Margarit was run off her feet getting everything organized and riding herd on all the kids.  By the time I got home from work the party was well under way and the place was pretty much torn apart.  We finally managed to chase all the kids out the door and tidy up a bit after the hurricane.

Labor Day Long Weekend

On the Labor Day Long Weekend we once again packed up our trailer and headed out camping.  This is the last kick at the can for most people.  For me, this is the last busy weekend of the summer, after which we get into the really quiet times.  This time around we headed west into the foothills again.  Originally we were hoping to head over into Saskatchewan to photograph some ghost towns.  But, we got a late start and decided to stay a little closer to home.  We headed out to Nordegg and then turned off onto the Forestry Trunk Road.  Usually we head south into the Ram Falls area, but this time we turned north.  I hadn't been out this way since the late 1990's and Margarit had never been out this way at all.  We turned off the Trunk Road onto the Chungo Creek Road.  Eventually we came to a crossing over the Blackstone River and a Provincial Recreation Area.  We pulled off the road and set up camp.  It was a very nice area, but we soon discovered that it was much too popular with ATV riders.  There were quads and ATV's ripping around all over the place.  I'm at least a little tolerant, and could probably live with this if these guys had hit the trails.  But most of them just ripped around the campsite and we found it very busy, very dusty, and very noisy.  The first evening we went for a walk down to the river and it was really nice.  By morning we decided it was just too busy and we packed up and moved on.  We headed back to the Trunk Road and turned north.  Eventually we came to another crossing over the Blackstone River.  This site was much quieter.  There was one small group of ATV riders camped here, but they hit the trails in the morning, and we didin't see or hear them again until the end of the day.  Other than that there was no one around but a few fly fisherman.  I can understand the appeal of fly fishing, and would love to give it a try some day, but this entire area is all "catch-and-release".  It seems to me that there is not much point fishing if you can't keep what you catch.  We spent Sunday afternoon and evening and most of holiday Monday at this campsite.  It was really a beautiful spot and the girls enjoyed exploring and collecting rocks.  Eventually we had to pack up and make our way back home.  It was quite a long drive as the road took us quite a distance to the northwest, before eventually angling off to the northeast and meeting up with the Yellowhead highway at Edson.  From there it was still a two hour drive back home.

Winter Hockey - Game 1

Not much rest for the wicked....   My sprained knee and sprained ankle are mostly healed and now winter hockey is underway.  The Renegades played our first game of the winter season tonight at the Clare Drake Arena at the University of Alberta.  It was great to play in such a great facility with such good ice.  We faced off against the Phantoms who struggled through the summer season with a futile record.  This winter the have added some new players and a better goaltender so will be a better team.  But, we outshot them 44 to 22 and managed to win the game by a 15-3 margin.  A nice way for the Renegades to start the season.  I'm certain that our other opponents will offer much stiffer competition.

More Mountain Photos

I've cleaned out some space on my computer hard drive and managed to download all the digital snapshots from our trip this past weekend to Waterfowl Lakes in Banff National Park.  Serious photography with large format cameras forces one to slow down and be very deliberate about what to shoot.  It is so easy to rattle off snap shots with a digital camera.  I found that I shot about 40 sheets of 4" x 5" large format film, a combination of color and Black and White, and a total of about a dozen different set ups.  By comparison I shot over 400 images with my digital Leica "point and shoot".  I've always said that the sheer volume of digital photography is bound to lead to a few lucky images.  A monkey can get a few good shots if he just wanders around clicking the camera incessantly.  Here are a few lucky shots from this monkey...

Summer Vacation

I actually managed to book two days off from work last week.  These are the first days that I have had off in the summer in several years.  I was able to take four days off back in February when we went to Disneyland, but this is the first time off in the summer.  And, I've only had to work at my job for thirty years to be able to enjoy such a benefit...!!  The joys of owning your own business.  Not quite a vacation, but at least a little bit of a break for a change.

We left the city right after work on Wednesday evening and traveled as far as Nordegg.  We arrived after dark and camped at the Harlech campsite along Shunda Creek.  On Thursday morning we continued into Banff National Park.  After entering the park we turned south at Saskatchewan Crossing and traveled a short distance to the campsite at Waterfowl Lakes.  This is a beautiful campsite but I am annoyed by the Parks Canada bureaucrats that only keep it open from July 1st to Labor Day.  It would sure be nice to spend some time here in the early summer, or later in the fall, at times when the park is not so busy.  But alas the bureaucrats, in their infinite wisdom have decided that they can't be bothered to supply firewood and empty garbage containers despite the daily camping fee of over $30.

We settled down at the campsite and spent four days there.  Hailey and I headed out to both Upper and Lower Waterfowl Lakes on a couple of mornings and took photographs with the 4x5.  We also hiked up along the Cephren Lake Trail one afternoon.  Despite the fact that we didn't make it all the way to the lake, we really enjoyed the walk through the woods.

I think I took nearly 500 digital snapshots over the weekend, as well as around 40 serious shots with my view camera.  Once I have time to download and edit all the digital stuff, I will post some of the best images to my blog.  The process is somewhat complicated now as the hard drive of my computer is full and every time that I want to download new images, I need to delete some old files.

On our way back home on Sunday we stopped along the North Saskatchewan River in the Kootenay Plains.  It was very sunny and hot, with the temperature topping out at around 27C.  The girls enjoyed some time splashing along the river before we climbed back into the truck for the long drive back to the city.  It was a great weekend but despite the extra days off, it just wasn't long enough to really unwind and relax.  Maybe next year...!!!

When we returned home I did process some of the Polaroid film that I exposed with my view camera.  Attached are scans of three of the best shots...

Polaroid 55 Negatives

I processed a few sheets of Polaroid 55 film that I shot with my 4x5 camera on the weekend.  The negatives are now dry, and I've scanned a few to share here in my blog.  That field of sunflowers still captivates me and I am quite happy with the negatives that I have so far.  Even though the light was changing and at times a little flat, the skies were exceptional and as a result the negatives are very printable.  I can't wait to find the time to process the rest that I shot on various other film stock...

Wild Blueberry Picking

It is the season for the wild blueberries to be ripe.  And, the forecast was calling for the warmest day of the summer so far...  So the girls and I packed up and headed out for a day trip.  The forecast proved to be right as the temperature topped out at +31C in the mid-afternoon.  This was the first time that  we hit +30C this summer.  It has certainly been a cool wet summer this year and we are hopeful that the fall will be warm and dry.  But, it is getting so cool during the nights right now that I expect we will have our first frost very soon.  Some of the grain fields are ripening, and the geese are beginning to gather in flocks.  Fall is just around the corner, I'm afraid.

My parents came along with us for the day.  They had first taken me out to the blueberry patch over 30 years ago when I was a kid.  The patch is out in the jackpine covered sandhills north of Edmonton.  We keep the exact location a secret, so it doesn't get overpicked.  We missed the last couple of years and in fact that last time that we were out was three summers ago.  At that time Margarit stayed home with newborn Helena and just the two older girls and I went out.  This time around we all went.  There was a pretty good crop and despite the heat and the mosquitos we came home with enough berries to have some for fresh eating and baking, and a few to make some jam.  It was really nice to be out in the woods.  There were wildflowers of the late summer blooming, lots of mushrooms, and the kinnickinnick berries were also ripening.  When we got back into the city in the late afternoon, we all went out for dinner together.  A fitting end to a very busy but enjoyable weekend.

 

Busy Weekend

I got up moderately early and went out for a day trip with my friend Jon.  With all the camping we've been doing this summer this was the first opportunity for a day trip in quite a while.  And, it was the first time that Jon and I had been out together since the spring trip to the Crooked Trees.  We left the city around 8:30AM and headed to the northeast.  We drove the backroads and came across a couple of interesting old farmyards.  We stopped in a couple of places to take photographs.  In one of them we spooked a big Mule Deer buck with a huge velvet covered rack.  He bolted out of an old barn and took off across the pasture.  Later we found ourselves up at the Desjarlais river crossing on the North Saskatchewan.  As we made our way back in the general direction of home we decided to stop and explore the town of Hairy Hill.  Although there are still a handful of permanent residents left here, pretty much all of the stores, businesses and schools have been shut down.  As we continued on our way home we came across a field of sunflowers.  I had always wanted to photograph one, and so had Jon, but neither of us had ever come across one in our travels.  Although we were running a little later than expected, we both called home to our families and let them know that we simply had to stop and take some photographs.  I'm anxious to see some of the large format black and white images that I shot here, but like usual, it will be some time before I get around to developing them.  I did capture a number of color digital snapshots as well.  We eventually arrived back in the city, later than expected, but satisfied with the images that we made.  

Later that evening, after seeing the girls very briefly, I headed back out to play hockey in Sherwood Park.  This was just shinny with friends, but an opportunity to get in a skate before the upcoming winter hockey season starting in early September.  I also wanted to find out how my knee and ankle would stand up as both are just recovering from sprains sustained in the summer playoffs back in July.  I am still sore, and my mobility is limited, but I can tell that I am on the mend.  Of course if I had actually iced the sprains when they happened, and not been riding horses and packing around heavy camera equipment all summer, the recovery might be a little further along...

Dad and Daughter 2

In mid-August it was eldest daughter Hailey's turn for her weekend with Dad.  Like her younger sister, she too chose to return to the ranch in the badlands to ride horses.  This time around Hailey did not have Dad entirely to herself.  Some friends were camping with us... my close friend and business partner Frank was there with his daughter Sabrina.  His other daughter Tamara was there with her husband and son.  The weather was great and we enjoyed yet another weekend beside the Red Deer River.  We went out for two trail rides.  Sabrina and her nephew Kynan both got to ride for the first time and they both loved it.  We did a little fishing and just enjoyed two days outside...

Back to the Ranch...

Last weekend we headed out camping, right after work on Friday.  It was a very busy week, and a challenge to get everything packed up in time.  We let Hailey pack for herself, only to later find out that she forgot pants.  She had shorts and T-shirts, but no long pants.  The mosquitos were absolutely awful and swarmed all over us whenever we stepped out side.  Hailey quickly learned the value of careful packing.  Fortunately it stayed breezy for most of the weekend, helping to keep the mosquitos at bay.  

Once again we headed back to the ranch in the badlands.  The girls just can't seem to get enough of horses.  I don't really mind taking them out repeatedly over the summer as we just can't afford to own horses of our own.  And, it is a wonderful, relaxing, quiet spot in the badlands and the cottonwoods along the river.

The girls all went out for a trail ride on Saturday morning.  This was Margarits first visit to the ranch so far this summer.  As this was my fourth visit of the year, and I had already been out on a couple of trail rides, I let her go, and stayed behind at the trailer with little Helena.  Helena is getting close to ready to go for a short ride in a buddy saddle, and we may give it a try later this year.  For sure by next year.

On Saturday night we headed up north to the nearby town of Elnora to take in the 13th Annual Brahma-Rama.  This is a typical small town rodeo that features only Bull Riding.  It's always great to see an event like this at a small venue as you are right on top of the action.  We tried to talk the girls into entering the "Mutton-Bustin" competition that allowed the young kids to try and stay on a sheep.  But despite their interest in livestock they would have no part of it.  But we stayed into the evening and watched the bull riding.  There were a couple of families out from the local Hutterite colony, and some of the young boys looked pretty cute in their big black hats and suspenders.  I noticed that the Hutterite families were wandering about amongst the crowd and enjoying the action, and didn't hesitate to enjoy a cold beer too... even the women.  We left the rodeo just before the finals and just made it back to the campsite as a heavy thunderstorm was rolling in.

The next morning the ranch was very busy.  It was the annual charity ride for Stars [Shock Trauma  Air Rescue Society] Air Ambulance.  We joined in for the big pancake breakfast, the charity auction, and later the roast beef dinner.  There were no horses available for riding so we couldn't take part in the trail ride.  During the afternoon Hailey and I wandered off into the badlands and took a few photographs with my big camera.  It was pretty muddy and slippery from the showers overnight and in the morning.  We finally packed up and left in the early evening, arriving back home just in time to put the girls to bed.

A very busy weekend, but packed with a lot of fun and interesting stuff.  The girls are already talking about heading back to see the horses yet again...