Frosty Mountain

     As moisture laden clouds disperse from the high peaks we sometimes see hoar frost covered mountains such as this beauty along the Icefields Parkway. I enjoy this scenic drive no matter which season we do it in. Each time reveals different characteristics of this rugged landscape.

     Especially in winter we do have to be aware of road safety issues. This road lies in a trench of the rocky mountains and can get tremendous amounts of snow at one time. I try to monitor the weather predictions ahead of time. A vehicle has to be in good condition, fueled up and have good winter tires to begin. The highway can be bare and dry but shady places or on hills can suddenly become ice covered.

Icefields Parkway

     I am amazed at what some visitors to this area do for a pastime. Skiing or snowshoeing I can see but ice climbing? Certainly not for me but amazing to see.

Beautiful Ice Fall

Ice Climbers.

      I have always found ice to be very brittle so I would not be trusting of metal pegs pounded into ice a few hundred feet above firm ground. Interesting to watch for sure.

     I stand in amazement at the wonders of the Columbia Icefield itself though. It is a beautiful and rugged time machine demonstrating Nature's power and fragility. On this trip a few bighorn sheep graze and nibble at rough plants that have managed to grow on these rocky heights. The height of land at the top of the icefields parkway is the border between Jasper and Banff National Parks.

Rocky Mountain Sheep Grazing at Columbia Icefields

     Less than an hour drive from the top of the icefields, we turn east down the David Thompson Highway toward Kootenay Plains. Here, we leave Banff National Park. Amazingly, there is almost no snow here. It is a natural area that receives little snow each winter that borders on the top of the North Saskatchewan River draining some of the Icefields area. It has been dammed to form Abraham Lake, Alberta's longest man made lake. This area has been used by native people for thousands of years for wintering and hunting are due to its milder climate. It is also a natural grazing region for wildlife to over winter.

Methane Bubbles Trapped in the Ice on Abraham Lake

     I have driven by this lake numerous times over the past several years but never stopped to look at the famous bubbles. Today I gingerly made my way down to the lake to take a look. Good thing for ice cleats on my boots or the wind would have blown me to the far end of the dam. These picks also helped get down to the lake from the steep shoreline. As the dam is drained over the winter, the ice sinks too so caution is advised while wandering around this area. It is beautiful for sure.
   
     Each season should be visited in Jasper, Banff, the Icefield Parkway and the David Thompson Highway regions. It is surely one of Alberta's outdoor wilderness treasures.

Robins Ice Fishing

Robin Ice Fishing with Stickleback

      We have already survived a couple weeks of temperatures approaching -35 this winter but we are now closer to average; this morning -14c. American robins, are very common birds hopping around our landscape in summer but unusual here around the first of February. Instead of hopping across our rain-soaked lawns listening for earthworms in summer, there are several now hopping on the ice of a storm-water lake in Edmonton picking tiny stickleback fish from shallow open water along the shoreline. Also joining the fishing derby are a few magpies.
     Red squirrels are watching from the tops of naked tamarack trees as they feed on new buds and protest my intrusion.

Red Squirrel Chattering Between Bites in a Tamarack Tree

     I am always pleasantly surprised when I can go for a walk in our beautiful city parks and am able to watch and photograph wildlife of surprising nature. A couple nights ago while driving home around midnight a coyote watched my cautious approach then jaywalked behind me.
     Last week my hawk-eyed wife spotted an unusual white bird sitting on a snow-covered wooden fence. I had to do a doughnut and drive back for a second look. A leucistic magpie was enjoying a meal with a more familiar colored black and white magpie. After showing this photo to smarter people than I am, they told me that it could be called an "Imperfect Albino" because it does not have pink eyes. It does have pinkish colored beak and feet as well as very white feathers. Apparently it would require a DNA analysis to be sure if it is an albino 100%.

Leucistic Magpie

     If I'm learning anything and having it pounded into my thick skull is to be sure to pack a camera with me wherever I go. We never know when another of Mother Nature's miracles will spring upon us.

Sheep Hunting With Camera

Flehming Ram

     Besides the spectacular scenery in Jasper, I got to spend four days with Rocky Mountain Sheep during their rut late last fall. I was hoping to get a few shots of head banging but that did not happen. I spent mot of my time with a herd of about 50 animals. There were about a dozen rams of various ages and sizes and I'm pretty sure that they already had their pecking order well established so there was no need to waste any energy on a dominance struggle.
     Sitting quietly upon the side hill among a mixed herd of wild animals and allowing them to do what ever they want to is a feeling like no other. As I first encroached on their pasture, they were very wary of my intentions. I crossed the opening slowly until I found a comfortable place behind a wind-sheltering rock and sat down. Within a few minutes the female sheep were back to feeding, chewing cuds and dodging amorous rams. The rams did not care about me at all; they did care about their sexy ewes.

Cud Chewing Ewe

     I figure that I must be doing a good job when the herd wandered past me within a few feet and some even lay down to comfortably chew cuds. (Wouldn't our lives be better if we had to pause in our busy days to chew our cuds?)
     Trying to figure out the body language of the rutting mountain sheep is another story for study. A ram may be laying down chewing away when suddenly he will get up and march directly to an unsuspecting ewe. She may be grazing calmly and here he comes, head tilted sideways, neck outstretched and lips extended for a sniff of her back end. Sometimes she will jog ahead a few steps but he is persistent. Once he has had a good sniff, he will curl his lips back and inhale her scent. Her taste will let him know how close she is to be ready for breeding. Once he has her figured out, he may pursue other nearby opportunities or strut over to another ram, displaying his dominance. Occasionally he will strike out with a front foot, trying to get the attention of a sheep not taking him seriously.

Ram With Ewes

     For me, the antics of the sheep is very entertaining but it is also a part of my own rejuvenation of spirit. Time spent in such a fine "sit-spot" is medicine as good as any bought in the drug store. Depression seeps away, lungs are re-freshened by this crisp mountain air and worries are forgotten.
     I decided to try a different herd if I could find them early one morning. I drove toward Maligne Lake and saw nothing but tracks on the way there. At the lake, I was the only person left in the whole world, I was sure. I walked down along the shoreline toward a glowing sunrise. I could hear the river babbling behind me but no other sound. I stepped around the corner, out of sight and sound of the running water and sat down. There was no sound happening at all. How often can we find a place today where there is no sound? I was sure that I could hear the sun rise beyond the cloud and mist rising from some still open water. Far off, an owl called a couple times, then nothing again. I was able to make a couple photos of this beautiful place but for me, the silence was as spectacular as the scene lighting up in front of my eyes. Life is good.

Frosty Sunrise on Maligne Lake

Bald Hill                                                                                                                 Robert Scriba

Bald Hill from the top looking south

     Bald Hill is the center piece of a small farming community of Heart Valley, Alberta. At the end of the road to the south is the Bad Heart River and to the north is Kakut Creek. The two watercourses join about five miles to the east to form the point of the "Heart". The wide point of the heart north west of this hill is about five miles in width. As I said to start, this area is a mixed agricultural area. It is to the point of the heart that my grand father from Germany settled in 1927. To the south of this viewpoint is where my Great Grand Parents settled in the same year. That copse at the top right hand side of this photo is the home my Dad lived in after taking over his grand parents homestead. Living this near to Bald Hill made us aware but almost dismissive of it. We took it for granted and did not really think too much about it.

      For some reason lately, I have been wondering, "How tall is Bald Hill?" The land all around this dominant feature of our community seems generally flat but there is a slight slope away from the hill to the creeks. This week while on our Christmas visit to see family and friends, I took my GPS and drove through the country to try to get some accurate figures. Modern technology is a fantastic tool which destroys myths that have been ingrained in our thoughts for most of my lifetime. This hill used to be a treacherous climb on a bicycle for young, adventurous boys. The south side was not too bad but the north side got to be extreme. There used to be only a slight track made by tractors looking for a shortcut to the other side. It was a pair of ruts with a center of prairie grass. If it rained it was impassable. In winter, large snow drifts obliterated this trail. 

     A friend of mine and I once raced our bicycles down the north side. He was braver than I and was ahead until a stick flipped up into his front wheel spokes. I was able to witness a spectacular tumble and had to endure his whining and crying over his broken wrist and damaged bike.

     The top of the hill has never been broken for farming so it is still a well known Saskatoon patch interspersed by native grass, odoriferous silver willow and stunted aspen. It is sometimes used as pasture to a few horses. I wonder if native people ever used this hill as a camping site or hunting outlook?

     My GPS tells me that the east-west road along the south side of the hill is 655 meters elevation. The top of Bald Hill is at 698 meters. The north side road is at 639 meters. This makes the actual height of the hill to be a measly 59 meters or 195 feet. This is about the height of two large spruce trees. Wow, I could have sworn that it was a lot taller but we all know how things seem to shrink as we get older.

     For further info, the range of Saddle Hills, to the south is about 815 meters so about 217 meters taller than Bald Hill. The Bad Heart River is about 60 meters deep so if we inverted Bald Hill and placed it into this creek, it would disappear.

The Smokey River valley to the east is about 154 meters deep.

Bald Hill from the South West

     As I wander through my home community, I'm reminded of how this place has changed in my lifetime. Many families lived and farmed on this land. We used to fill a large school bus to Wanham but there are no kids other than the few at the local Hutterian Colony below the north side of the hill. Individual farmers have been bought out and moved away. I think there is only one or two farmers other than the Colony farming within the drainage of the hill. It was a wonderful place to be raised and live as young boys.