Nighttime at the boathouse on Emerald Lake
Bobbi and I got away to Emerald Lake last weekend for a little retreat. The valley is in the Yoho National Park in British Columbia, about two and a half hours from Calgary. We had a great time enjoying time on the land and enjoying the fine amenities offered by the Emerald Lake Lodge. We have to thank both sets of grandparents for taking care of Kezia and Kian. I spent most of the night out photographing around the water. The image above is looking down the stairs to the boathouse where you can rent canoes and row boats to take out on the lake. There was a wedding in the lodge where Cilantro’s restaurant is located across the bridge. The lights from the party and the bridge illuminated the little cabin and the stacked boats. Emerald Lake is a wonderful place to visit – we are already plotting our next return visit.
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Kootenay Black Bears
We went to Radium on the weekend in search of bears. The dandelions are in bloom in the roadside fields along Highway 93 in the Kootenay National Park that runs west from the British Columbia – Alberta border. These flowers represent one of the first key crops that the bears can graze on.
The narrow valley that winds down to the Kootenay River is beautiful with dense forest, mountain streams and a couple of small lakes. The last 15 kilometers of the highway hides the yellow patches around corners and draws bears consistently at this time of the year. During our visit we came upon a few individual bears munching away. Most drivers stayed in their vehicles and were generally respectful of the bears. A few exceptions, but on this trip at least, not the worst behaviour that I’ve seen.
With the bears not threatened, it was fun to watch them snack away, able to concentrate on eating rather than worrying about people. This black bear settled right down which I took as an indication that he was relaxed.
Later on, in another field, I saw him scrunch up his nose at one point. We left and when we drove by later the bear had also moved on. I’m not sure if the wrinkled nose was a sign of discomfort with the people and cars or he simply wanted to get back into the woods.
I loved the confidence shown by this bear as it strode across the road to a new field. I worry about the traffic but the drivers on this day were patient and no one rushed the crossing. Hope to see more and more of that level of awareness.
I would have liked to have seen a momma with a couple of cubs. Maybe they found secluded dandelion patches to enjoy in private. The bear below took a minute to stare up the hill under the heavy rain. I did not hear or see anything that would have warranted an alert stare but the bear obviously did.
It was great to see these bears. I hope to get out there again before the flowers turn to seed and these animals disappear back into the woods.
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Dawn at the Lion’s Gate Bridge
(as always, please click on any image to open a higher resolution version)
In March, I spent a weekend in Vancouver photographing birds, Granville Market and a few other things with a good friend. On one of the mornings we headed down to Stanley Park around 4:30 AM to see about sunrise. We walked to the seawall along the Burrard Inlet and worked for a while with the lights of North Van across the water.
As dawn came in, we moved slowly towards the Lion’s Gate Bridge and I had a lot of fun working with this dominant structure. I was very happy that they left the bridge lights on right through sunrise. I used to spend a lot of time exploring the park when I went to school in Vancouver but this was one of only a few times that I have photographed there. It is a beautiful place to spend time – with or without a camera.
With morning came the runners that pile on miles along the pathways year round. I enjoyed working them into a few photographs before packing up for breakfast.
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A walk around Granville Island
Granville Island is a favourite place of mine to stroll around on a rainy day in Vancouver. To be clear, it is great in good weather too but when it is wet the industrial-artistic buildings, galleries and walkways reveal beautiful details. The wood gleams, the rusty browns and reds in weathered metal become deeply saturated and the blooming flowers of mid-March glow despite the grey skies.
When I used to live in Vancouver I would head down to the market on the island regularly. When dark clouds greeted us one morning during a visit my friend Jack and I made to Vancouver in March, my memories of Granville in the rain came back and it was fun to wander around there once more.
Eventually we did head into the market for a little while. The food was, as usual, incredible and we walked out with several bags of fruit as a temporary keepsake from the morning.
I didn’t buy any fish but I did ask the gentlemen presiding over the chilly group below if I could photograph. The rough, inconsistent pattern caught my eye.
All of the morning’s hard work built up a thirst so we stopped by the Granville Island Brewery’s Taproom. These lightbulbs looked like they were from someone’s Steampunk dream and I was compelled to ask a couple if I could lean over next to them in order to grab a quick shot.
On the way out of the maze of buildings, this metal rail contraption drew my attention. It wasn’t in motion, I’m not even sure that there was anything that did move, but it was really cool.
A little earlier, I had really enjoyed the metal construction art at the entrance to the Ocean Concrete yard along the island’s waterfront facing the inlet. The two pieces seemed like distant cousins with the house suggesting a slightly more inviting alternate reality. It is a very cool place where even a concrete company gets into the artistic vibe.
Another great tour through Granville Island. I’m looking forward to the next one, rain or shine.
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After dark in Boundary Bay
After watching a Barn owl hunt across the long grass marsh flats at Boundary Bay through dusk in mid-March, I was packing up when I saw a Snowy owl perched on a log. It was about 100 yards away but the white oval shape stood out distinctively against the blues and blacks of evening.
I worked my way along the levee towards the bird and it just stared at me as I stopped about 50 feet away. We stared at one another for a minute and then the owl whipped its head around and cocked it towards some sound or motion I was oblivious to. It didn’t attack and went back to looking around for a while. A few minutes later, it launched onto another large piece of driftwood which was closer to the ground.
From there, the snowy stalked along the wood and ended up jumping into the grass at one point. It stayed in the grass for a little bit but I didn’t see whether it was successful in catching something or not.
The bay was dark by this time and I left the owl as it flew to another perch nearby. I had a few great encounters in Boundary Bay – I’m already excited to go back soon.
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Sandhill cranes at Reifel
There were a trio of Sandhill cranes along the trail north of the main gate of the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. They were jostling with mallards and pigeons for the bird seed that is available at the entrance and purchased by some visitors. This seems to be a good spot for them and it was a great place to photograph these cranes. The Sandhill crane has an interesting story in Western Canada, it was really wonderful to see them up close.
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