Cat Creek Waterfall
We started the September long weekend with a family hike up Cat Creek on the southern side of Kanananskis. It’s a short walk through the forest that offers beautiful views down the Foothills and more intimate scenes in the valley. It was late afternoon and we enjoyed being in no particular rush. The trail has signs about the area’s history as main trail into Kananaskis last century as well as a short-lived period as a coal mining hotbed. We arrived at the end of the main trail shortly after 5 o’clock and had the pond below the waterfall to ourselves.
Cold but not bitterly so, the youngest kids all had turns jumping in and taking short swims. Desiree and I climbed up the cliff beside the waterfall and explored further upstream for a little while. Above the cliff edges were striped with thick moss and the stream had several small drops. However the waterfall at the end of the trail was rightfully the star of the show. It is one of the prettiest that I have seen in Alberta. That comment may be influenced by the company I was with – most of my very favorite people. Nonetheless, it was a great location to take a few photos.
The walk back in the evening light was just as beautiful. We finished with most kids sleeping on the way home. A great day.
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Dippers and their questionable behavior
Not bad behavior, just one that I don’t pretend to understand. When I was last at Elbow Falls, I photographed two American dippers as they flew, dove and splashed around the fast-moving water. Along the way, one of the birds flew to an overhang beside the edge of the waterfall, and then slid on the ice before finding purchase in the snow.
It paused for a moment and then flew at the waterfall!
The bird flapped its wings to hover for several seconds only a few inches from the water where it fell over the edge. I don’t know if it was looking for insects behind the water – surely not in the water itself! Likely it was something else, maybe even simple curiosity or just because it could do it. It was unusual and really fantastic to watch.
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Winter at Elbow Falls – water, snow and ice
There is a beautiful balance of running water, ice forms along the river’s edge and drifts of snow at Elbow Falls right now. Following an early start, photographing the waterfall before dawn, I stayed for a long time playing with these elements. This is one of my favorite waterfalls and was happy to find a few new ways to photograph it on this visit. A couple of American dippers kept me company and I eventually turned my attention to them as splashed around hunting for breakfast in the fast-moving water. I look forward to sharing those images soon.
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Happy Canada Day!
I love this country, its people and the direction we are, generally, heading in. Lot’s of ground still to cover on equality, indigenous people’s rights, the economy and many more. But, we are discussing these, looking in the mirror and moving forward together. That is worth celebrating!
The photograph is from this morning along a little waterfall near the village of Mont-Tremblant in Québec, Canada.
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Happy Holidays!
I hope you are enjoying time doing what you love with those you enjoy spending time with. I have been able to do both with family and friends this holiday. For Boxing Day I created some time alone and went up to Elbow Falls in Kananaskis. It is a beautiful location, particularly when blanketed in ice and snow. The afternoon held broken clouds but the skies cleared as sunset faded. The half-moon emerged from the veil and shone incredibly bright in the night sky. The moonlight washed over the rapids above the waterfall while stars began to take their place above. I deeply enjoyed being in this scene.
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Day into night at the Palouse Falls
Before visiting the Palouse for the first time this Easter, I was excited to see and photograph the rolling fields with their colours and patterns. While researching the location and mapping out places I wanted to visit, my friend Jack told me about the Palouse Falls and that became one of those spots. Jack and I traveled down to Washington and we both found it to be even better than imagined.
So much so that we went there twice during the four days we were away. Spending a few hours on separate afternoons there each time. It is a beautiful place to watch the day slowly go into night.
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The Palouse Falls into dusk
(Please click on the image to open a higher resolution version)
This waterfall is a very worthwhile detour from the centre of the rolling fields. I’ve visited this park twice during my first visit to the Palouse area. The canyon the water has carved out is beautiful and its sharp edges contrast well with the endless swirl of the foam around the pool below the falls. A great place to spend a lot of time watching the day go by.
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Elbow Falls in winter’s clothing
We have had a few stormy blasts throughout November and the snow seems to be intent on sticking around right now. With the beauty of the winter landscape running through my head, I went up to Elbow Falls in Kananaskis early one morning to catch the sunrise.
It turned out to be a beautiful dawn matched only by the tranquility I was able to enjoy sharing the waterfall with the resident Dippers (small birds not swimmers!) and the rushing water.
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Autumn dawn at Elbow Falls
Elbow Falls is a place that I have spent a lot of time at over a number of years. This past weekend the morning was one of the most enjoyable mornings I have had there. The sunrise came in gently and the colors grew beautifully – painting the clouds and reflecting in the water above and below the waterfall.
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Sarrail Falls – a waterfall in the woods
The Sarrail Falls that spill across several terraces before emptying into the Upper Kananaskis Lake is a beautiful stretch of water surrounded by heavy forest in the steep hillside of Mount Sarrail’s lower slopes. The path to this waterfall starts at the lake’s eastern parking lot and is set just above the shoreline. It is a comfortable trail that is about 1-1.15 km to this feature but carries on around the entire lake. I had planned to complete the loop but spent almost two hours watching, photographing, enjoying and studying the waterfall instead.
The 2013 flood hit this creek heavily destroying the bridge as well as sending tree trunks and boulders cascading down. These are still found perched, lodged or lying nearby all along the water’s path. I found a beauty in these that added to the overall scene and suggested to me the cycles of birth, growth and death as well as of constant change. Along with the varying crescendos of the water’s orchestra, I found myself enjoying some deep thoughts and the time to chew on them – a luxurious gift to allow oneself!
At the end, with the morning moving quickly towards noon, I chose the short walk back and the lunch I had waiting for me.
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Dawn at Elbow Falls
The early light worked well with a few interesting clouds hanging above Elbow Falls on the day I was up there this weekend. The soft pink ahead of sunrise shared the sky with the waning full moon early. As the clouds turned to a deep peach color I moved just above the waterfall. From there the reflections of colour on the excited water were beautiful and I watched the morning open up.
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Elbow Falls under an alpen glow
A cold morning greeted me at Elbow Falls yesterday. I set up from a rocky perch above the river and enjoyed watching the day come in. The clouds above caught the early pink light while the land below was gently brushed by the alpen glow that preceded sunrise.
Christopher Martin Photography 