Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Good-bye to Michele Lakes

Self portrait.


Onwards and upwards, one more pass before re-entering Banff National Park and the Owen Creek drainage.

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Evening at Michele Lakes





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Michele Lakes

Camping above timberline with scenery like this... doesn't get any better.


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Pass 2590m to 'Point' overlook

A steady grind / easy scramble to a high point above Michele Lakes. Awsome awsome views at every turn with Michele Lakes as the focal but distant mountains and icefields too.




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Waterfalls Creek to pass 2590m



Climbing but ever changing views make it worthwhile and actually hardly noticeable until we looked back down where we started from.

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Pinto Lake - Waterfall Valley




A day of ups and downs route finding our way over some very lightly used high country.
A sidetrip to the head of Waterfall valley. One of several falls feeding the creek.
Cardiac shot of Forget-me-nots & one of the waterfalls.

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Marten


A marten coming to visit me at our camp by Pinto Lake.

Side tripping day with a mixed bag of weather from sun to snow showers. Made for some interesting views though.

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Sunset Meadows - Pinto Lake

Mt. Coleman from Sunset Meadows
Overlooking Pinto Lake
Hank using a fixed line to decend to Pinto Lake.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Cascade

Cascade Mountain. 2998m elevation, 17km return, 1325m gain.
This is a 'classic' Banff area scramble. Cascade is a well known landmark on the north side of Hwy 1 visible from downtown Banff or along the corridor.
My artsy shot...
Most of the scrambly bit is visible in this shot. Along the ridge, skirt behind the false summit (center right)and summit (center left)
Just before this shot we were treated to a real visual display. A pair of Peregrine falcons were putting the boots to a pair of Ravens using the strong upcurrents / cross currents to show off their flying abilities. A couple times they streaked by just ten feet off the deck with wings tucked in ... very cool. The Ravens were forced to crash land on the rocks several times to avoid the attacks and once on the ground held the advantage. In the air it was the falcons, no question.
Eric joined me on this outing and was able to identify Mt. Assiniboine in the distance.

Hey Eric, try and keep up will ya!

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Sold

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Clone


It is rather scary how similar Mike and I are... What made it worse on this trip is he forgot his cap and had to borrow one of mine... the cloning is complete (insert evil laugh here). And no Eric, you are not adopted! Eric is actually trying very hard to avoid the clone but I'll get him too (more evil laughter)

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Lake of the Falls con't

A few more shots from our backpack from Pinto Lake TH on the David Thompson Hwy (1385m) to Lake of the Falls (2150m), Lake of the Falls Lookout (2760m) & Landslide Lake(2000m). Approx 60km & 1600m in four days.
Lake of the Falls
Mike on Lake of the Falls Lookout... Abraham lake in the background
Lake of the Falls from the Lookout
'Cardiac shot' with part of Mt Resolute in the background
A very lush mossy area where the Landslide Lake outlet stream surfaces from underground.
Landslide Lake from our campsite.

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