Sunday, July 31, 2011

View From the Top of Sulphur Mountain

After 4 hours and 45 minutes we reached the top of Sulphur Mountain with small folk in tow. Yeah for ice cream and a gondola to take us back down.

The last 2 acts of the folk fest were excellent and now I'm really tired and should go to bed.
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Sunny Break in the Plain of 6 Glaciers

It was supposed to be sunny in most places and maybe rainy near Lake Louise and Yoho. We had a lot of rain, but a brief patch of brilliant sunshine to allow me to take a picture of Lake Louise from the other side. It was a beautiful hike that I will have to do again at some point when the weather will allow me to get a better shot of the Victoria Glacier. (11 km, 365 m of elevation)
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Sunset in Jasper

The sun is setting (this in itself is exciting for a person that has spent so many weeks in basically midnight sunish conditions). Still, mountain sunsets still have the ability to outclass most other sunsets. This photo was taken from the train station. I don't know the name of the mountain in question.

The last few days have been busy. I actually biked to 37 km and I've gone swimming a few times. I'm hoping to get lots more hiking, swimming and biking bits in for the next few weeks and then its back to walking and excercise videos. I'm looking forward to berry picking and the bright fall colours of the tundra.

Thats all for now. I know I've been pretty week on the blog entries. I'm trying to take a technology break a bit and just refresh my brain. I'm sure that there will be plenty more pictures in the future.
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The Columbia Glacier was Here

The retreated glacier has left its mark on the once glaciated valley a few hundred meters from the Columbia Glacier. We stopped in the somewhat stormy weather so I could get pictures of the glacier, morraines, and till for my students. Fireweed remains among my favourite plants of all time. This is succession in action - pioneering the way - beautiful fireweed.

The drive up to Jasper was amazing (as expected). The weather was mixed, but in general the sun came out when it was needed to make a beautiful view even better. (The Columbia Glacier stop being the exception.) It was nice spending some time with my Mom and sharing our favourite spots on the best piece of highway in the world.
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Friday, July 22, 2011

Black Bear on the Icefields Parkway

I suppose I should be posting some kind of apology for my sporadic posting over the last while or if you know me better, my general absense from the online world. I've been doing stuff. I managed to swim almost every day in Ontario and I've done a bit of bike riding and a lot of playing with kids. I'm enjoying a summer of mountainous vistas and wild spaces and new sights as well as my favourite haunts. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks living and playing in one of the most stunning parts of the world before I return home to a place of quiet and subtle beauty and a true sense of wildness. Its amazing how many people want to know about Nunavut and their positive view of what it stands for.

I will go back and caption some of my Norway pictures, now that I have access to a key board and a real computer. I'm slowly working on sorting through the 5000 + photos I took and putting them into named folders, relieved to have been able to get them all on my computer even if they all ended up in one massive folder.

It has been a great summer so far and I promise to post a lot more regularly... which is fortunately an easy promise to make.
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Grizzly at Lake Louise

This is the first time I've seen a Grizzly (at least more than a fleeting glimpse of one) in the wild. We saw 3 bears including this one on our drive, the other two bears were black bears.
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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Mundal - the Norwegian Bokbyen

Extrs passanger, Fare not paid

Almost to Mundal on the Skånevik ferry

Norwegian Waterfall #60000000000000000

Fjærland fjord

Forest Stream

Gratuitous Pictures of Irises

St. Olaf's Church

Misty Mountains of Balestrand


Balestrand has completely charmed us with its mix of small town calm and stunning vistas. The hiking here is excellent. We took a day trip to see the glacier museum, glaciers and the Booktown of Mundal in Fjærland. It is breath-taking too with tall mountains that remind me of pictures of China.

Balestrand Harbour

Sognefjord Sonata

Looking for Slartibartfast's Signature in the Sognfjord

Friday, July 08, 2011

Giant Cruise Ship in Flåm

Flåm

Waterfall Færies of Flåmdal

Riding the Flåmsbana Down-mountain

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Veiw from the Fløbanen

Bergen Natural History Museum

My Favourite House In Bergen

Whales on the Way to Bergen

The Rainbow and welcome busstop at the end of the Mount Ulriken Trail

The Fog Engulfeth the Hut

The Fog Cometh...

Hut near Mount Ulriken ... Before the fog

Sheep on the trail

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Ålesund Harbour

Ålesund Wonderland Architecture

Mountain Clinging Clouds

Geiranger Waterfalls

Our Ride to Ålesund

The Road into Geiranger

Geiranger

View from the top of the Eagle's Road

Trollsteigen Hairpins

Trollsteiggen

Nidaros Cathedral

View from 172 Steps Up of the Main Tower of Nidaros Cathedral - Trondheim