in a whimsical mood

It's the bright cheerful colours that grabbed my attention the most!  Add to those shades, a light-hearted feel and a whimsical look, that's where you will find me these days.  I have been getting lost in working with higher quality water-colour paints.  I picked up a few to try and this is the outcome.  When I looked for lessons on blending colours, I came upon a set of fun tutorials.  I love this look!

Some of these tutorials were to give ideas on painting home made greeting cards.  I will probably not go that route though.  The main purpose for me was to learn the wet on wet technique and also blending.  I learned how to use a fan brush as you can see in the bottom two birds in the top left painting.  I learned lots and I look forward to gaining more knowledge along this path.  What I realized is, I now need to buy a few more brushes of various sizes.  For now, I am OK with the paper I use, but if this becomes serious, I will need a higher quality of paper too!

Just looking of these projects makes me smile!

Guinn's Pass & Galatea Lakes August 25, 2022

Today's hike was in the making back on July 13th when we last shared a day in the mountains.  Since that day our life happenings took us in different directions, mine not so far reaching as my friends.  With hours and hours and hours worth of stories to now share, it was time to take on Guinn's Pass and Galatea Lakes, that objective we set back on July 13th.  

Early starts are the best these days and that's what we went for.  We turned off the main highway west to head south along "Highway 40 Where Life Begins" and I then felt that feeling that I was already in my happy place even before stepping foot on the hiking trail.  When our boots did hit the trail, we first had to descend to the river and cross this suspension bridge.  No biggie descending, but in the back of my mind I knew it would be a biggie ascending at the end of the day! 

The approximate six km hike up to Lillian Lake through the forest is not my favourite place to be.  While it seemed to take forever, in hindsight it passed somewhat quickly thank you to the multitude of wonderful stories my friend had to share.  We arrived at Lillian Lake while it appeared most of the backcountry campers were still enjoying slumber.

From Lillian Lake, we worked our way up through a bit more forest along a rough, rooty, rugged trail. After that we crossed a broken up boulder field which led us to the junction where we planned to make the decision whether to ascend to Guinn's Pass first or descend to the Galatea Lakes.  We based our decision on what the weather looked like around us.  We opted to make The Pass our priority.  While scampering through the dull coloured rocky section, the sky was on the grey side, both which helped make the fireweed pop.

As we were heading towards Guinn's Pass, the Lower Galatea Lake came into view behind us.  

photo credit Malcolm

Our focus was to get to Guinn's Pass and possibly to Guinn's Peak which is what my friend is eyeing.  

We arrived at Guinn's Pass!  I knew at this point for me it would be best if we made this our high point.  I still wanted to tack on seeing the two Galatea Lakes on the way back.  I enjoy seeing this view across the way.  I was at a few of those passes and on top of a few of those peaks on this day.  

We confirmed this would be our high point, we admired the view,  

 then we embraced that rocky mountain high feeling! 

at our happy place

(don't be fooled, mine is the smaller pack at my friend's feet)

It was time to dine!  There would be no escaping the light winds up where we were exposed to all elements.  We scooted up a bit to where there were large boulders to settle down on.  An extra upper layer did the trick to help keep warm.  This was our lunch time view! 

view as we began the descent from Guinn's Pass 

Lower Galatea Lake came back into view 

There was lots of blue in the sky and it was very warm when we arrived back at the junction.  

We decided all conditions were on our side to carry on with visiting the Galatea Lakes. 

Lower Galatea Lake

This is the view of Lower Galatea Lake after hiking around it to the back side.

From the back side of the Lower Lake, there is a trail that ascends to the Upper Lake.  With the weather turning even more beautiful, we of course carried on up.  At a high point, this was the view looking back at the Lower Lake.

My friend arrived at the Upper Galatea Lake first and when I rounded the corner even before I saw the Lake, he gave me the thumbs up.  When I arrived where he was, this is what I saw!  WOW!  We were both impressed!  During a later conversation, we both agreed this was the highlight of our day. 

taking in the beauty

happy to be here

It was time for another dining break.  We found a trail that descended to the lake.  There were large boulders to comfortably settle down on and just be one with where we were.  We owned it outright!  This was our dining time view!

When it came time to carry on with our day, we discussed what route we wanted to take back to Lillian Lake.  Instead of going back the way we came around the Lower Galatea Lake, we picked up a trail that crossed the scree at the south side of the lake.  I had read about this obscure trail a few years back.  It appeared well trodden.  

working our way around a boulder field

We came to a spot where we had this view of Lillian Lake far below.  We could see an obvious trail hugging the tree line on the left so we went for it.  It turned out being a treat going down this way, although it was steep and rough in sections, yet we got to incorporate a loop into the day.

We exited from this trail landing on the main trail that meandered through the backcountry campground.  We aimed for a bench at Lillian Lake. We had some snacks here then began to attack the approximately six kms down through the forest back to the suspension bridge.  We did have this nice view for a short period of time on the way back.

We reached the suspension bridge!

view from the bridge

It was all uphill from here which just seems so wrong!  Really it was not that bad, it was a matter of just getting it done.  When it was done, I breathed a sigh of relief!  For the drive back to the city, we carried on with unfinished stories and began new ones.  By the time we arrived back, we were all caught up.  Now it's time to go forward living our life's happenings, making more stories to share another time! 

Waterton Lakes National Park "So Long" August 19, 2022

It's time to head back to reality today!  I contemplated a paddle before hitting the highway to home but opted to enjoy the sunrise, take a walk around the townsite, savour my coffee on the rocking chair then load up my car and say so long!

view while waiting for the sun to rise

the sun peaking through the tree top

While I was watching the changing colours during the sunrise pre-show, I also kept my eye on the Bears Hump and Crandall Mountain behind me. With my good zoom, I could see there were many people on the Bears Hump watching the show.  I took this photo behind me just as the sun came above the trees.  

Everything about Waterton Townsite was so sweet this morning!  The temperature was a high single digit, yet it was forecasted to be the hottest day at +33C.  The water was calm and the golden glow beamed brightly. It was quiet, peaceful and so pretty.  But, it was time for me to continue on with my day and prepare to face reality.

I procrastinated by taking another drive through the Buffalo Paddock, a visit to Lower Waterton Lake and then a stop off at Maskinonge which is a location I enjoy being at mostly during calm mornings.  These are a few photos I captured while there.  

I walked that trail to the shore.

Blue Heron

two swans

This was my third trip to Waterton in five months.  I went last year in September for larch season and thoroughly enjoyed that.  I am not sure if I will venture there this September.  For now, I will savour the memories of those three trips especially this most recent one!

Waterton Lakes National Park "Upper & Middle Rowe Lakes" August 18, 2022

Today was forecasted to be the hottest day so far during my escape to Waterton!  Even though, I still wanted to hike and get up there but I would be content with not too far up there this time.  Making the Upper Rowe Lake as my destination would fit the bill of what I wanted.  I wanted to hike to a lake where I could treat my feet to time in cool soothing mountain water.  

While I did not see a bear, nor deer during this morning's drive, I did have to stop to let a young male mountain sheep cross the road.  

There were three vehicles in the parking lot when I arrived, two of which looked like then could have been there overnight.  I was prepared for being very vocal.

cleaning my boots before hitting the trail

I hiked up here last September when the autumn shades were at their prime.  Today, bright vibrant green was the prime shade with other summer splashes scattered here and there.  The foliage was full making the trail narrower and because there were loads of blind spots, I remained loud and vigilant.    

It was hot from the get-go! 

This is the junction, left takes you to Lower Rowe Lake and straight takes you to the Upper Rowe Lake or Lineham Ridge.  I had been to the Lower Lake before and was not interested in seeing it today.  My goal was to reach the Upper Lake.  I took a short break here for a snack and then carried on straight.  

view along the trail

The sky was so blue, the sun so hot, the ground so dry!  The fire danger rating is set at extreme.  The wildflowers were plentiful but they were a bit past their prime.  I found this one Paintbrush that looked full and healthy but it was about the only one that looked that way.

a bouquet of showy fleabane

After crossing this bridge and rounding the corner came the next junction, left takes you to Upper Rowe Lake and right leads you to the trail up to Lineham Ridge which is along that red ridge.  I have never been up to Lineham Ridge but would like to go there some day.  Ideal conditions for me to do that would be little wind and not hot.   

yellow columbine

Some call it "Hippie on a Stick" while the real name is Western Pasque.

It is this stretch where the main elevation to the Upper Rowe Lake is made along a few switchbacks.  

This is the view behind me while ascending. 

I love this scene of Lineham Ridge across the way and the meadow I hiked through before the switchbacks began.  You can see the trail through the meadow and also the trail higher up at the left that leads to Lineham.  I could see no one behind me crossing the meadow nor anyone traversing their way to Lineham Ridge 

When I arrived at Upper Rowe Lake, I cased out the area and saw the coast was clear then began to hike to the far side which is where I am here. I arrived at the Lake through the forest mid centre in the photo.

At this location there are three flat rocks that are perfect for sitting on,  They are close to the water and offer this gorgeous view.  Before doing anything, I did what I came here for, I made my fantasy come true!   In reality though, the water was not cold nor was it cool, it was quite warm. It was still refreshing and felt wonderful to stand in it!

After accomplishing my goal, I then sat on the flat rocks and let my feet air dry while enjoying some sweet and salty snacks.  I had this amazing view while doing so.  I could also see if anyone else was arriving which did not happen while I was there.  

While heading back to leave the lake, the reflection of the trees in the water caught my attention.

I read about there being a Middle Rowe Lake and on the gem trek map it shows a third lake yet there are no signs indicating it.  I saw water through the trees a few minutes before arriving at the Upper Lake so upon my return, I watched for that water and then spotted a faint trail.  I followed the trail down hill which comes out to the right of that rock section middle left.  This is the view back after walking around a portion of this Middle Rowe Lake.  What a beautiful Lake!  For me it is much nicer than the Lower Lake and on par with the Upper Lake. 

another view of Middle Rowe Lake

I did not bother to put my feet in the Middle Lake but will do so during another visit maybe next summer.  Instead I began the hike back up from the lake to the main trail then began the descent along the switchbacks down to the meadow.  This is the view at the bridge just before crossing the meadow.  By now I was meeting many other hikers.

an American Robin with a snack

I was thankful the elevation was behind me and it was all flat or gradual down hill from here on in.  It felt like it was the hottest day so far this week.  This was the view ahead as I slowly and surely made my way along.  

Like other days, when I got back to the townsite, I enjoyed being by the water or sitting in my rocking chair in the shade with my feet up sipping a cold one.