"breathe mountain style" February 15, 2023

 

After skating then cross country skiing yesterday, I was ready to get a little high today. A hike up Tunnel Mountain would give me that fix. Right from the get-go at the lower parking lot, the trail was well packed with many sections of ice so spikes for me were a necessity.  As you can see, it is a well used trail.  Thankfully I am a morning person so shared the route with only a few others who were already on their way down.

The views began to appear as I worked my way up the switchbacks.  

This is looking west with the Vermillion Lakes down below.  

To the east you can see the Banff Springs Golf Course, with not much snow, sitting between the Bow River and Mount Rundle.

I made it to the official summit and the “red chairs” but instead of stopping there, I got a little higher.  It was cold up here but I still took some time to savour the scenery and a snack.  

chai tea and hot chocolate to go with my snack

On the way down, I stopped by the “red chairs”.

The photo is not slanted!

Also on the way down, I veered off to all the view points.  I saw a bunch of small brown bumps that appeared to be moving,  I zoomed in the full length that my camera provides to see it was a herd of elk on a road by the golf course.

 

After hiking Tunnel Mountain, I drove out to Lake Minnewanka.  This visit would be all about the ice.  In winter, I enjoy hiking along the edge of the lake to admire Mother Nature’s ice sculptures.  My skates were in the car just in case there was a chance of a smooth clear surface not too far out.  That was not the case.  I did see two people a way the hell on gone out there but there was no way I was joining them.  

With camera in hand, warm gear on, spikes on my boots , I hit the edge of the lake. The first thing I spotted was a heart! I took this as a sign of what I would be in for on this visit.

There were so many beautifully crafted chunks of ice!  Some needed a bit of polishing to reveal what was inside.  This slice was about the size of my hand and revealed a bunch of bubbles once I cleared the snow off it.

When I saw this chunk of ice, I immediately thought it had the shape of an Inukshuk.

It was so pure and clear, the blue from the sky reflected in it.

This view looks so wild to me!

I wanted to be one with that wild look!

I thought someone must have polished and placed that piece of ice there.  I zoomed in to capture this photo. I wanted to get closer but I could not see a safe way to get up, in and around to it.  

This was such a dainty looking, tiny piece of ice, about the size of a quarter.  It was deep inside layers of rocks and ice.  It was awkward to get into a steady position to photograph it.  It took many tries.

It was what looked like vertical slices of ice packed together that caught my eye when I saw this creation.  To capture this view, it took becoming one with the lake.  I only saw the blues at the bottom when I was down and at eye level.

springing off a block of ice

While I have so many more photos of ice chunks, I will share just one more.  This was the last one I took a picture of.  Do you see what I see? This hike started with a heart and it finishes with a heart!  I see a sideways heart on the right side. The sun is directly behind the top making the ice sparkle and glow. What I used to dislike were white spots all over a photo from the sun like in the top left of this photo. Since taking up water colour painting, I learned to like that look which is called the “Bokeh Effect”.  I learned how to incorporate that look into some of my paintings. 

There was so much to see and enjoy while out and about today.  

The time came to enjoy some fire time.