Yesterday, 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and yesterday was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. As of today, 19 August 2017, there are 140 wildfires currently burning across B.C., and this year's wildfire season is now officially B.C.’s worst ever wildfire season. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was the place where Pikas (or Rock Rabbits) live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though nothing that I was too happy with.
While I was standing near the base of the huge talus/scree slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the very distant ridge, and then several others came along. In a short time, one of them walked to the end of the ridge and stood there, on guard the whole time it took for the rest of the herd to slowly make its way down the rocky mountain side. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! I watched them for maybe a couple of hours, while they hung around just below me, refusing to leave the road when cars came along. Nothing would make them budge! It was just as interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
For maybe the last 10 days or so, I had been wondering why the little orange maintenance light had not come on, on the dashboard of my car. I have had the vehicle one year now and felt sure that I should have been notified to get an oil change way before now. Each time I have done a long drive recently, I was worried that the light would come on when I was in the middle of nowhere. Well, yesterday, it finally did come on (at around 9,200 km), right where the Pikas live. Guess I'll have to limit my driving to local grocery shopping till I can get my car serviced.
Tags: Alberta Canada Kananaskis K-Country Rocky Mountains Canadian Rockies Highway 40 nature landscape scenery spectacular breathtaking mountain mountains ridge slope mountainside jagged geology erosion folds above the treeline trees forest taken from the road outdoor summer 18 August 2017 FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
I'm not sure if some of the clouds I saw yesterday were lenticular clouds, but I think they could have been. This shot was taken from the parking lot at Highwood House, on Highway 40.
Yesterday, 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and yesterday was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was the place where Pikas (or Rock Rabbits) live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though nothing that I was too happy with.
While I was standing near the base of the huge talus slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the very distant ridge, and then several others came along. In a short time, one of them walked to the end of the ridge and stood there, on guard the whole time it took for the rest of the herd to slowly make its way down the rocky mountain side. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! I watched them for maybe a couple of hours, while they hung around just below me, refusing to leave the road when cars came along. Nothing would make them budge! It was just as interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
For maybe the last 10 days or so, I had been wondering why the little orange maintenance light had not come on, on the dashboard of my car. I have had the vehicle one year now and felt sure that I should have been notified to get an oil change way before now. Each time I have done a long drive recently, I was worried that the light would come on when I was in the middle of nowhere. Well, yesterday, it finally did come on (at around 9,200 km), right where the Pikas live. Guess I'll have to limit my driving to local grocery shopping till I can get my car serviced.
Tags: Alberta Canada Kananaskis K-Country Rocky Mountains Canadian Rockies Highway 40 Highwood House landscape scenery mountains trees sky clouds lenticular clouds? outdoor summer 18 August 2017 FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
These little Pikas/Rock Rabbits are only 6-9 inches long and are usually seen far away, running back and forth over the massive scree (talus) mountain slope that they call home. Very occasionally, one happens to come a bit closer, usually for just a quick moment. Love their little front paws and their round ears.
"The American Pika is a generalist herbivore. It eats a large variety of green plants, including different kinds of grasses, sedges, thistles and fireweed. Although pikas can meet their water demands from the vegetation they eat, they do drink water if it is available in their environment. Pikas have two different ways of foraging: they directly consume food (feeding) or they cache food in haypiles to use for a food source in the winter (haying). The pika feeds throughout the year while haying is limited to the summer months. Since they do not hibernate, pikas have greater energy demands than other montane mammals. In addition, they also make 13 trips per hour to collect vegetation when haying, up to a little over 100 trips per day." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pika
A couple of short YouTube videos in case anyone wants to hear and see these absolutely cute creatures:
youtu.be/US_Hy_eGPtg
youtu.be/OQ2IgcjVIfc
Yesterday, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and yesterday was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was the place where Pikas live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though nothing that I was completely happy with.
While I was standing near the base of this huge talus slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the ridge, and then several others came along. In a short time, one of them walked to the end of the ridge and stood there, on guard the whole time it took for the rest of the herd to slowly make its way down the rocky mountain side. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! I watched them for maybe a couple of hours, while they hung around just below me, refusing to leave the road when cars came along. Nothing would make them budge! It was just as interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
For maybe the last 10 days or so, I had been wondering why the little orange maintenance light had not come on, on the dashboard of my car. I have had the vehicle one year now and felt sure that I should have been notified to get an oil change way before now. Each time I have done a long drive recently, I was worried that the light would come on when I was in the middle of nowhere. Well, yesterday, it finally did come on (at around 9,200 km), right where the Pikas live. Guess I'll have to limit my driving to local grocery shopping till I can get my car serviced.
Tags: Alberta Canada Kananaskis K-Country Rocky Mountains Canadian Rockies Highway 40 nature animal mammal wild wild animal wildlife Pika American Pika Ochonta princeps Lagomorpha Ochotonidae Ochonta 6-9 inches long side view native rocks scree talus cold climates outdoor summer 18 August 2017 FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
This poor quality, fully-zoomed photo (Focal Length [35mm format] - 1200 mm with a point-and-shoot camera) shows the single Bighorn Sheep that stood on a very distant craggy point for a long time, waiting for the rest of the herd to safely make their way down the talus slope. The previous photo shows just how far away the animals were when I first spotted them. The animal on the right came down with the rest. The close shot of one of the Sheep that I posted shows the animal that reached the bottom first, turned around to watch until all of them had arrived safely - and then the animal on guard came down. Quite often on their descent, they would stop and feed, and one or other would stop and look back to see how everyone else was doing. Once they reached the road, they began licking the salt from the surface, and they were still on the road when I finally left maybe an hour later. I found the whole thing absolutely fascinating to watch.
On 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and this was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. As of yesterday, 19 August 2017, there are 140 wildfires currently burning across B.C., and this year's wildfire season is now officially B.C.’s worst ever wildfire season. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it.
I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was the place where Pikas (or Rock Rabbits) live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though I have taken better photos on previous occasions.
While I was standing near the base of the huge talus/scree slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the very distant ridge, and then several others came along. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! It was interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers, too - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
Tags: Alberta Canada Kananaskis K-Country Rocky Mountains Canadian Rockies Highway 40 nature animal mammal wild wild animal wildlife Bighorn Sheep Ovis canadensis Bovidae Caprinae on guard standing on very distant ridge watching over the herd craggy rock ridge mountain top of talus slope outdoor summer 18 August 2017 FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved
I think this was just a partly zoomed-in shot of the ridge where I first spotted the herd of about 7 or 8 Bighorn Sheep - not the very distant, pale grey ridge, but the closer one just right of centre. Hard to believe that I eventually saw them from so far away. The next photo shows the single Sheep that stood on the craggy point for a long time, waiting for the rest of the herd to safely make their way down the talus slope. The animal on the right came down with the rest. The close shot of one of the Sheep that I posted shows the animal that reached the bottom first, turned around to watch until all of them had arrived safely - and then the animal on guard came down. Quite often on their descent, one or other would stop and look back to see how everyone else was doing. Once they reached the road, they began licking the salt from the surface. I found the whole thing absolutely fascinating to watch.
Two days ago, on 18 August 2017, I made a very last-minute decision (just after midnight) to return to this location. Last year (2016), I had finally made myself do this long drive (293 km), after longing for years to be able to get there on my own. I was determined to go again this summer, and this was the day.
I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and took the scenic back road to Highway 40. Unfortunately, we are still getting the smoke from the British Columbia and Alberta wildfires, so distant shots are not the best. As of yesterday, 19 August 2017, there are 140 wildfires currently burning across B.C., and this year's wildfire season is now officially B.C.’s worst ever wildfire season. However, the landscape on this whole drive is spectacular and I could never tire of it. I would imagine most people drive the whole loop along Highway 40, but my destination was the place where Pikas (or Rock Rabbits) live, keeping my fingers crossed that at least one of them would show up. I was in luck and saw two of them, and managed to get a few photos, though nothing that I was too happy with.
While I was standing near the base of the huge talus/scree slope, I started hearing the sound of rocks falling! The first thing that flashed through my mind was that I was not standing in the best place if a rock slide happened, and then I remembered seeing someone's photo of a bear with her two cubs walking across the rocks just above where I was standing. Looking around, I could see nothing - and then, suddenly, I could just make out the tiny silhouette of a Bighorn Sheep on the very top of the very distant ridge, and then several others came along. They ended up passing me on a closer ridge and finally reached the road. What a journey they made in order to get salt off the road surface! It was interesting to watch the reaction of the drivers, too - most slowed right down or stopped, and most people stayed in their vehicles.
After calling in again at Highwood House to pick up a much-needed coffee, I carried on with the drive home via various backroads, including the Priddis area. My early morning drive had given me just two birds - a Northern Harrier and some other Hawk. The return drive gave me maybe four Hawks, none of which stayed long enough for a photo. A strange, empty feeling, as two days earlier, friends and I had seen dozens of Hawks during a day's drive.
For maybe the last 10 days or so, I had been wondering why the little orange maintenance light had not come on, on the dashboard of my car. I have had the vehicle one year now and felt sure that I should have been notified to get an oil change way before now. Each time I have done a long drive recently, I was worried that the light would come on when I was in the middle of nowhere. Well, two days ago, it finally did come on (at around 9,200 km), right where the Pikas live.
Tags: Alberta Canada Kananaskis K-Country Rocky Mountains Canadian Rockies Highway 40 nature scenery landscape mountain mountains hill mountain side mountain slope mesozoic sandstone and shale scree talus rocks rocky above the tree line peaks ridge barren jagged outdoor summer 18 August 2017 FZ200 FZ200#4 annkelliott Anne Elliott © Anne Elliott 2017 © All Rights Reserved
© All Rights Reserved