I got back last night from an absolutely amazing week away with my friends from England, Linda and Tony. Believe it or not, this was only my second holiday in about 30 years! Some of you may just remember that when my Brother in England died almost two years ago, several of my long-time friends who lived in the same city all stepped forward and helped me deal with everything long distance, from my Brother's funeral to finding everything possible in the house a good home (sold or donated). All my parents' belongings were there, too, so it was a mammoth task to go through everything and put aside every single personal item or document, which were then shipped to me here. Just one of the priceless things was when Linda went through all my Father's old movies, picked out every inch of them that she thought I would want to have, and then took them to be copied to DVD. Of course, everything was done thoughtfully and lovingly - and it still has me shaking my head that anyone could spend so much time doing SO much for someone else. There are still a few things that Linda is seeing to! Anyway, to cut a very long story short, Linda told me many months ago that she and Tony were coming to Canada again and Linda really hoped I would join them for a week getting down to Yellowstone National Park and back. Because I hadn't been away in so long, I was extremely hesitant : ) However, I did go and had the most wonderfully enjoyable (and spectacular!) time going to not only Yellowstone, but also Grand Tetons, Glacier and Waterton! Can never thank Linda and Tony enough for this! I've known Linda since she was a baby (she's about four? years younger than I am, around my Brother's age), so we had a week's precious time to "catch up". I'd only ever met Tony once, when they came to Canada for a holiday six years ago. He deserves a medal for putting up with me for a whole week!! And now I have over 2,500 images (plenty of repeats, though) to go through, lol, so please bear with me, especially when it seems that all I have to post are these holiday shots! Gosh, I miss my friends' company already!
Took this photo on 17 September 2012 from high above the lake - though it almost looks from my photo as though I was level with the water. The unique Prince of Wales Hotel was behind me, to my right.
"In 1932, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was formed from Waterton and Glacier. It was dedicated to world peace by Sir Charles Arthur Mander on behalf of Rotary International. Although the park has a lot of diversity for its size, the main highlight is the Waterton lakes—the deepest in the Canadian Rockies—overlooked by the historic Prince of Wales Hotel National Historic Site.
In 1979, Waterton and bordering Glacier National park in the US were designated as World Biosphere reserves, preserving mountains, prairie, lakes and freshwater wetlands ecosystems. Habitats represented in the parks' range include: prairie grasslands, aspen grove forests, alpine tundra/high meadows, lower subalpine forests, deciduous and coniferous forests.
The park is part of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, designated as World Heritage Site in 1995 for their distinctive climate, physiographic setting, mountain-prairie interface, and tri-ocean hydrographical divide. They are areas of significant scenic values with abundant and diverse flora and fauna"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterton_Lakes_National_Park
Tags: Alberta Canada Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lake taken from near Prince of Wales Hotel nature scenery landscape mountains water forest trees rocks breathtaking mountain scene lake beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ200 DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot bridge camera P1020824 FZ200 annkelliott beautiful_expression expansive LeapFrog's Hats
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I was so excited to know that we would be going to Red Rock Canyon in Waterton Lakes National Park on the final day of our week's holiday. I had never been there before, but had seen photos of the beautiful red rocks that can be seen along the edge of the creek. We were also very lucky to see a Black Bear far away on one of the hillsides along the Red Rock Canyon road. Taken on 17 September 2012, on the way back to Calgary after spending seven amazing days with my friends from England, Linda and Tony, visiting Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Waterton-Glacier.
"The rock layers in Waterton are primarily eroded sediments laid down particle by particle at the bottom of an ancient sea which existed 1,500 million years ago. Evidence of this ancient seabed is provided by fossilized ripple marks and salt crystal casts. These rock layers make up the park's geological foundation.
The park's unusual red and green rocks are shaly siltstones called argillite. The red rocks contain oxidized iron; the green rocks contain unoxidized iron. Beige/grey/brown rocks are limestone or dolomite. A noticeable black band seen on the face of some park mountains, called the Purcell Sill, is igneous rock."
www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/waterton/natcul/natcul1/a.aspx
Tags: Alberta Canada Waterton Lakes National Park Red Rock Canyon nature creek water rocks cliffs red colourful erosion beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ200 DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot bridge camera P1020926 FZ200 annkelliott geology shaly siltstones Argillite contain oxidized iron
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Some of my photos were looking rather colourless, so I decided to try a different setting, which increased the colour and, I think, the detail. Taken on the final day's drive with such good friends from England, Linda and Tony, on an amazing week's trip from Calgary down as far as Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons and back to Calgary via the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (my second holiday ever in about 31 years!). We discovered that the Going to the Sun Road had unfortunately closed for roadworks just the day before - but plenty of scenery was left for us to enjoy.
Tags: US/Canada Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park nature scenery landscape mountains mountain scene valley colours fall autumn trees forest breathtaking beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ200 DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot P1020805 FZ200 annkelliott beautiful_expression vacation holiday
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We had a quick stop at Saint Mary Lake with its tiny Wild Goose Island (seen in my photo), on our drive north from Yellowstone National Park to Calgary. We had planned to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road, but road works had already closed the road just the day before we arrived. Instead, we drove in from the west as far as we could, turned around, drove all the way south and east to eventually enter the park through the east gate.
"Saint Mary Lake is the second largest lake in Glacier National Park. Located on the east side of the park, the Going-to-the-Sun Road parallels the lake along its north shore. At an altitude of 4,484 feet (1,367 m), Saint Mary Lake's waters are colder and lie almost 1,500 feet (460 m) higher in altitude than Lake McDonald, the largest lake in the park, which is located on the west side of the Continental Divide. Here, the great plains end and the Rocky Mountains begin in an abrupt 5,000 feet (1,500 m) altitude change, with Little Chief Mountain posing a formidable southern flank above the west end of the lake. St. Mary lake has a surface area of 3,923 acres (15.88 km2)." From Wikipedia.
The lake is 9.9 miles (15.9 km) long and 300 feet (91 m) deep. The waters of the lake rarely rise above 50 °F (10 °C) and are home to various species of trout. During the winter, the lake often is frozen completely over with ice up to 4 feet (1.2 m) thick." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mary_Lake
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Spent ages last night trying to find out the name of this mountain in Glacier National Park, Montana, US, but had no luck. Quite spectacular, though, with its banding. Wish I was there right now, especially when I glance through my window and see snow everywhere. Not snowing today, thankfully.
Tags: US USA United States America Montana Glacier National Park nature scenery landscape mountain scene mountain peak rugged banded layers rock hillside slope vegetation trees seasons fall autumn colourful splendour beauty in nature Panasonic DMC-FZ200 DMC-FZ200 FZ200 Lumix point-and-shoot P1020791 FZ200 annkelliott © Anne Elliott 2012 © All Rights Reserved
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