“There is peace even in the storm” Vincent van Gogh The Tonquin valley is like a throwback in time. It gives you an idea of what it must have felt like to see Banff or Jasper before there was any development other than a few horse trails. The trail here is infamous for its mud; and it did not disappoint. Over the course of the hike we had our fair share of particularly cold rain, and it often felt more like wading through a swamp than hiking. Despite this there were numerous moments of serene beauty where the mountains cleared and we had spectacular light. This shot was a 30 second exposure (f7.1, ISO 100) of the Ramparts from Amethyst Lake. Rising to a height of 3,313m (10,869ft) and straddling the continental divide they fall partly within Jasper National Park in Alberta and Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia. Amethyst lake sits at height of 1,975m (6,479ft) so the wall rises dramatically over 1,300m (4,265ft) in front of you. On the third day with the temperatures continuing to drop the rain started turning to snow on the pass; so we hiked out in a single day and skipped our planned forth day. We were extremely lucky to be able to see some endangered mountain Caribou bulls; but I will save that for another post. Jasper National Park. Alberta, Canada
Finally saw some Moose ! The largest of all deer by some margin; they stand up to 2.1 m (6.9 ft) high at the shoulder and the males can weigh up to 700kg. Prince George, Northern British Columbia, Canada.
Another shot of the ice jam on the Nechako River in Prince George at the confluence of the Fraser River. This shot is an attempt to capture the chaos of the jam, and is best viewed in high resolution as a lot of the messy detail is lost on the small screen. The section of the jam in front of me has collapsed allowing a small creek to flow over it which itself has quickly frozen. Please remember the ice jam is extremely unstable and not suitable for walking on.
