The wind and the cold, the omnipresent sense of insignificance, it all somehow creates a feeling of peace. Humans are strange creatures in the way that places of inhospitable isolation often provide a true sense of calm. It says a lot about the evolutionary search for beauty over practicality, and the in-built desire to seek new pastures well before the old ones have lost productivity. Despite this we seem to repeatedly lock ourselves in cages of our own making while we push our heads against the glass wishing we were on the other side. Midday winter sun falling on the endless Canadian Rockies with Mt Edith Cavell 3,368 m (11,050 ft) rising prominently. Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
The long northern winter is slowly coming to an end. Snowshoeing on the Athabasca Glacier. Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Stormy spring weather with patches of extreme bright and dark provided a chance to capture simultaneously both shadows and reflections in the Athabasca River. Starting at the Columbia Icefield the river is one of a few to actually flow North into the Arctic Ocean. Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada