Day 119 of a 365-Day Portrait of Canada: Lake Louise and the Rocky Mountains

East Entrance To Banff National Park

Park Pass Attendant

You’d better make sure that you have a park pass while in Banff National Park. We were checked twice for a park pass by Park Wardens in the parking lots of the more popular spots, such as Lake Louise. In all my 20 years of going to Banff  National Park I have never once been asked to produce a park pass.

This is a wildlife overpass, which has saved hundreds of animals being hit on the highway in Banff National Park.

This is the only large wildlife we’ve seen so far in Banff National Park.

This little fella was quite the mooch. He hung around until someone finally fed him part of their sandwich. He was definitely a pro at begging for food. It was kind of sad though to see him so tame and seemingly dependent on hand outs. We are told that this bird is called a Clark’s Nutcracker.

On a clear day you would be staring at the Lake Louise Glacier. If you look closely half-way up the darker rocky edge, you’ll see what I think looks like a person with a backpack on heading upwards. I stood there with my lenses trained on this figure for ten minutes and it never moved, so it must be made of stone.

We talked with a long time local of Lake Louise and he said that in all his 20 years he’d never seen wind like this. It was like there was a snow tornado. Check out the snow kicking up off the lake.

Born Into The Cold – His dad was calling him a little tamale because he was wrapped up so tight. 

Banff National Park is for all ages! This mama came all the way from Poland to visit. 

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Faces Of The Day

Day 118 of a 365-Day Portrait of Canada: Heading to Alberta to Shoot the Rocky Mountains For One Week

Today we flew home to Alberta for a week to shoot a friend’s wedding in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, as well as to see family and friends after logging 118 amazing days on the road. We left Red Deer, Alberta at 4 o’clock on October 1st heading East and to-date have logged over 7500 kms and shot over 35,000 photos! We are holding up well, but life on the road can wear you down and we are looking very forward to sleeping in our own bed.

For interest sake I thought I’d test out Ottawa’s airport security by stashing a nearly full tube of toothpaste in my camera bag. Well, the two camera bodies and four hard drives may have thrown them off because the tube of toothpaste went undetected. Not only that, but I managed to board the plane with not one lighter, but two lighters (to light the camp stove) in my winter coat, even after security went though my coat by hand. I took this photo of them without anyone noticing. I will add that security was friendly and smiled easily.

De-icing in Ottawa

40,000 feet above Canada

Calgary with the Rocky Mountains in the background.

Calgary’s Deerfoot Trail

Keeping the Airport Traffic Moving

Westjet 737 cockpit

Gate 50 in Calgary

The Calgary International airport is one of the nicer airports in Canada with comfort leather chairs and artwork everywhere.

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Faces Of The Day

 

 

 

Day 117 of a 365-Day Portrait of Canada: We Love Canada Flag Mosaic / Winter Roads in Ottawa

Winter Road on the Way into Hull, Quebec

Plowing highway 5; so far this we’ve been in five major snow blizzards. We purchased snow tires which has saved us many times over.

The weather in Canada shapes us. Take a look at this mother with her child lending into the wind while crossing a icy overpass.

With the transit strike in its 50th day, the citizens of Ottawa are very upset with the city and the union for not being able to reach an agreement. The traffic was three times as busy as it was the last time we were in Ottawa. 

Walking Home From Work

Bus Stop

 

Commute home from Ottawa to Hull, Quebec. The Quebec bus drivers did not go on strike. 

Tree in Front of the Supreme Court of Canada

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