Kootenay National Park, Canadian Rockies

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Wednesday, August 19 I drove from my campsite, at Kicking Horse in Yoho NP, east over the pass into Banff, which I visited for a mere handful of miles, then west again, down into Kootenay National Park.

The next day I left Canada. More to come....

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Photos

in Banff
This mountain is much photographed. It stands above Lake Louise, which I drove by without even looking at. I feel I've seen the photo a hundred times.

Wild Daisies
These daisies grew next to the parking lot for the Paint Pots trail.

Ochre Paint Pot
The Indians used the mud from these ochre springs as paint for their faces. The white immigrants dug it with machines and shipped it east, pigment for paint. Modern Canadians built a trail to them in their national park.

Ochre Mud
Some of the ochre is red, some yellow, some orange. The color comes from iron oxide.

Rocky Mtns.
The Rockies are just built differently than the Sierras and the Cascades. They are like big ungainly ROCKS popping out of the earth. Like big snaggle teeth of some giant.

Marble Canyon
In this shot it looks like a ditch.

Marble Canyon Chasm
But Marble Canyon is a deep narrow gorge. It's so far down I couldn't get a picture that shows it accurately.

Self-Portrait, Marble Canyon
Here I am in shadow, as I attempt to take a picture of the canyon.

Fireweed, Burn
Kootenay suffered a massive 40-day wildfire in 2003. The effects were especially evident here at Marble Canyon, in the east side of the park.

40-day Wildfire
Here you can see the fire damage on a larger scale.

Mountain Water
Jackie, here's my favorite color of water: sparkling clear, the color of rocks.

Comments

[jackie joday]

almost the end?
I cracked up when you said you didn't even look at Lake Louise.........wondered if that was akin to "doing the Louvre" in about an hour when we were teenagers? Sensory overload? Beauty fatigue? These pictures were so interesting. I would like to see those ocher pits (and paint my face). You and I agree on the water we like best -- I think it's in our bones. I have a feeling this sojourn is coming to an end, and I wish it wasn't. Have come to depend on this beauty...........both the photos and the words.

[wendy]

photos
Cindy, You're a great photographer!