Crater Lake
We stopped at the Sundial Bridge in Redding on the road from Sacramento to Crater Lake. Stunning structure! Mom made reservations early enough so that we stayed at the lodge this time.
We rolled in fairly late; I stayed up and snapped some time exposures of the clear, clear, clean sky over the lake. Caught some excellent star trails before the moon crept over the rim. The blue of the lake still defies description. Mom had been working out pretty extensively and agreed to hike down the rim to the lake for the 2-hour boat tour. The tough part is hiking back up the rim afterward. We took our time and made it without incident. On our way back from Canada, we stopped at Crater lake for the night. This time, she hiked with me to the top of Watch Tower peak. We were treated to some excellent late afternoon views. I had a close encounter with a deer on the hike back down!
The Canadian Rockies
Jean and I drove up to Lake Louise from Sacramento. Heather and Tyler flew into Calgary and drove to Lake Louise from there. We took in Lake Louise and Moraine Lake before heading up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper.
In Jasper, Heather got to experience the Canadian health care system firsthand. Not exactly the utopia Michael Moore made it out to be. Emboldened by my aerial Arizona adventures, I booked a scenic flight above the rugged Canadian Rockies on a wee Cessna. The seat was a bit cramped, but the views were spectacular. I did what I could to capture a few keepers; the photography was, um, challenging! We stayed at a cozy hotel in the heart of the townsite. The cold water was colder and the hot water was hotter than back home.
Jean and I had a few photo outings and got up close and personal with a pair of elk. We all took a boat tour to Spirit Island on Maligne Lake. Tyler and I trekked down the Maligne Canyon a ways. And we hiked to the top of Whistler Mountain while Jean and Heather waited at the upper terminal of the Jasper Tramway.
Jean and I then stayed at the Moraine Lake Lodge. Wow. Moraine lake is the photo op of the Canadian Rockies. I hiked up to the highlands above the lake to see what I could see. Great exercise and some nice scenes. I did what I could to soak up the alpine images. We got rained on and never did get prime photo conditions for the lake shot, but you work with what you’ve got.
