Hooked On A Feeling

By the end of August, with summer coming to a close and my knowledge that I would be heading back to the northern half of the province soon, I decided I needed mountain time. As in, the real, actual, in-the-mountains kind of mountain time.

So I called a few friends and found one who was available for a hike in Kananaskis County, Alberta: the gateway to the Rockies.

 

As it turns out, we both find our peace in the mountains.
As it also turns out, we both like singing at the top of our lungs in the car on long drives.
Cue: out of tune Hooked On A Feeling, passing our turnoff and driving for substantially longer than we were supposed to, and this:

But wait. That's just the drive! And that's not all of it. We had a few pit-stops on the way. Some were on purpose, "STOP THE CAR!" moments:

... and some were good ol' fashioned stereotypical all-Canadian roadblocks:

 

 

 

We finally made our way to the trail we had chosen: Troll Falls and The Hidden Falls. Sounds intriguing, right? You bet it is. We pull into the parking lot and there's a power-line trail that is well-groomed and clear for miles.

 

 

It looks pretty, but I was kind of disappointed. I wanted to hike. No worries, that one's just for those who like easy-mode. We veered off into the woods.

 

Selfie moment!
This didn't come out at all like I expected. There was supposed to be all the pretty scenery behind me. But my camera was zoomed in further than I thought and I like it, so here you go. :)

It's a relatively easy hike to Troll Falls, though I'd still call it a hike more than a walk. The results are well worth it.

It's called Troll Falls because the surrounding rocks are littered with holes that it's easy to imagine as troll homes. They vary in shape and size and are completely natural.

After that stop, the path gets substantially more difficult, and most people generally call that the end.
But not us. This is our path:

 

 

It takes you to the top of the falls, and this was our view:

The trail gets even sketchier from then on. It's hard to find and branches off in all directions. At the end, though, is the 'hidden falls.' They're HIDDEN! We must go there!
So we did.

 

 

The super-cool thing about this falls, which is not actually hidden per se, but few people actually go there, is that you can walk underneath them. A photo from behind a waterfall? You bet I did it!

From that point on, we crossed the stream and decided to just follow it back to the beginning of the trail. That didn't go so well. There were places where the path lead away from the water's edge, and other places where there was no path at all. We figured as long as we kept the cliff edge and/or noise of the water to our left, we'd be going in the right direction. We also both had our cell phones, so we weren't overly worried about getting too lost.
It was all part of the adventure!

 

 

Here's me again. My friend took this one, and it takes in a lot of the feeling of the day for me.

 

 

Shortly after stumbling on this teepee-like structure, we made the decision to make a poignant effort to find our way back out. Through the trees along the path, I could see an open field and I suggested we go there so (not gonna lie, so I could take some pictures) and we could get our bearings.

Lo and behold... the open field!

 

Also known as the original easy-mode power line trail back to the parking lot where we had started! So we started back along the trail and this happened:

"Wouldn't it be cool if your camera had a timer and we could get a picture of us walking away with all the mountains and stuff in the background to tie off our adventure?"

Wouldn't it, indeed.
What an adventure, what a day, and what a feeling to be hooked on. :)

 

Meanwhile, in Calgary...

Calgary is an amazing city. I spend entire days walking aimlessly around the downtown area just to see what I can find that is new. My favourite part is the riverfront where, on any given Saturday, you might see...

...people enjoying glorious sunshine in shorts and on bicycles, though it snowed the day before.

 

...public yoga photography

 

...or a young bride and groom skateboarding up to the Peace Bridge and instantly filling me with photographer's envy!

*swoon!*

We're Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo....

I spent August 17 at the Calgary Zoo with my zoo-fanatic cousin and my Canon T1i. 

 

We hit the dinosaur wing first, which is new since my last visit, and I admit that I was a little concerned. Dinosaurs? In a zoo? Don't I go to see living animals? But there was no need for trepidation. These life-size animatronics were about as close to the real deal in their real environment that you're going to see.

Next up, penguins!

This guy...

...and this guy!

 

Super-cool things from the bear enclosure:

ridiculously close-up paw shot,

 

a 'white' black bear,

 

and some... BEAR BUM!
Technically bare bear bum... bare your bare bear bum!

You get the point.

Meerkat,

 

 

another representative from the set of the Lion King,

 

 

sad-looking monkey,

 

 

and strangely not-sad-looking leopard!

Click the photo to look close: is it just me, or is this guy laughing at me???

 

 

Maybe if you tilt your head a bit, you can see it?

 

The giraffe:
so docile-looking, like there are no cares in the world way up there.

The flamingoes are pretty.

 

I think this is my favourite shot of the day.

 

And so many more exotic birds!

 

 

 We took our time and spent the entire afternoon walking the zoo. Afterward, because my cousin has some great connections, we got a tour of the veterinary facility used to care for the animals. By the time the day was done, we were exhausted and our feet were sore, but still at least one creature seems to have been more than a little sad to see us go. :)