Four Days In Oregon

Seventeen hours and thirty-seven minutes.

That's how long it takes to drive from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Grants Pass, Oregon, United States. 

It's a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things. Less than one day, and you can still include a couple hours sleep to boot. But when you have only a hundred and forty-four hours in the span of a month to use at your leisure, giving seventeen and a half of them over to one project requires that project to have a certain level of significance. To give double that time in order to make it back home, and thus leaving yourself only four days out of sixty-five to do with as you please, well, that makes the project a flat-out priority.

And so it was that I spent four days in Oregon in April of 2019.

I checked off my 'to-do' list within the first twelve hours. Only two people knew I was coming at all, and with social media as it is, it is difficult to keep your presence a secret in a place the size of Grants Pass so I needed to get things done before word got out that I was in town. With that covered and a huge weight off my shoulders, I set out to visit and relax and explore, and to enjoy my brief time in the place I've grown to feel I belong.

 And on the way home, a Stop The Car moment in a little place called Sandpoint, Idaho.

  

And finally, the British Columbia/Alberta border, making just enough time to stop in at home for a suitcase switchover and continue on my way north and back to real life.

Elbow Falls

Right where the foothills turn into the Rockies, just off the side of Highway 66 in western Alberta, lies Elbow Falls. Its majesty is not in its size, but in the pristine water and rocky shoreline that culminate at this point of the Elbow River.

On March 16, 2019, the snow was still deep on the ground and the ice still clung precariously to everything it had enveloped with its slippery touch, but the sun shone brightly and it was warm enough to leave our coats behind and take our cameras on an afternoon drive.

Playing with shutter speed... though maybe not quite to the extent I thought.

Frozen water!

Imagine how cold it is!

We weren't the only ones (or even the only photographers) at the falls that day, but it was a great day for a quick getaway and the perfect good bye to winter.

On The Rocks

Some things can be made all the better with just a little ice.
An injury.
Cream.
Tea.

And the province of Alberta.

I wanted to see a frozen waterfall. I wanted it to be close enough for a day trip, but far enough to make sure it could take the whole day. I wanted to take my camera and see something I hadn't seen before, and I wanted it to embrace the cold of the long Canadian winter.

Johnston Canyon fit all of my criteria.
This place had everything I was looking for, and then some!

Natural tunnels through mountain cliffs, frosted with a foot or two of white glitter.
Under the rocks, if you will.

(The photo on the right is taken from the opening on the other end of the tunnel pictured on the left.)

Man-made walking trails that let you take in the canyon from the cliff's edge (between the rocks?) or hop the fence and put yourself on the rocks, hiking directly on the solid ice bottom.

A fallen tree that landed on a rock to create the shape of a hockey stick... or is it just me?

Squint... do you see it yet?

How about some upside down icicles? 

Under a rock.

True story - this photo is right side up!

And of course,  frozen waterfalls.

Over the rocks!

Then...

 there was this one.

For scale (and sheer awesomeness) there are two people in the photo below.
Can you see them both?

Here's a hint for the one you're probably missing.

That's right: I clearly wasn't the only one taking advantage of the gorgeous end of winter day to do what I loved.



These people were truly on the rocks, in every sense of the phrase!
What an interesting thing to photograph!

Also, one of my favourites from near the top of the canyon:



... and directly across from me - this highly decorative ice formation!

Behind me, posing:

And then one more shot of the massive icicles in all their crystal-clear glory.

Johnston Canyon in winter is truly a spectacle. It's like a gigantic frozen palace within the rocks and among the Rockies.

Edmonton Ice Castles

I lived in Edmonton for two years, but I had moved to Calgary before I finally made my way back to see the ice castles. This super-cool display is an annual masterpiece, created by hand in six locations around North America, including it's 4th season here in northern Alberta.

The castles are open to the public in the evenings, for daylight viewings and nighttime magic. Photos are encouraged, but you are not permitted to bring photo equipment such as tripods, so my nighttime shots are less than my best work. The coloured lights are forever moving and changing and it's really something I'd highly recommend experiencing live. In the meantime, however, step inside for a bit of what I was able to capture...

Is that a SLIDE?!?!?! Oh yes. Yes it is. 

"You're an adult, are you really gonna go down the.... "

""WEEEEEEE!"

This wall was really neat. The lights behind danced and changed colour, from this gorgeous rainbow effect, to the appearance of flame, to bright, frigid blues and purples. Someone puts a LOT of time into this place.

The castles are now closed for the season, but I've already decided that I'll go back next year, camera in hand of course, for a daytime walk-through. The cubbies and nooks and crannies really make you feel like you feel like you've left reality, and really, that's what we all need, isn't it, every once in a while?