Along our trip from Japser, Alberta to Banff, Alberta, we stopped off at Peyto Lake. This large, turquoise coloured lake is fed from a nearby glacier (off camera left).  The colour of the water is from the silt that is deposited into the lake. When the sunlit hit the silt particles at a particular angle, the unrealistic colour is produced.

The above photo was stitched together from about 8 shots, hand-held and panned from left to right. I wonder what sort of HDR image I could create from this, though it would technically only be of 1 exposure as opposed to a minimum of 3 that I typically use. When I took the photo, I thought I had AE (exposure lock) enabled though when I looked later, it seems I didn’t have AE lock enabled. Luckily, the exposures between the photos were similar so lighting is somewhat even across the panoramic.

One of the things that Robyn and I got up to was a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. This being a wedding present, we actually had to reschedule it from its original date to my winter break. This was alright, with temperatures between 10 and 18 Celsius in Las Vegas, we weren’t really going to complain. We would be staying 4 nights at The Mirage, but this post is how we booked a tour to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Originally, we were going to book the 3-in-1 tour of the Grand Canyon. What does the 3-in-1 involve? A airplane ride out to the Grand Canyon were we would meet up with a helicopter to take is down into the Canyon itself to the Colorado River, which we would then take a boat down the river to a spot for a picnic. This didn’t pan out due to me being a student and the 3-in-1 tour being quite expensive on a per-person basis. What did we do then?

A quick look at Google for tours at the Grand Canyon left us with many options. Mainly, a lot of them for those large tourist buses that cram 40 or so people into them. Since the drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon is about 4-5 hours, we thought that perhaps we would try and find a tour operator that dealt with smaller groups. A quick visit over to Trip Advisor proved to be most effective, as we went through the top 3 Grand Canyon tours listed and read over the comments that people posted about each company. We settled for Grand-Adventures.com, a tour company that deals with smaller groups for a more personal experience.

Robyn sent an email about availability and found out they were all booked up. Before we left for Las Vegas, Robyn was contacted by a friendly representative saying that 2 spots on a tour were opened up due to a cancellation, it was for the 27th of December (my Birthday) so we booked it right away. Our arriving flight into Las Vegas actually brought us in at about 8:30PM the night before our tour, we didn’t get to The Mirage until about 9PM and our tour was to start at 6:20AM. We pretty much went to bed when we got checked in.

December 27th: 6:20AM

It was a early morning after a long day. Luckily, The Mirage has a Starbucks inside, just off the casino floor and that helped start our day right. I also have to say that, that particular Starbucks never failed to make me a good Soy White Mocha while we were there, whereas some of the Canadian locations we visit tend to make them poorly. Anyway, that is another story.

We got to the pick up location outside of The Mirage’s front entrance. We were the last to be picked up and we were greeted by Dan, our driver and tour guide. Our particular tour consisted of 2 other families for a total of 9 people on our tour. Much better than being stuck on a bus with 40 or so people.

Dan informed us, that our first stop would be breakfast (at a McDonald’s) in the city of Boulder.  Dan was great for talking about the history of how Vegas was born and various other tidbits. As we got into Boulder City, we continued to talk about Boulder City and our itinerary for the day. Did you know that Boulder City has deemed alcohol and gambling illegal? It is a pretty small and quite town, with 2 casinos at its borders though.

First Stop: Hoover Dam

Now, I was going to keep up with posting the rough time-line of our tour, but I cannot really remember when we got to our little points of interest, I will tell you that we left at 6:20AM and returned back at The Mirage at 8:45PM. That does include a few stops on the way to the Grand Canyon and stopping for gas once on the way back. It’s a LONG drive both ways.

After breakfast we drove to our first destination, the Hoover Dam. Thanks to 9/11, there is a security check-point that you go through when you get closer to the Dam itself. While they checked the back of the van, we were entertained by a family of Big Horned Sheep.The nice thing is we did not have to get out of the van during the check.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a decent photo of them through the tinted windows of our van. They were just grazing along the side of the check-point keeping an eye out for dangers (us). Dan was saying there are usually 2 scouts looking out for a larger group, so if we were lucky we might see a herd of about 20 of them. We only saw about 7 near the check-point, but I kept my eye out for any more.

A quick drive from the security check-point to the parking lot and we were out of the van and on our way to see the Hoover Dam. Robyn was giddy with excitement and quoting Beavis and Butthead the whole time. You know, when they screw around with the controls inside the dam and it bursts?

Anyway, a 15 minute walk up and around one of the hills put us on a Memorial Bridge that was constructed over the Colorado River and gives you a good view of the Hoover Dam itself.

At this time, we have also entered the state of Arizona. Though, we will be going much further into Arizona on our way to the Grand Canyon. As for the Hoover Dam itself, I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t go over the dam itself, as I would have liked to walked along the top of it. I guess I can see why they don’t really allow for it anymore. If the dam were to break, not only would the amount of water devastate the area down river, but Lake Meade would empty rather quickly and I do believe it is a vital source of water for the neighbouring towns (perhaps even Las Vegas itself).  We have a bunch of photos of the dam, including a panoramic I need to switch together. It is pretty impressive, and that the cement used to create is is STILL curing! Dan was also telling us that he does kayak tours which put in at the base of the dam (to the right just before one of the spill ways). The dam itself is a magnificent piece of work, if you get the chance to see a documentary on how it was built, you should watch it. Dan also mentioned that one of the inventions created during the construction of the Hoover Dam was the Hardhat, neat eh?

On our way back to the van, the tour buses started to arrive. 3 buses of about 40 people each poured out too! We noticed each person had a sticker on them, and when they returned to the buses, they were all accounted for. Looked more like herding cattle actually. Glad we spent the extra money on a smaller tour!

Next Stop: Seligman, Arizona; Birth Place of Route 66

Now most people have probably heard of Route 66 right? Also known as Main Street of America too! Well, its birthplace was a small town called Seligman. This is the same town where the creative director of Pixar got the idea for their animated movie Cars. It was pretty neat to see and be on Route 66, though it’s pretty quite in the winter. Even with the interstate 40 being so close, the towns along Route 66 are slowly becoming neat little tourist places once again, thanks to a local barber in Seligman by the name of Angel [wiki]. Angel was working when we drove into town, but we didn’t have enough time to go in and say hi. Angel is responsible for getting funding for the small towns that dot Route 66 in order to keep them alive and a part of American history. I think it’s pretty cool to see the small town along what used to be such a busy and historic route. It would be cool to see they these little towns look like in the busier tourist seasons.

I wanted to get a photo of the Road Kill Cafe, but we were too far down the street for me to go back and get one. Oh well, perhaps another time right?

Next Stop: Grand Canyon

If I can remember correctly, we did arrive at the Grand Canyon in about 5 hours or so, which means it was a perfect time for lunch. When you book your tour with Grand-Adventures.com not only do you get breakfast, you also get lunch too! You get to pick a type of sandwich (we had turkey) and are also supplied with water, fruit, cheese and crackers. Also there are yummy cookies for desert too. The sandwiches were large and quite good! They definitely filled us up!

Throughout our trip to the Grand Canyon, Dan would talk about the various areas we drove through, giving us little history lessons and info about the surrounding areas. It was quite informative and I enjoyed everything. He talked about the Joshua Trees, the Copper and Turquoise Mines that dot the landscapes as well as things like how the road networks were built and why they were built to even how places got their names such as Flagstaff. I find it odd how I know more about the US and its history than I do of Canada’s.

Once we got to our little overlook place for lunch, we got to see how first full view of the Grand Canyon.

Photos can never do this place justice, it should be on your bucket list! Robyn and I sat on a ledge while eating our sandwiches overlooking the canyon as the rest of our tour stayed in the warmth of the van. Yes, there is snow and it was about 2-3 degrees Celsius. Which of course, us Canadians can brave

After lunch we headed to the main area of the canyon where the hotel is located as well as the tourist shops. Here Dan dropped of us and let us wander around for about 40 minutes as he drove the van about a mile or so further along.

Robyn and I bumped into another Canadian couple (from Ontario I believe) who told us they were on one of the big tour buses and had 40 people. They mentioned that when they got to the Grand Canyon, their driver told them to get off and he would be back in 3-hours to pick them up. We both also noticed the onslaught of people at this little touristy area. We were glad we were on a much smaller tour.

When Dan got back it was time to start our little walking tour of the South Rim. We started at the tourist area and headed towards the Geology Museum. This was about 1.3 Miles and took a decent amount of time to do. As we walked, Dan pointed out the various layers of the rock that make up the Grand Canyon as well as how it was formed. For Robyn and I, this all seemed to be more of a review of early highschool geology, but it was enjoyable anyway.

There were lots of photo-ops along the way. We were glad we had a clear sky even if it was a little chilly as the sun slowly set.

The path lead along the edge of the canyon, though not close enough to be dangerous, but close enough to make things more spectacular. The flora among the path was pretty interesting to see, a variety of pines and low shrub. There were juniper trees (don’t eat the berries!!), sentry plants and even wild Thyme.

With the recent snow fall, there were some slippery spots (we did see people fall painfully) but that’s what you get when you wear sandals or even high-heeled shoes.

With the winter season, our tour was there to see the sunset. It is beautiful to see the sun set and the colours and shadows change constantly on the canyon walls.

Next Stop: Las Vegas

After the sunset we all got back into the van and Dan took us back to Las Vegas. The trip back was much quicker due to the fact we only stopped once and it was for gas and a bit of a stretch as well as some snacks. It was a quite ride home as the rest of our tour seemed to be exhausted. I just watched the night scenery go by and awaited for when the lights of the Strip showed up. As we were approaching Paradise Valley (aka Las Vegas), Dan mentioned how from the crest of the hill we could see how vast and how far the valley of lights spanned. The area of Paradise Valley is pretty massive, and reinforces how the area is running our of water, but it seems little is being done to conserve it on the Strip itself, though that is another story.

It was a fun, but long day. Definitely worth if if you ever find yourself in Las Vegas and want something different to do!

• Tour Company: Grand-Adventures.com
• Tour Size: 8-9 people max/van
• Our Tour Guide: Dan
• Food/Snacks: Breakfast and Lunch included
• Time: ~All Day (6:20AM-9:00PM)
• Cost per Person: $150 US
• Points of Interest: Hoover Dam, Seligman (Route 66), Grand Canyon
• Was it worth it? Yes! Definitely worth is! Highly recommended!

With all of that in mind, the weather here in Vancouver has been interesting. In fact, it has been snowing a lot on our North Shore Mountains, which has allowed places such as Cypress Mountain to open earlier than any other year in its history. As for life in White Rock, the weather systems that come off the ocean and through the San Juan islands is pretty cool. I love being able to look out our living room window and seeing the following:

Pretty cool eh?

Of course, there is always our neighbour’s pool. Even though it has been about 10 degrees out, the pool still looks inviting. Too bad our neighbour doesn’t keep the pool heated during the winter. I would love to go for a swim as the sun sets in the west.

On The Blog Front

I am behind on some posts (when am I not?), and hopefully I can find time to add a bit more something something for you to read.

There is also the Whistler/Blackcomb tweetup happening November 26th, which I will be heading out to attend. I attended the first one and met some awesome people! Though, due to school last year and the date they picked, I missed the second one. I will be there through for the 3rd Annual Tweetup at the Garibaldi Lift Co. (GLC) as it is on a Saturday! If I get there early enough, I’ll definitely wander around the village with my camera, not sure if I’ll head up the mountain though, opening day will be 2 days before.

From Lac La Hache we drove though 100 Mile, where we picked up a new axe and had a stop over at Tim Hortons. We took highway 24 south of 100 Mile towards Clearwater. It seems that I have misplaced my little piece of paper with the variety of distances I wrote down, but I think it was about a 2-3 hour drive from 100 Mile to Clearwater and of course we made a stop or two along the way.

If you have seen a map of the area we were driving through, you would notice that there are A LOT of lakes dotted on either side. There were a variety of fishing resorts all the way along the road at the various lakes too. Our first little stop was at Bridge Lake Provincial Park.

The lake is pretty large, the largest in the area. The park though, is a provincially run little campground with a boat launch. Well, not much of a launch but there were a bunch of campsites near the lake with a few outhouse facilities too.

We continued on our trip east and you eventually make it to Little Fort, this is also where you meet up with the Thompson River and start heading north towards Clearwater.

Once we got to Clearwater, we found their little grocery store. We stocked up on some meat products and headed towards our 2-night stay at Star Lake Fishing Resort.

Star Lake Fishing Resort

Now, when I think of resorts, or even fishing resorts I tend to think towards expensive, high-end luxury resorts where you spend $300+ a night per person. I wasn’t sure what to expect when Robyn first told me we were staying at a resort, but at their campgrounds. From the main area of Clearwater, Star Lake Fishing Resort is approximately 12km up a (in use) logging road. For a logging road, it is actually in good shape and we blazed up it at about 60km/h. It also seemed like a long drive from Clearwater, but at 12km it really isn’t. The resort has posted yellow stars periodically along the road so that you know you haven’t gone too far.

When we saw the turn for the resort, we pulled off down a wooded trail. When we pulled up to the front office we were met by Jerry (one of the hosts) and his dog Riley. Jerry told us about the property and showed us to the campsites. Since we were the only campers, we got to pick which site to set up at. There are a total of 10 campsites, 4 which are on the lake.

If I forgot to mention it, Star Lake Fishing Resort is situated on Star Lake in Clearwater, BC. In fact, it is the only property on the entire lake which is peaceful and relaxing. Star Lake Fishing Resort offers the following to its visitors:

• 5 cabins (with full amenities) – 3 which are lake side
• 10 campsites – 4 are lake side with wood decks
• Washroom/Shower facility for campers – It’s quite nice!
• Canoe and Kayak Rentals ($5/hr per person)
• Firewood – $5 for a wagon load! (about 2 nights worth!)
• Fresh water fishing – Rainbow Trout

There is more to do at the resort too, just check out their website: www.starlakefishingresort.com

Here are some of the photos I took while we were there for our first night.

 We stayed at Star Lake Fishing Resort for a total of 2 nights. We would have even stayed longer, but we both really wanted to visit the BC and Albertan Rocky Mountains. Each day though we took the kayaks out for a paddle around the whole lake, I even spotted 2 Osprey nests and an actually Osprey. One evening, as we were kayaking, the clouds rolled in. Moments later large flashes of bolt lightning lit up the sky and with that the thunderous booms. We made it back to shore just in time for the clouds to release their contents on us. It was torrential! Glad we put up our portable gazebo though as we of had to stay in the tent and wait the rain out.

After the rain stopped (lasted a couple of hours) Jerry and his wife Joan came by to check on us to make sure we were alright. We weren’t expecting it to rain, but we managed to survive it. It was nice of them to come check on us. Jerry mentioned he didn’t want us to have to stay in our tent if the rains continued.

Thanks to Jerry and Joan of Star Lake Fishing Resort for being great hosts,  having such a wonderful property and sharing it with other people! We would definitely come back up there if we find ourselves up that way. If you ever find yourself near Clearwater, BC. we would both highly recommend staying in a cabin (or their campsite if you’re camping!) at Star Lake Fishing Resort.

Next Destination for Day 3: Wells Grey Provincial Park

Moraine Lake in Banff National Park just outside of Lake Louise Alberta. As iconic as Lake Louise is to people, I prefer Moraine Lake. Mainly because it was not as “touristy” as Lake Louise was.

If you get up early enough (like Robyn and I did) you can catch the sun cresting over the mountains and lighting the mountains you see in the photo. The morning sun brings out the colours of the glacier fed lake. You also get better reflections when you view the lake from the higher view point too.

Due to the cloudiness of the morning, I opted to go with a 5-bracketed exposure of lake and mountains. I think it turned out pretty good, I had to wait a while to take my photos though. If you look closely at the dock, you will see a tripod next canoes. There was a younger girl taking photos for a good 30 minutes on the dock when I set up my camera on the tripod. I patiently waited as she wandered around the dock taking photos of things from different angles. I guess that is part of being a photographer right? Being patient? She eventually ducked down behind the canoes and that is when I did my 5-exposures. I actually took a bunch while she was doing whatever it was she was doing, but the above photos is comprised of a series of 5 photographs.

If you have never been to the Rockies of Jasper and Banff National parks, I would HIGHLY recommend going, The Icefields Parkway through the two parks is unbelievable. The majestic Rockies never failed to impress us during out whole trip. In fact, we could easily spend 2 full weeks in the two parks exploring every nook and cranny. We would even want to stay at the Moraine Lake Lodge next time too!

We left on August 28th and got back September 4th. This included driving more than 2,500 kms in about 7 days and we got to see and experience quite a bit along the way.

Along our way, Robyn had planned out our various stops, these stops included

• Lac La Hache, BC – 1 night camping
• Star Lake Resort, Clearwater, BC – 2 nights camping
• Wapiti Campground, Jasper, BC – 1 night camping
• Lake Louise, AB – 2 nights camping
• Penticton, BC – 1 night motel

Over the course of our road trip, I managed to take 884 photos. We stopped off at various viewpoints, provincial and national parks along our way, taking in the beauty and majestic scenery of our province and the province next door.

The following is a small selection of photos along the way. I plan on writing more about our individual stops/stays with more photos from each location, so please check back soon! (You can also subscribe to my Blog’s RSS feed to stay up-to-date).

Seton Lake, Lillooet (BC Hydro Lake)

Lac La Hache, BC (about 122 Mile area)

Star Lake Resort in Clearwater, BC

Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park

Mt.Robson, highest peak in the Rockies

Jasper’s Tramway or Gondola

Angel Glacier at Mt.Edith Cavell, Alberta

Moraine Lake, just outside of Lake Louise

Iconic Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Emerald Lake in Yoho Provincial Park, BC

There was a lot to see and experience on our road trip. We both believe we did not have enough time to do everything we wanted to do or see. We could have easily spent 2 weeks in the Jasper and Banff parks, but do to our limited time we picked highlights of both locations.

Now, I know not everyone wil appreciate the two photos above, but it was nice seeing a rainbow over Richmond on my way in to work on the bus this morning. I had to use Camera+’s Clairty and Vibrance filters to bring out the rainbow so it was a bit more visible. Clarity added a bit of noise/grain to the photos (more than I prefer) and of course, shooting from within a bus isn’t the most optimal place. It was actually a full rainbow too, you could see both ends.

Hopefully this means my day will go smoothly!

Yesterday as I walked for Robyn I popped over to the VanDusen Botanical Garden for a little photowalk. The sun was out, the breeze was cool and the gardens were practically empty.

I walked around for just a little under two hours and managed to only take 31 photos. Just wasn’t really feeling it I guess. Though, if I one were to bring a macro lens with them, I am sure they would be able to easily take more than 31 photos.

We do have a one-year membership to the gardens (there was a great deal on Groupon for it) and I do plan on going back. I think that VanDusen would be an excellent place for a photowalk. Perhaps one day I can rustle up a group of people and go there for a few hours.

Yesturday I wandered around Coal Harbour area with my camera and didn’t really take many photos. Now, is it because I walk around Coal Harbour too much and I have photographed everything, or is it things are just not as interesting to me in the city? Who knows.

This little guy was hanging out with his mother at the little pond on the north side of Georgia Street. Out of all the little ducklings that are hatched, I would say 10% might survive around the Lost Lagoon area? There are a lot of little predators out there such as Raccoons, Eagles, Crows (yes they eat the ducklings too!) and even Humans. Well not Humans directly, but indirectly such as being hit by vehicles or garbage  etc. I have seen people let their dogs chase the birds and their young numerous times around the Lagoon.

A Side Note:

Even though I was using my EF 75-300 f4-5.6 III lens, it doesn’t do a horrible job as long as the light is good. At times I am disappointed with it, but how can I really be disappointed in the performance of a lens that retails for roughy $200? The Chromatic Aberrationn (CR) at times can be noticable but I don’t really seem to be bothered enough to correct it in Lightroom. In the above photo, if you look the original at 100% (don’t have the original online but trust me) along the edge of the rock you can see the purple fringing.  Though in the above photo, you can’t really see it.

For those who are wondering about what settings the camera was at to get the photo:

• Shutter: 1/800
• Aperture: f5.6
• ISO: 200
• Focal Length: 280mm

We’re back from our little weekend get away up in Whistler for a wedding. Since I didn’t take any photos at the wedding (didn’t feel like bringing my camera) we did manage to get out to Alta Lake for a little bit.

These two dogs (they look like twins eh?) were being taught by their owner to jump in after their balls. They were quite reluctant to get into the water so their owner had to sort of… push them off the floating dock into it. Once they got in, they did swim and retreived their prized posessions without hesitation.

Makes us want a dog more, too bad we’re not allowed pets. One day… one day….