CaptainOrange

If you read my blog about the new Calgary Central Library, you are already aware that Wendy and I went on a brief work/vacation trip. While in Banff, I was fortunate enough to have access to Dave as an avalanche avoidance mechanism and day-trip planner. This has a significant positive effect on standard wife-danger-o-meter sensors and I was set free in the Canadian Rockies, once again. I only gave Dave a few days notice that I was coming into his stomping grounds. I knew quite a bit in advance of my trip, but after about 2 years being out of contact, I was uncertain whether I ought to insinuate myself into his mountain fortress of solitude. I needn’t have worried. He was only too pleased to hear from me, and after a lucky break and a bit of schedule wrangling, he was able to take a day away from Canmore. We probably lucked out and had some of the best weather for hiking (or most other things for that matter) that they had seen for several weeks. It was gloriously sunny and the daytime ...

Watching a TED Talk from my RSS back catalogue (Yes, I still use RSS) and was inspired by this mission. The goal is to image the entire Earth every day and to make the information publicly useable and searchable. Other images you find online could be months or years old. There are many powerful applications of this information, but mostly I wanted to play with it. The images are quite variable in their quality, but their are many that are very good. The website where this information is available is Planet Stories . I made a little 6 frame time-lapse of Canmore, AB from this year. I enjoy the snow change on the mountains and you can even see the ice breaking up on Lac Des Arcs on the right hand side.

These direction might be a little bit rough. You could probably get away with these type of vague instructions on the prairie without becoming seriously lost. Although death from boredom is a distinct possibility for some. At any rate, the title of this post gives you a pretty good idea how to begin my latest mountain expedition. As always, I was guided into the wilds by fellow Quester, Dave Aschim. We are starting to have a bit of a mountain legacy: 2009 ,  2010 , 2011 , 2014 , and now 2015 A map with a rough route drawn on it can be found here . One more note. I took a series of "geo panoramas" or " photospheres " as Google calls them. If you follow one of the links to Google Maps (I tried to imbed on the site, but failed), it isn't just a static image. On a laptop or desktop PC, you should be able to click the compass or click and drag the image to see an entire 360 degree view. The resolution isn't as good as my DSLR camera, but for now, it is stil...

Sunset Giving Me the Finger Dave and I managed to miss two years in a row of doing a mountain trip together, but schedules and luck finally co-ordinated. On September 3rd I jumped in the van and drove the 8hrs to Canmore, AB.  I love the time driving... exploring new music... stopping to take pictures on pure inspiration. If I had thought carefully, I probably would have planned to be near Drumheller for the sunset. I was just lucky, I guess. Horseshoe Canyon -- Sunset Knowing I was going to be in just before midnight, I never lingered long while taking pictures. There is no sense in making a long drive dangerous by being tired on the road. Dave and I were up mid morning and hit the road. We passed by Banff and Lake Louise and crossed into BC,  winding up at Yoho National Park.  We began our journey with some quick elevation gain following the Iceline Trail. Dave reckoned that doing the more difficult hike when we had lots of energy would be better...