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I am releasing my first calender of photos “Wild Flowers of the Canadian Rockies.” Its a limited edition of just 100 calendars.  One for $12  or two for $20. Please contact me at the link below if you are interested in purchasing a calendar.

From the back cover:
As a visual artist I love painting and photography. I love capturing the intensity of life in common things. I have loved photography since I was a little kid. I still have a print of gorgeously blurred black and white photo of a sunflower from my first photo class in 3rd grade. I am still taking photos of flowers today, however I take photos of other stuff too. As my job takes me around the world my camera captures the textures of life.

As an outdoor person I love to discover nature revealing its secret beauty. The most beautiful often takes the most effort. Many of these wildflowers of the Canadian Rockies bloom for a short time and require long hikes into the high alpine elevations. To me flowers talk to our souls; sometimes smiling, sometimes melancholic, sometimes vibrant, sometimes peaceful.

Again I drive up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. Always beautiful, always something new. This time the sky was a bit more blue, and the bears were out interrupting traffic. I encountered two bear jams – Bear jam you ask? Yes, when a bear grazes along the road mining its own business, the traveling visitors must stop and take pictures, even if that means parking in the middle of the road. Add a few campers a couple of buses, and well you get the idea. And so what do you in such a situation, stop and take photos…

The first jam was a mother grizzly and her two cubs. She even a gave a bit of show by leaving a present in the snow. The next jam was a black bear quietly grazing the grass and dandelions in an open field. A few times he (or she: I did not bother to check). A few times he wondered over to the guardrail and leaned over to a stopped vehicle and stretching out his paw. Humm you think he was fed before. And what was interesting was he only did this to motorhomes. He completely ignored the cars. OK a show indeed. Then some people would get close up to the railing taking photos. Then the bear moved toward them, like an amoeba the group moved away. And as the bear moved back to grazing the amoeba moved back in… People and amoebas that would be an interesting topic… over a cup of coffee or pint of beer. Enjoy the photos….

We drove just outside Jasper Village on Sunday to one the many unmarked trail heads, only the presents of a gravel lot and porta-potty marks its existence. This one the Five Lakes trail. The lakes are named Lake 1, Lake 2, Lake 3, Lake 4, and Lake 5… Yes imaginative. We head on to the trail, winding through the trees at steady incline. Then the first lake (Lake 2, or 3 I believe). The turquoise water, actually is is amazing the different shades of turquoise to be found. The reflection of the trees in the colored water… the Original Watercolor… And so we hike around the lakes, then along a small valley looking down among trees and bushes. One lake was not a lake. At least for now. The water table needs to rise a bit. A pig might enjoy it though.

The mountains quickly rise out of the West. rugged and and exciting with the dark clouds gathering around the tops. Snow still covering the world in white even this late in spring. April showers are April flurries here on the edge of the Canadian Rockies (OK it is early May but still…). I am driving a friend from Calgary to Jasper via the Ice field parkway. Out of Calgary down Trans-Canada Highway 1. The rolling hills of grass and dirt grow into mountains towering, leaning over us, as we winding into Banff National Park. We make our first stop of many along our 5 (no 8 hour trip) to Jasper. The sights, the mountains, the nature increase in splendor as we drive north. We make a stop in Lake Louise to gas up before getting on the Icefields Parkway. 230 km or so now to Jasper (2.5 hours if you don’t stop and take photos).

The road winds its way through the heart of the Canadian Rockies along one river and then another as we go from one valley to another. Frozen lakes sit quietly under the snow. Patiently anticipating the thaw to come. A lone coyote walks across the open space of one frozen lake, the mountains rising steeply behind him. The sun peaking through the cold clouds. Near the Banff – Jasper Park border, we pass Parker Ridge. Just last Fall I hiked this one. Wild flowers and clear views on a sunny luck warm day. But not to day. Still covered in deep snow, groups with ropes and ice picks, scale the sides and then ski down. Ski tracks drawing abstract designs into the face to the ridge. We watch and then moved on. Dropping from the high passes into another valley. An hour or so latter we pull into Jasper Village. A small town in the middle of the Park. Just waking up from the winter slumber. Like the frozen lakes waiting with expectation of a warmer days.

Last Sunday I hiked along Parker Ridge. The drive North along the Icefields Parkway was gorgeous as the sun slowly climbed the sky. The shadows of cliffs and overhangs played along the mountains. The brilliant blue of the sky unmarked by cloud or plane. I found the trail head and began the hike, starting on a series of switch backs through stunted pine. The air was fragrant with the scent of the trees reminding me of Christmas.  I topped the ridge. The landscape here is all but barren. Scrubby plants hug the rocks as the wind howls across the ridge crest.

I now hiked along the crest down then up, slowly gaining elevation. Each subsequent rise steeper than the last. The rocks becoming more loose as I move along. I topped the last crest peak before looking up the crest to the top of Mt. Athabasca. I tested this slope but a quarter way up decided it was meant for another day. The slope was a pile of sharp edged slate plates sliding with every step. It would take longer coming down than doing up. The need for caution so as not to starting sliding down uncontrollable off to the sides of the ridge.

The air was crisp, but pleasant. Patches of snow painted the landscape. I sat quietly, soaking in the beauty and wonder, praying and pausing, melting into the moment. The sun had already started its quick slide to the horizon. It was time to go. The drive back was as beautiful as the morning. Now the Eastern cliffs were a bright warm yellow as the sinking sun gave its last light before night. The distant cliffs in shadow were a deep purple, the sky a deep blue. The Almighty artist painting the ever changing canvas, a true gift of beauty.

Click on image to enlarge.