Scenic

Perhaps you will decide to visit Alberta this summer and if you do a great road to travel is Highway 11 – the David Thompson Highway. There are many sights and attractions along this route.  From Red Deer, this highway will take you to Rocky Mountain House, Nordegg and will end at the Saskatchewan Crossing  where it meets the Icefields Highway.  You can then go either direction to Banff and Lake Louise area or to Jasper.  The Columbia Icefields are found here also.  Today, a few photos from the Nordegg area along the David Thompson route.  The enormity and beauty of the Canadian Rockies cannot be put into words and the colours of the mountain lakes are spectacular. We stayed at Aurum Lodge, an eco-friendly lodge overlooking Abraham lake – very peaceful and relaxing location away from the high tourist zones.

Below: Abraham Lake

Enjoy!

~Sharon

I came across this playful and curious otter on a morning drive in Sunset Country ( N.W. Ontario ).  The otter was enjoying a swim in a lake where the ice had melted away.  I stopped to watch and in typical otter form it swam towards me to take a look and then carried on with its business of diving and frolicking in the ice cold water.  The otter’s broad and lengthy tail is used like a rudder and it also has wide feet with toes that are webbed.   They are agile simmers that dart around in their underwater playgrounds.  It just amazes me how nature has protected our animals in such ways that they can live in the icy cold and frozen lakes and rivers.  Otters can be found all through the winters slipping in and out of openings in the ice.

Check out a previous blog on this website from August 2009 called ” A Once in a Lifetime – An Otter Story”  for some really unusual otter photos.  You can see all posts related to otter by clicking on the “Otters” category on the right side of this page as well.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Last March I posted a Blog on “Unusual Ice Formations” – Ice Circles.  You need icy cold rushing water with little eddies on the side to produce these ice platters.  As it happened, I noticed on a television program this past year “Is That Wierd or What” – William Shatner’s TV show, that they featured Ice Circles.  Canadian born William Shatner of Star Trek fame was visiting a United States Army lab facility  where they were attempting to form and explain these unusual ice formations.  They did in fact produce some in the lab but definitely not as beautiful as the naturally formed ones shown below.  As it happens, we have them occurring right here in Manitoba and it is likely they are not that uncommon if you get to the rivers at the right time of spring thaw.  It is clear that the froth generated from the rushing ice cold water gathers in the eddies and swirls around forming the circles which then freeze up because of the water/air temperatures.  Eventually these ice circles free themselves from the eddies and float downstream where they melt.  So once again – here are some recent photos of our made in Manitoba Whiteshell ice circles.

Enjoy!

~Sharon