Through My Lens: Top of Sulphur Mountain
This view is from the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park. Take a deep breath: those are the Rocky Mountains you’re looking at.
There are two ways to get to the top of Sulphur Mountain: you can hike up or you can ride up. The hike up isn’t a long one (5.5 km), but it is all uphill (elevation gain of 650 m). The Banff Gondola is a lot easier and a lot quicker. It runs year round and takes you from the Banff Upper Hot Springs to the top of the mountain in just eight minutes. (Those hot springs, incidentally, are how Sulphur Mountain got its name.)
Once you’re at the top of Sulphur Mountain, you have a 360-degree view of the Rocky Mountains.
Dizzying, isn’t it?
I don’t want to overwhelm you, so I’m posting only a photo of the view to the east. That’s the town of Banff nestled around the diminutive Tunnel Mountain in the centre of the photo. Behind Tunnel Mountain is Cascade Mountain, and to the far right of the photo is Rundle Mountain.
Calgary Stampede
It first dawned on me that people from outside our country had some wildly out-of-date notions about Canada on my first ever trip to Europe. It happened when one of my Dutch cousins began asking questions about what life in Canada was like.
“And the cowboys,” she said. “You have lots of cowboys, right?”
I hesitated. I was acutely aware that I was about to burst her fantasy bubble.
“Uh, some,” I said. “You mostly see them at the rodeos.” I think an awkward attempt to explain what happens at rodeos followed ― awkward because I had never actually been to a rodeo. I quickly changed the subject.
Then again, if you are a couple of Italian tourists visiting Calgary during Stampede Week ― like the ones I met standing beside me at the parade ― it’s easy to go home and think Canada is all about the cowboys.
I suppose there are worse stereotypes out there.
The Calgary Stampede (also known as The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth) finished up just a week ago. I went this year for my first time ever ― and had a blast.
First held in 1912, the Stampede became an annual event in 1923. These days, the rodeo attracts competitors from all over North and South America.
The Treaty 7 First Nations have been an integral part of the Stampede since its beginnings.
In addition to the parade (which starts the Stampede off with a bang), the rodeo, and the chuckwagon races, there are lots of animals to see.
There’s also a midway, and lots and lots of live music. And pancakes.
And, every year, the Indian Village.
If you’re feeling underdressed, don’t worry. There are plenty of places where you can get your proper Stampede attire. For a price.
The Calgary Stampede celebrates Alberta’s history, but also its present. Ranching is big business in Alberta ― half of the country’s beef is raised here.
I’ve lost touch with those Dutch cousins of mine, so I don’t know if they ever made it to Canada. But if they did, I sure hope they got to see a cowboy or three.
Through My Lens: 4th Street SW
I’ve been hanging out in Alberta for the past ten days, which means I have a whole whack of photos to go through. That will take me a while because, well … you know. It’s summer.
And so, to keep this blog rolling, here’s a photo I took last summer. This is downtown Calgary. Which is exactly where I was two days ago.
Science World
Another legacy site of Expo 86 is Science World. During Expo, it was called Expo Centre. Like most of the pavilions, it was intended to be dismantled at the end of the fair, but intense public opposition to that plan saved it, and it was turned into a science and technology centre instead.
During the 2010 Winter Olympics, it was transformed into Sochi World ― locally referred to as the Russia House ― to promote the 2014 Winter Olympics and to function as the hospitality area for the Russian national team.
Strawbabies
When I was in high school, the end of June meant the end of the school year and the start of strawberry season. My mother would throw the ice cream pails into the trunk of the car and off we went ― her and my siblings and I ― to one of the U-pick farms on nearby Westham Island. A few hours of picking (and snacking) later, we’d head home with our haul of luscious red berries. Mom would get to work making jam, while we would help her out by eating a handful of berries every time we wandered through the kitchen. My (then) baby brother called them strawbabies, and the name stuck.
BC berries are so tasty that I became a strawberry snob. To this day, I refuse to eat the pale and tasteless California strawberries that are sold in BC the rest of the year.
One final note: If there was ever any doubt that our climate is changing, the shifting of strawberry season by a whole month is enough evidence for me. Strawberry season now starts every year around the end of May and is already over by the last week of June.
Big Ben
I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain why I’m posting this photo tonight. What I suspect is the world’s most iconic clock is, I think, the best metaphor for what Brexit will do to the United Kingdom and Europe.
There is no turning back.
Through My Lens: Fraser River at Deas Island Park
Here’s another view of the Fraser River. This photo was taken from Deas Island Park in Delta, near the mouth of the Fraser River. I’m looking west. Somewhere beneath all that water is the George Massey Tunnel, which is how Highway 99 (the highway that goes from Vancouver to the US border) crosses the Fraser River. The tunnel is going to be replaced by a 10-lane bridge sometime in the near future.
Which means this view of the Fraser River will be completely transformed.
Through My Lens: Fraser Valley
And this photo shows the view you have over the Fraser Valley from Mission Abbey.
The Fraser Valley is a major agricultural area of British Columbia. Vegetables, berries, mushrooms, pork, dairy, and poultry ― you name it, they grow it. Much of the produce I buy at the West End Farmer’s Market comes from here. And here’s your stat for this post: although less than 2 percent of the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve is located in the Fraser Valley, more than 60 percent of the province’s agricultural revenue comes from this region.
Through My Lens: Fraser River at Mission
Earlier this year when I was looking through my photos of Mission Abbey, I came across this one of the Fraser River. The river’s source is at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson, highest point of the Canadian Rockies. It is BC’s longest river and the tenth longest river in Canada.
There and Back Again 