The World Through Our Lens
Photography of nature we have observed during our travels.
On a visit to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Bob and I were thrilled to discover a Moose (Alces alces) in a boggy area just to the side of the highway. It was a nice spring day, so the Moose was encouraged to leave the protection of the forest and soak up the warmth of the bright sunshine. Read more
The estate property of Ashford Castle boasts a dense, healthy forest thanks to the efforts of previous owners Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness and his eldest son, Lord Ardilaun. Sir Benjamin had thousands of trees planted during his occupancy of the castle after acquiring it in 1852, and in later years, when the estate passed to Arthur, he expanded the plantings to create extensive woodlands. Read more
On our second day of X-country skiing at Banff National Park , Bob and I had decided on the Pipestone Trail system and were planning on tackling a trail of moderate difficulty for our second ski of the season. The extreme conditions forced us to opt for one of the easy trails instead. Read more
One afternoon during our stay in Banff National Park, Alberta, Bob and I decided to take a drive from Lake Louise along the Bow Valley Parkway, a quieter highway than the Trans Canada, only two-lane versus four. We were in hopes of spotting some wildlife and were on the lookout for elk in particular. Seeing another vehicle pulled to the side of the road, we slowed to have a look. At first, we didn’t notice the Elk laying in the snow but rather thought the tourists were admiring yet another beautiful mountain peak. Read more
While visiting Banff National Park, Bob and I learned of a hiking trail at Johnston Canyon that promised views of frozen waterfalls after traversing the length of a deep river gorge beneath sheer canyon walls. We knew the experience would be right up our alley. What we did not anticipate was finding a group of ice climbers actively ice climbing the frozen waters of the Upper Falls. Read more
On our first morning in Banff National Park, Alberta, Bob and I made a beeline for Lake Louise to take advantage of the morning sunshine for photographing that iconic location. When we returned to the parking lot at Chateau Lake Louise, Bob quickly pointed out an interesting bird loitering near the vehicles and seemingly unafraid of the humans coming and going about their business. The bird turned out to be a Clark’s Nutcracker.
On our first morning in Banff National Park, Bob and I had planned to go cross-country skiing, but with the sun shining brightly, we headed up instead to checkout the skating surface on Lake Louise. We were pleasantly surprised to find not one but two ice rinks, with one reserved for ice hockey, and the other set off by a glistening castle fashioned out of blocks of ice for ice skating. Read more
During our stay at Banff National Park, not a day passed without a dump of fresh snow. Either we awoke in the morning to an additional 6 inches weighing down the trees, or snow fell so thickly when skiing that we could barely see which way to go. One afternoon, owing to the lack of freshly trackset cross-country ski trails, Bob and I opted to go snowshoeing up into the mountains following the Lake Agnes Trail from Lake Louise. Read more
I was filled with anticipation when Bob and I boarded the B.C. ferry returning to Horseshoe Bay from Vancouver Island because it was from the ferry that I planned to cast adrift our Message in a Bottle. It had been over a year since we found the bottle that contained an inspiring message from its authors. Read more