A hike around Lake Louise

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Lake Louise in the Candaian Rockies is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. From our hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, (111 Lake Louise Dr, Lake Louise, AB T0L 1E0, Canada) Terry and I hiked around the lake on the western shore. The trail only gets to the far end of the lake before it ends. On the first hike, I stopped half way out to do this sketch looking back at our Chateau. Terry pushed on until the trail ended.

On a second hike, I walked with her to the end of the trail. On the cliffs at that end of the lake, rock climbers were scaling the pure vertical face of the rock. Although there were safety ropes and spotters below, it still seems pretty daring to trust the person below to keep you from falling to your death should you slip. The walking trail ended at a large glacial stream which must be fed by the large glacier up in the mountain pass. When we returned from the hike, I noticed a large class of students sitting on the terrace of the chateau doing watercolors of the lake. I glanced over a few shoulders and resisted the temptation to ask, “Are you an artist?” It was time for an afternoon tea and a nap.

Relaxing by a glacial stream

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Terry and I stopped at a narrow valley in the Canadian Rockies which had a trail leading to the cliff edge of another glacier. The parking lot was right beside a meandering glacial stream. This became the resting spot for tourists before the hike and after. I hiked with Terry up to a rocky overlook that gave a sweeping view of the whole valley.

A warning sign marked the trail from this halfway point toward the glacier wall. It warned that if the glacier calved, that hikers could drown or be crushed by building sized chunks of ice. Terry wanted to push forward on the unmaintained trail but I turned back to sketch at the stream. One woman was carving her initials on a rock using a smaller rock as her writing tool. I don’t understand this basic human need to scar a gorgeous landscape to prove that you had been there. I suppose I’m doing the same thing by sketching. I need to leave a mark. Stones probably last longer than paper, so maybe I picked the wrong medium to work with.

We had drinks in the car, so I grabbed one and hiked back to the first overlook. I got a bit nervous when I finished my sketch and Terry hadn’t returned. Of course if the glacier had calved, I would have noticed the immense surge of water down the valley. Of course she didn’t know where I had set up to sketch, so I hiked back to the car. When she returned, we had lunch in the car and then pushed off to the next sight.

Hoodoo you think your fooling?

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Hoodoos are rocky sandstone spires that appear after eons of erosion. These hoodoos were located a short drive from the second hotel we stayed at in Banff. These magical spires are carved
by wind and water protected by a hard cap of rock at the peak.

A sign at the roadside parking lot warned about bears. I was more concerned about the gloomy grey clouds that moved through the Bow river valley. A well maintained trail lead to this spot that overlooked the hoodoos. I sketched from the opposite side of the fence which protects tourist from falling into the valley as they stare into their digital devices.

There was a steep sloped trail that lead right to the base of the Hoodoos and Terry decided to hike down while I sketched. She sang while she walked to warn any bears of her approach. The clouds let off a light mist of rain. It wasn’t raining hard enough to send me running for cover, but it certainly made it hard to put watercolor washes on the sketch. Any time a drop hit the page it would explode and remove pigment from the sketch.

I saw Terry’s photos from the base of the hoodoos and they are impressive up close. I wanted to include the human element however and I could always catch a tourist taking a photo from the trial’s corral.

The Baniff Marathon Fills the Quiet Mountain Town

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Terry and I used Banff, Alberta Canada as our home base for quite a few days. The town park near the river was the starting line and finish line for a marathon. We were hiking into town from our hotel and came across the marathon just outside of town. I decided to sketch runners as they ran the final few yards to the finish line. The building in the sketch is the Banff Park Museum. We never did go inside. Terry shopped in the many stores along the mains street while I did this sketch.

Banff is in the Banff National Park in the Alberta Canadian Rockies. Banff is a resort town and one of Canada’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs. It is a destination for outdoor sports and features extensive hiking, biking, and skiing areas within the area.

By the time I started to sketch, the lead runners had already finished. The spectators cheered just as loud for the people who were struggling just to finish the race. Finishing a marathon is an achievement in itself. Some runners had slowed down to a walk, but thanks to she cheers and knowing the finish line was in sight, they often started to run again.

When I was in high school, I trained extensively for the cross country team. I wasn’t very fast but I always finished any race I ran. I started training for a marathon to be held in Atlantic City. I ran further than the marathon distance on some days. I was obsessed. However on race day, I missed the bus to the starting line. So I have never officially run a marathon, so that is something that is still on by bucket list.

Shopping with the Locals at the Banff Farmers Market

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Banff‘s park near the Bow River was the site of a Farmer’s Market on the weekend. Terry and I stayed in the town long enough to start discovering the spots where locals tend to hang out. A farmer’s Market is the perfect spot to meet locals as they shop for locally grown produce.  Locally hunted meat was packaged as sausages and they was an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables.A photographer had a tent set up and he took some interest in what I was doing. He is a wildlife photographer and there is no shortage of subjects in the Canadian Rockies.

One day Terry and I stopped at a lakeside resort to stretch our legs. It had been raining all day but it had finally cleared up a bit. We found a spot on a small wooden bridge that offered a clear view across the lake. We noticed a couple hiking along the far shore. Then above them in a clearing maybe 5o yards up the hillside, we saw a grizzly bear. The bear was foraging for food. Just as the couple entered the clearing, the bear disappeared form view back into the woods. Someone standing next to us said, “They better have bear mace.” The couple kept walking around the lake towards us. When they were close, we walked up to them to let them know how close they cad come to a grizzly bear. They hadn’t noticed the bear and didn’t have any protection. Most hikers were small bells that make noise constantly warning any bears that they are approaching.

At a highway rest stop, a bear walked right through the parking lot. Terry drove up to the crowd of tourists taking pictures and got out to get a shot herself. Tourists stood within 10 yards of the bear taking selfies. The bear then walked towards the crowd and they scattered. He walked right past my passenger door so by staying in the car, I got extremely close to the bear. All this took place in a very short time span. I didn’t even think to sketch. I just watched in amazement. Some roads right outside of Banff were closed down because several grizzly bears were competing for territory. Driving down the parkway there were many “Bear Jams” which are crowds of cars pulled of the road so tourists could take photos of bears seen from the road. We stopped at every bear jam. I however didn’t sketch because bear jams can be momentary and break up the second a bear wanders away.

The Columbia Icefields Overwhelm in the Jasper National Park

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Terry and I stopped at the expansive Columbia Ice fields twice to take in the view. The first time it was rather cold and overcast. Terry decided she wanted to hike to the base of the glacier. I was content to stay near the parking lot and paint the view. As I sketched, the mountains became shrouded in clouds. When the sun disappeared, the temperature plummeted. When it started to rain, I ran to a lean to that was a shelter for some maps of the area. The rain made it hard to complete the watercolor, so I put my supplies away and put on my rain gear. Then I waited in the shelter trying to avoid the cold winds.

Terry seemed to be gone forever. I started to worry that she might have wandered off the trail and gotten lost. There was no cell phone reception, so I couldn’t call or text. It turns out that it is a much longer hike to the foot of the glacier than Terry expected. When she did get there, she asked a family with a car if they could drive her back to our car. She played the Disney animator card to get the family excited to meet the artist. It worked and the tourists asked me all about the films I had worked on and then they asked for an autograph.  I was just thankful that Terry was alright. The weather changes quickly at these high altitudes and Terry wasn’t really ready for the sudden ice cold rains.

On our second visit we parked at the lot much closer to the receding edge of the glacier. Once again, Terry went off to hike while I did a second sketch of the ice field. Markers on the drive out show how the glacier has receded since the turn of the century.

Heading to the Canadian Rockies

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In high school and college, Terry traveled the world extensively. That wanderlust is back and sometimes I go along for the ride. Our latest trip was to the Canadian Rockies. The Orlando International Airport involved the usual bustle of checking baggage and getting boarding passes. Then there was the long line through security. Shoes came off along with belts and my hat. There was the struggle to juggle bins for electronics and pocket items. Then the full body scan so they could check my junk.

Flight 1407 was a direct flight between Orlando and Calgary Canada. As I sketched my fellow passengers, I had to wonder why they were headed to the North West.  The young girl seated in front of me double fisted her cell phone and laptop. Most people glanced at some digital device at some point to kill the time. One woman however was reading a newspaper. Yes she held real paper in her hands glancing at the headlines.

Terry went to the women’s room to take care of business so she would be calm for take off. We all crushed onto the plane and then we were off to the Rockies. I spent the entire flight watching the grid of America slipping by below.

Riding Horses on Vacation

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My wife Terry used to love to ride horses. She used to volunteer for the Police Equestrian Unit in Orlando riding the police horses  to make sure they got enough exercise. On a vacation to visit my family in Pennsylvania she went for a trail ride while I sketched the horses in the coral. She stopped riding abruptly when a police horse got spooked and threw her to the ground. She ended up with a huge bruise down her leg which had her limping for a week.Horse riders say that it isn’t a matter of “if” you will be thrown, but a matter of “when” you will be thrown. I have never trusted horses and I have never sat on top of a horse. I suspect they don’t have my best interests at heart.

 On a vacation to the Canadian Rockies this year, Terry once again went on a trail ride that went for miles up a muddy path to a glacier lookout. I stayed behind and did a sketch. The trail horses were super calm and she didn’t get thrown or injured. Perhaps as the saying goes, she is back in the saddle. The trail horses had Western saddles that have that horn to grab onto. The police horses have English saddles that leave a rider with nothing to grab if they loose their balance. Regardless of the saddle though, I still prefer to sketch horses rather than ride them.

July 4th Fireworks at Lake Eola Park

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July 4th was my first day back from a vacation in the Canadian Rockies. It turns out that they celebrate Canada Day on July 1st, the same week as our Independence Day. Terry and I went to watch fireworks in the small mountain town of Jasper Alberta. The whole town must have shown up to see the fireworks display on the soccer field of the local high school. Everyone found a spot on a steep grassy hill. Some people wore the Canada flag as a cape and there were plenty of Canada flag temporary tattoos. At the base of the hill next to the baseball diamond was a fenced in beer garden. People got anxious as it got closer to the start time which was very late. The sun sets much later way up north in the cool mountains.

It was still dusk when the first burst went off and echoed off the mountains. Streaming rockets that looked like comets reached up to the night sky.  There were fireworks I had never seen before like twirling disks and showering curtains of light. I watched the crowd whose faces became illuminated by the bright explosions. Huge bursts went off only a few feet above the ground. A mortar rotated, firing like a machine gun in quick succession. Smoldering embers burned out in the grass. The crowd was constantly muttering oooh and aaah in appreciation. There was a magnificent finale with bursts layered on top of each other in a thunderous roar. People applauded and were surprised by a second even bigger finale. Then there was the crush of the crowd as everyone tried to leave. I took Terry’s hand so we wouldn’t be separated. One family had watched the fireworks from a boat that sat on a trailer next to the park. “Only in Jasper” one local high school student remarked.

Terry wasn’t up to going to Lake Eola to see Orlando’s fireworks. She needed some down time after all our traveling. I ventured out on my own to sketch. People had staked out their viewing spots hours before the fireworks were to start. The family seated in front of me must have been tourists from Eastern Europe. They came prepared with a full picnic and plenty of reading material. All around the lake, the crowds grew thick. The Orlando Concert Band played John Phillips Sousa tunes in the Band Shell. When my sketch was covered with red white and blue, I decided to leave. You can watch fireworks every day of the week in Orlando if you drive towards the theme parks at dusk. A woman was grateful to take my prime viewing real estate. As I walked away from the lake, crowds flowed toward the lake. Robinson was shut down. A mom explained to her daughter, “Look, its a walking and biking street!” I continued upstream like a salmon.

On the drive home, I heard a noise that sounded like something was hitting the inside of my wheel well. I turned off my radio to listen. I finally realized it was the sound of fireworks. In every direction, huge plumes of sparkling spheres exploded. Everywhere I looked the sky was on fire. In my subdivision neighbors competed with each other for the biggest blast. It was a beautiful sight. Back at home I watched Dead White and Blue with my very content Cockatoo cuddling in my lap. I got to experience Independence Day in two different countries this year. I have much to be grateful for.