Lesueur ridge walk w Sean and Cam

It was a day with a bit of everything. Rain, up, snow, more up, strong sun, lots more up, wind, continuing up, great views, fun times with friends, and finally, yet more up.

I suppose I should begin at the beginning. Sean loves to go for hikes, preferably with a camera. His wife is happier when someone goes along. Cam is up for all sorts of photo related adventures. I should get out more, with or without the camera. This all came together last Friday.

Sean proposed a walk on Lesueur ridge, and we both said yes, in spite of unsettled weather. It was cold and raining a bit here. We decided to push through and make a final go/no go decision when we actually got there. We drove through several bands of snow, and into some lovely blue sky. We stopped along the way up a side road detour for a scenic mountain shot. 

Once at the trail head we layered up, gathered our gear, double checked the route, and set off. It was cool, with a raw wind and a bit overcast. The route starts with a bit of flat, then up. Lots and lots of up. For those who know the trail, we did the loop counterclockwise, meaning successive bouts of up a series of ever higher ridges. The views are wonderful! Going this way means you're looking at the view off to the left, as opposed to having to look over your shoulder all the time. 

Along the way we cycled between sunny and hot enough to want to take off our wind layer and unzip our jackets, to windy and overcast, to windy overcast and snowing hard. At least the ground was fairly dry so our boots didn't cake up. Eventually we got to the one bit of down; a cut line straight down the hill, strewn with ruts and rocks of various sizes. We were fortunate that the ground here was dry, and thus not a slithery ankle and camera breaking ordeal.

I took many photos (duh!) with a couple of them on film. These might appear later, since I've still got part of a roll to shoot. Here's some of the walk.

1. The stop along the way. A panorama assembled from 10 photos, to print out about 5 feet wide in exquisite detail. It would be a lovely addition to a specific office I'm thinking of.

2. Still on the way.

3. Just the start of the up. No, we didn't have to scramble over the boulder.

4. The view part way along the up.

5. Cam admiring the down along the way, except we're still going up.

6. Sean admiring the view.

7. Some of the easy tup.

8. It's fun watching weather roll past.

9. Part of the dramatic view, slightly obscured by snow.

10. Some of the up we had already done.

11. Cam admiring the details beside some of the up.

12. This little tree must have seen some amazing weather in it's lifetime.

13. More of the easy up. I was getting tired.

14. More of the view of where we had been. I suppose if you knew exactly where to look and zoomed into the photo far enough, you might be able to see our vehicles.

15. I'm always amazed that people still have the energy to move rocks after hiking to the top, although I suppose this is still only part way up.

16. Now the down begins. Steeper than it looks, and it got considerably more rutted and rocky. We were being very careful.

17.

18. We all loved this clump of birch trees. At least I think they're birch trees. Obscured by the snowstorm sweeping in.

19. The landscape obscured by snow.

There are still some other shots from this trip, but I don't want to overwhelm you. Stay tuned for dramatic landscapes, road photos, wood, crocus, black and white, stony outcroppings, the pathfinders pathfinding, intentional camera movement, and another view of the up. Maybe they'll be added to the Of the Day feature, along with commentary.

In other news, I got back the first 35mm photos from the new to me camera. Next thing is to look at these and decide which, if any, get shared.

Of the Day

Driftwood

Peony

Flower