Geobiking Along the Bow River Pathway in Calgary

It seems to be a tradition! When we’re ready for our first bike ride of the year, we head to Edworthy Park where we hop on our city bikes and ride the scenic, almost flat, extensive Bow River Pathway system. Yesterday, our schedules aligned. We both had about 4 hours open in the morning/early afternoon and the day started with blue skies and sunshine. Carpe diem!

Regardless of how thorough we are in terms of finding all the geocaches along the route one year, there are always at least a few new hides waiting for us. Depending on whether we rode along the north or south bank of the Bow River, there were ten caches waiting for us this year. We managed to find six of them and had to post DNF (did not find) logs for three more – maybe that’s a hint that we should get out caching more often.

One of the highlights spotted along the way was the almost finished war memorial bracketing 10th Street along Memorial Drive. Once the landscaping is complete, this would be a great spot to visit for some night photography. The mid-morning position of the sun was problematic, so this time around I didn’t come home with any photographs worth sharing.

Downtown Calgary as viewed from the south shore of St. George’s Island (home of the Calgary Zoo). This is a less familiar perspective for me. It allows for clear viewing of both the Calgary Tower and the new Bow Building and the inclusion of a long stretch of the Bow River.

One of my favourite stops was on St. George’s Island, where a short walk along the shoreline opened up a lovely view of downtown Calgary.

The new Harvie Passage opened in 2012 – the result of almost 3 years of Bow River renovation near the weir that diverts water into the Western Irrigation District canal. This channel (along the southwest shoreline), is considered a Class II (Intermediate) rapid (i.e. easy rapids with waves up to one metre high). “Easy” is relative to skill / experience, however. As a result, the Calgary Fire Department has applied to Transport Canada to install the new safety boom upstream from Harvie Passage, in hopes it will prevent those without strong paddling skills from entering the waterway. The Alberta Whitewater Association contends that better signage is a better safety measure. No matter the outcome of the Fire Department’s request, it’s clear that safety considerations are “top of mind” for all stakeholders.

I also enjoyed the sound of fast-moving water at the Harvie Passage. Once the park portion of the landscaping is completed, this will be a great place to relax while watching paddlers tackle the Class II or Class III channels.

This Canada Goose family was swimming in the storm water / constructed wetland pond near Fort Calgary. We also spotted a couple of families with up to 6 goslings near the bike path just north of St. George’s Island.

We made a couple of stops in Pearce Estate Park to check on two geocaches we hid back in 2008. These caches are grandfathered under the City of Calgary geocaching guidelines (introduced in 2012), so don’t have to be archived after 3 years. But we watch the activity level on them and if there comes a time when they go 5 or 6 months without a find, we’ll collect the containers, archive them and open up the space for something new.

Pearce Estate was our turnaround point. Heading back towards downtown Calgary, we stopped to find one more geocache and then again to photograph a Canada Goose family. We spotted several goose and gander pairs shepherding their little gosling families along the pathways, but this was the first group we spotted on the water. K would enjoy watching them for a while (too bad he was in school – but then again he might not have appreciated riding 30 km first time out this year!).

After reading so many glowing reviews of Village Ice Cream on Twitter, we opted to make a short detour to try their homemade deliciousness for ourselves. We opted for the new seasonal flavour – Root Beer, in fresh waffle cones. The detour was definitely worth it!

Our penultimate stop was for ice cream. Although the official opening time was noon and we arrived around 11:30, Billy (the owner) and the waffle-cone making lady were kind enough to open the doors a little early so that we could fuel up for our ride back to Edworthy Park. Thanks for that! And thanks, too, for the very tasty Root beer ice cream in fresh waffle cones. The total was $14 for one single and one double, in case you’re wondering.

Our last stop was to replace the log in our GC2R0KK Wagon Wheels nano cache. This one is always a challenge to maintain, since there are so many places to hide a nano cache on the sculpture. We were just about ready to put out a replacement container when Mr. GeoK finally spotted the elusive nano. After swapping the tiny log roll, we mounted our bikes for the cardio portion of our ride, moving along at the posted 20 kph speed limit all the way to Edworthy Park.

Total riding distance = 31 km with 6 geocaches found, 3 DNFs and 2 excellent ice cream cones! Have you been out for a riding yet this year?

Chukar Partridges

It’s May 3rd – Day 3 of the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge. The David Suzuki Foundation has challenged Canadians to spend 30 minutes in nature each day for 30 days, starting on May 1, 2013. I’m pretty familiar with the health benefits of spending time outside, so I was quick to sign-up for the challenge. It’s not too late to sign-up for the rest of the month – just click here to join!

For Day 1, I walked about 7 km (2 km to the LRT station, 3 km through downtown Calgary, and 2 km back from the LRT station). Unfortunately, I came home more stressed than when I left, on account of a major evacuation of the courthouse and surrounding area because of a suspicious package. Prince’s Island Park was strangely empty when I walked through just after the noon hour. I guess a lot of people went home from work.

On Day 2, I worked outside in the yard for about 3 hours, tidying up the flower beds and planting 8 or 9 packets of flower seeds. That was quite a bit more relaxing.

Today I’d planned to walk to the closest branch of the Calgary Public Library, but somehow never quite got around to it. When I finally walked down to the Canada Post Super Mailbox to collect the mail, I took my camera just in case I spotted something interesting and green (green = this week’s theme for the HooHaa 52).

Instead, Mother Nature surprised me – I spotted a pair of Chukar Partridges visiting the neighbourhood. I didn’t know what they were at first, so had to look through my bird book after I was done watching them. I even convinced K to get up from his computer screen to come outside and observe them with me and we enjoyed their company for almost 45 minutes before they wandered off into the neighbours’ back yard. They really do softly call “chuk” and “chukar” to each other!

Here they are!

I first spotted these then-unidentified birds walking back from the neighbourhood postal box.

After ignoring me for at least 10 minutes, they started to move when a black squirrel climbed a tree in the yard and started loudly scolding them.

I went back to the house to grab a fresh battery for my camera and to invite K to come out and birdwatch with me. I was inside just long enough to make an idenfication using my well-thumbed “Stokes Field Guide to Birds – Western Region” by Donald and Lillian Stokes.

The markings and colourings are pretty much the same. I could only tell this was (very probably) the male because it was the larger bird of the pair.

A little grooming was in order.

This is the smaller bird of the pair, so I assume it’s the female.

This was as close as I managed to creep before the ambled off towards the back yard.

I’ve since learned that these birds were native to Asia. They were introduced to North America as a game bird, and feral populations have become established in the United States Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, high desert areas of California, and in Canada. Their usual range in Canada is in south-central British Columbia, but a few have been spotted in the Calgary area over the past couple of years.

What a great way to connect with nature! Did you get your dose today?

Devonian Gardens – Calgary

At the start of the week, K enjoyed a day off from school (teachers had a Professional Development day). Since he discovered last week that his lightweight pants are 3-4 cm (about 2 inches) too short, we headed to our favourite clothing store to shop for new, hard-wearing pants and a rain jacket.

From there, we walked to the heart of downtown Calgary to take a look around the recently renovated Devonian Gardens – an indoor, “tropical oasis” located on the fourth floor of the Core shopping centre. The (debatably) new and improved City park features a couple of koi ponds, a fantastic indoor children’s playground, a living wall, over 10,000 plants and lots of tables and chairs for visitors wanting to enjoy the green space while sipping their coffees or eating lunch.

After eating a fast-food lunch from the adjacent food court (and may I say I’m glad we only do that a couple of times a year), we took a leisurely stroll through the one hectare park, including a couple of short detours to explore the small passageways and balconies on the third floor. We especially liked the koi ponds and could see the appeal of the playground for families with young children – especially when the weather’s been -20 C for a couple of weeks straight and you’re desperate to get out of the house! We also spotted signs for lunch time workshops by the Calgary Horticultural Society and other lectures / discussions.

We particularly liked the carved wooden faces, the koi ponds and the living wall. But we missed seeing the snapping turtles that were in the pond before the big renovation. Here’s a look at some of the lush vegetation and water features…

Bottom line? If you really need a “green” fix in the heart of winter or you want to take a nature break during your lunch hour, this is a great spot for relaxing. It’s conveniently located along the LRT line, so you don’t have to worry about parking if you’re coming in from the suburbs. And some of those lunch time lectures looked pretty interesting, too!

Photo Blogging Challenge (April 2013) – Transportation

With a population of almost 1.1 million, Calgary is quickly becoming Sprawlgary. It seems like a personal set of wheels is pretty much essential to conveniently making it to all the commitments in our family schedule. Despite how compelling convenience can be, we’ve slowly developed the habits of stacking errands, carpooling, taking public transit and walking to the nearest shopping centre if we need to pick up a few groceries or run errands. Those simple measures mean that in a typical month, we avoid more than 30 car trips and get some modest exercise! Using a good mix of transportation modes helps keep fuel and other operating costs down, too.

This month’s theme made me realize I don’t have a good handle on how many car trips we still make each month. I do know there’s room for improvement. So thanks PJ, for prompting me to take another look at my modes of transport.

Last year’s model on my left foot and this year’s model on my right foot. Time to switch over to new boots!

1. My Own Two Feet
My first preference (where practical) is for self-powered transport. For me, that means walking or hiking. No running – my knees can’t take it! It’s that time of year when it’s time to designate last year’s waterproof, low-rise “boots” as this year’s gardening shoes and break in a new pair of walkers for urban walks and light hikes. I’m sticking with my long-time favourite brand/model – the Keen Targhee II Light Trail Shoe.

Sign marking a bike lock-up along the Riverside Trail in Canmore. A couple of empty bike locks hanging from the loop beneath the sign convey tell the sad story of someone’s bad experience.

2. Biking
I’m strictly a fair-weather cyclist. Calgary has an extensive network of paved bikeways (approx. 550 km) and a few parks with great mountain biking trails. My urban wheels are the MEC Chance (great on the paved routes, not so great on hilly dirt tracks). Mr. GeoK and I hope to get out for our first urban ride of 2013 later this week – along the Bow River Pathway to do a little geocache maintenance. It’s fair to say my mountain biking skills are still “developing”. The boys really push me to the limits of my capabilities when we’re on our mountain bikes on the trails in and around Canmore. I don’t quite understand why there are so many bike locking stands along the paved pathways in Canmore, but they do make for an interesting photo!

Westbound West LRT leaving downtown Calgary. This photograph was taken from a balcony in the Devonian Gardens – a large, indoor park in the heart of the city.

3. LRT (Light Rail Transit)
With the December 2012 completion of the West LRT, public transit instantly became one of my preferred modes of transport. I enjoy the 2 km walk to/from the nearest stations (the 69th Street and Sirocco stations are pretty much the same distance from home) and the stress-free, twenty-minute ride to the heart of downtown. The $3 one-way fare seems a little pricey, but once I factor in parking, vehicle operating costs and the higher level of stress that comes with driving my own vehicle downtown, I think the value proposition is pretty good. For those who make more than 30 trips/month on Calgary public transit, the monthly pass (at $94) is an even better value.

View through the windshield heading back to Calgary on the TransCanada highway (I was not driving when I took this photograph). Pretty light traffic, since we left Canmore around 1 pm. The traffic volume really picks up later in the day and it can be like an extended morning commute all the way back to the city.

4. Personal Vehicle
It’s hard to beat the convenience of a personal vehicle. The odometer on my 2007 model year AWD currently reads a little over 120,000 km (just under 75,000 miles). A lot of that is highway mileage, including a trip a few years ago to Geowoodstock in Seattle and lots of trips to Canmore, to get out hiking in Kananaskis Country and the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks. Family wheels = freedom to explore. In the city, it’s great for hauling dirt and plants home from the local nursery, supplies home from Costco, and family members to/from school, taekwondo and whatever else is on the calendar.

One fresh and one fading contrail over the Ship’s Prow in Canmore.

5. Planes and Trains
Despite the fact that we haven’t taken many exotic vacations over the past few years, there’s a small – but significant – role for planes and trains in my personal transportation mix. Contrails are a regular feature of skyscapes in the Bow Valley, and every time I see a plane flying over I wonder who’s on board and whether they’re traveling for business or pleasure. Our last big trip was in February 2011 and a plane was essential to traveling all the way around the world in 23 days (check February 2011 archive for details). Writing this, I think it’s time to start planning our next big trip. Suggestions?

Something From Nothing – Bag of Marbles

This post is inspired by the Something From Nothing series over at oopoomoo. Award-winning photographers based out of Cochrane (just northwest of Calgary), Samantha Chrysanthou and Darwin Wiggett organize and teach photography workshops and seminars. I discovered them on the interweb sometime last fall and occasionally daydream about signing up for one of their photography tours (maybe once the boys are both at university).

In the meantime, their idea of creating a series of photographs that make Something From Nothing seemed like a helpful frame of reference for a small set of pictures I took while working on the “Games” theme for the HooHaa 52 weekly photo challenge. I photographed some classic games and then I dug a big bag of marbles out of K’s closet.

First, I grouped the marbles by colour (kind of an obvious thing to do).

Then, I noticed how the sunlight coming through the window created interesting circles of colour as it passed through the clearies (remember that word from elementary school days?).

Finally, I tried a new “technique” I’ve been playing around with – zooming my long lens in or out while the shutter is open. For me, the results triggered teenage memories of how Star Trek episodes depicted faster-than-the-speed-of-light space travel…

My conclusion? Something From Nothing is an exercise I’ll try again. It got me thinking about how to learn to really see things – to notice details I might otherwise miss and to consider interesting ways of sharing those details. And I think it’s a good prompt to really learn your camera and lenses.

What’s your experience with trying to photograph something from nothing?

Three Sisters Creek Waterfall

We took advantage of a beautiful Sunday morning in Canmore to enjoy a short walk along the Three Sisters Creek. There are plenty of little steps and two or three small waterfalls between the Three Sisters Parkway and the “big” waterfall. “Big” is a relative term. The main step of “big” falls along the Three Sisters Creek is about 5 meters (15 feet), with a couple of smaller steps just downstream.

When I think back to this time last year, we were struggling to figure out how to photograph the falls as a silky-smooth sheet of water. We’ve got the mechanics of it down now, and have learned the hard way that carrying a small tripod really increases the odds of success. Now we can pay more attention to composition. After a little post-holing through spring-resistant snowpack, we found a couple of locations at the bottom of the falls and got to work.

Mr. GeoK took this photograph, using the key line filter in his Olympus OM-D. There’s some good, early spring colour in this one.

And for your viewing pleasure, a few more photographs (click on any one to view this small set as a slide show (larger size, too)).

B&W Impressions from the Riverside Trail

We headed out for a long walk along the Riverside Trail this morning. The forecast was calling for rain beginning around noon, so we left the house by 9. Environment Canada was off by a couple of hours, so we light rain fell as we speed-walked back from the big meadow. The grey sky inspired me to frame things a little differently and to process in black & white. How do you adjust your photography when it’s raining?

Sign marking a bike lock-up along the Riverside Trail in Canmore. A couple of empty bike locks hanging from the loop beneath the sign convey a sad history.