{"id":4027,"date":"2015-05-31T12:45:25","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T16:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bustitawayphotography.com\/wp\/?p=4027"},"modified":"2015-05-31T13:14:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-31T17:14:52","slug":"road-trip-is-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bustitawayphotography.com\/wp\/road-trip-is-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Road trip is life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Road trip is Life: a week in the Rockies<\/h4>\n

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Calgary, Alberta. On a clear day, you can see all the way over the rolling foothills to the blue and white peaks of the Rockies, as sharp and jagged as the mountains in a child’s drawing.<\/p>\n

Everybody loves going to the mountains. When I lived in Alberta, I could count twenty distant peaks from my suburban bus stop, but my Rocky forays were limited to quick weekends, sometimes with six months or more passing in between. My longer vacations were saved for far-flung destinations rather than the playground in my own backyard.<\/p>\n

This time, the Rockies were the main attraction for the better part of a week, beginning with a hot tub plunge just outside of Banff and ending some shower-less days later in the Miette Hot Springs at the edge of Jasper National Park. In between were magical mountain days that went from early sunrise to late sunset, with moments that felt eternal: the fresh smell of pine needles in the air, the crack of the ice at the edge of still-frozen glacial lakes, the fine spray of rushing water, the reflection of the sun off the shiny feather of a bird, the daily picnics at whatever beautiful spot we found ourselves hungry in.<\/p>\n

Everywhere was evidence of Earth as a living, moving, geological wonder: the mountains themselves cut by fast-moving waterfalls that carved canyons deep below, the avalanche and rock-slide warnings not to stop along sections of the road. And everywhere were reminders that these Parks belong to the wildlife that make their homes there. There was a herd of elk grazing along the railroad tracks in Yoho. The Icefields Parkway was the place to see no less than four bears; in spring they come down the mountain to eat delicious dandelion salads. A caribou munched in front of a sign warning vehicles of his crossing. Bighorn sheep stood roadside and mountain goats balanced on impossibly steep sides. Fish swam in crystal clear waters, deer ambled through the forest, and a raven the size of a toddler instantly recalled the trickster in First Nations legends. Incredibly, one windy evening, a lone wolf bounded along the Sunwapta nearly to our spot. After seeing and looking at us, he decided to cross the water; we watched him until he was out of sight far on the other side.<\/p>\n

Being in the Rockies was a comforting and refreshing reminder of the beauty and timelessness of Earth; the cycles of life, water and rock that neither need nor care about humans. I woke up in \u00a0the middle of one chilly night at Beauty Creek and went outside to look up at one of the largest Dark Sky Preserves in the world. The bright light from thousands of stars in the black night was simply shocking. They will twinkle in my dreams for as long as it takes until I can be in the mountains again.<\/p>\n

By Jill Landry.<\/p>\n

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One week in the Rockies – Une semaine dans les Rocheuses<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Calgary, Alberta. Par temps clair, il est possible de voir l’\u00e9tendue des collines jusqu’aux sommets bleus et blancs des Rocheuses, aussi aiguis\u00e9s et d\u00e9chiquet\u00e9s que les montagnes d’un dessin d’enfant.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Tout le monde aime aller dans les montagnes. Quand je vivais en Alberta, je pouvais voir et compter jusqu’\u00e0 vingt sommets enneig\u00e9s\u00a0de mon arr\u00eat de bus de banlieue. Mais mes excursions dans les Rocheuses \u00e9taient limit\u00e9es \u00e0 de courts week-ends, parfois espac\u00e9s de plusieurs mois. Mes vacances plus longues \u00e9taient d\u00e9di\u00e9es\u00a0aux\u00a0destinations \u00e9loign\u00e9es plut\u00f4t qu’\u00e0\u00a0ma propre arri\u00e8re-cour.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Cette fois-ci, les Rocheuses furent\u00a0l’attraction principale pour quasiment\u00a0une semaine : commen\u00e7ant par une randonn\u00e9e et une soir\u00e9e barbecue-jacuzzi pr\u00e8s de Banff et se terminant, apr\u00e8s quelques jours de camping aux ressources limit\u00e9es, dans les sources d’eau chaude naturelle de Miette au bord du parc national de Jasper.\u00a0Entre les deux\u00a0nous avons pu explorer chaque jour ces myst\u00e9rieuses\u00a0montagnes, des premiers aux derniers rayons de soleil. Nous aurions voulu que certains\u00a0moments\u00a0soient \u00e9ternels : l’odeur fra\u00eeche des pins se balan\u00e7ant dans l’air, la fonte et les craquements de la glace au bord des lacs encore gel\u00e9s, le brume\u00a0de l’eau d\u00e9valant les cascades, le reflet du soleil sur les\u00a0plumes brillantes d’un oiseau, les pique-niques quotidiens\u00a0dans ces lieux d’aventures et d’explorations.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Partout \u00e9tait la preuve \u00e9vidence de la vie de notre plan\u00e8te : les d\u00e9placements g\u00e9ologiques, les montagnes d\u00e9coup\u00e9es\u00a0par\u00a0les rivi\u00e8res et cascades se transformant en profonds canyons, les avalanches et les avertissements d’\u00e9boulements nous interdisant certains arr\u00eats le long des\u00a0routes.\u00a0On trouve r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement\u00a0des panneaux nous rappelant que ces parcs appartiennent \u00e0 la faune et flore qui y en ont fait leurs territoires. Nous avons rencontr\u00e9 un troupeau de wapitis\u00a0le long du chemin de fer dans le parc de Yoho, la route des glaciers\u00a0fut\u00a0l’endroit id\u00e9al pour voir pas\u00a0moins de quatre ours; au printemps ils descendent des montagnes pour manger de\u00a0d\u00e9licieuses salades de pissenlits au bord des routes. \u00c0 notre liste nous pouvons ajouter un caribou m\u00e2chant tranquillement juste devant un panneau avertissant les v\u00e9hicules de faire attention \u00e0 la vive sauvage, des mouflons et\u00a0des ch\u00e8vres de montagne jouant aux \u00e9quilibristes au bord\u00a0des falaises,\u00a0un cerf \u00e0 l’ombre de la for\u00eat et un immense corbeau digne des l\u00e9gendes\u00a0des premi\u00e8res nations. Mais l’incroyablement nous apparut lors d’une soir\u00e9e venteuse : un loup solitaire face \u00e0 notre auberge sauvage pr\u00e8s\u00a0de la rivi\u00e8re\u00a0Sunwapta. Apr\u00e8s nous avoir observ\u00e9 calmement, il a d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de traverser l’eau sans se presser pour rejoindre la plaine et enfin la for\u00eat; nous l’avons observ\u00e9 pendant presque cinq minutes jusqu’\u00e0 ce qu’il soit hors de vue, loin de l’autre c\u00f4t\u00e9. Ce fut un moment unique et inoubliable.<\/em><\/p>\n

Traverser\u00a0les Rocheuses est un rappel consolant et rafra\u00eechissant de la beaut\u00e9 de notre plan\u00e8te; les cycles de vie, de l’eau et de la roche qui ni n’ont besoin de personne. Je me suis r\u00e9veill\u00e9 au milieu d’une nuit froide lors de notre \u00e9tape \u00e0 Beauty Creek\u00a0et suis all\u00e9 \u00e0 l’ext\u00e9rieur pour lever les yeux au ciel de ce qui est la plus grande r\u00e9serve de ciel \u00e9toil\u00e9 du monde (onze mille kilom\u00e8tres carr\u00e9s). La lumi\u00e8re brillante des\u00a0milliers d’\u00e9toiles dans la nuit noire \u00e9tait simplement incroyable. Elle scintillera dans mes r\u00eaves jusqu’\u00e0 ce que je puisse \u00eatre dans les montagnes de nouveau.<\/em><\/p>\n

Par Jill Landry.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Banff and Lake Louise<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Field and Emerald Lake<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Crossing Jasper National Park<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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A night in Beauty Creek<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Mont Robson and Jasper<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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To see more photographs of this trip click here, follow this link: The Rockies<\/a>
\nPour voir plus de photos de voyage, suivez ce lien : Les Rocheuses<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you for reading. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

If you are looking for prints, you can visit my\u00a0online store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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