Shunda to Columbia Icefields, Alberta Rockies in July

[Lori S.]

We used to do a lot of fly-fishing, and there is some great fishing to be had in wonderful, scenic places, Aruby! 

[cohan]

Cohan,
I'm impressed by the vastness of the Alberta Rockies.

Would like to go Fly-fishing for capital trouts on one of the unwedged rivers
Must be fantastic...

armin, vast indeed! i have shown only a small part, long day of driving though it is! it continues much farther south and north too--there are several large national parks (banff, jasper, waterton lakes) which are fairly well developed (along the highways at least!) and other large areas of provincial parks, semi protected areas, government owned forest, parts of which are leased for logging or ranching, and areas such as Wilmore Wilderness area (north of where  i have been) which is huge and accessible almost exclusively by horse or foot!!
here, undammed rivers are the norm, not the exception as in parts of the u.s. i'm sure you could easily find places where you would be the only fisher for a great distance...

[Armin]

Lori,
while you replied I read about your "Taylor Lake problem" with "imported" western slope cutthroats to the detriment of the native eastern slope cutthroats, which, due to interbreeding with stocked fish, are now rare and endangered.
It is a pity and happens too many times that "alient" species are introduced without considering the possible negative consequences in advance on the fauna.
I like the different kind of cuthroat trouts, they can be very colorful!

Is there a motivation to catch the interbreeded "hybrids"?

Cohan,
I like this wilderness of undammed rivers for fishing- it is always a small adventure to observe the nature in and around a river or lake.
Unfortunately here almost every little stream is canalized

[Lori S.]

Aruby, no, there is no motivation in itself to catch interbred trout.  The purpose of the stocking was and is simply to increase fish populations, to support the demands of fishermen.... whether the environment of the water body itself can support those populations or not.  There definitely is good, scenic fishing to be had here, although with more and more people partaking of it... one of the reasons we gave it up was because of more and more people out there in the areas we liked (and also, admittedly, because our own yard became more and more of a weekend sanctuary through time).  (The more and more people who I'm referring to included unmannered yahoos who would jump into a pool ahead of where you were fishing, or even cast over your line  .... baahhh!  )   "Catch and release" (i.e. no kill, using barbless hooks, and no bait-fishing allowed) is an excellent program, and has been brought into more and more areas here, as a necessity, due to pressure on the fish stocks... (although we were using barbless a decade before any such rules came in).   
There are many fishing guides available (mountain lakes, mountain streams, foothills) if you ever visit.  Though the book is getting quite old now, you might be interested in reading Blue Ribbon Bow by Jim McLellan, about the brown trout/rainbow trout fishery in the Bow River through the city of Calgary and eastwards - that book is the one that started whatever fame this area has for fishing!  There are also many guided fishing trips by boat down the Bow.
Anyway, sorry to go on and on, as it's all just past history!   

[cohan]

Cohan,
I like this wilderness of undammed rivers for fishing- it is always a small adventure to observe the nature in and around a river or lake.
Unfortunately here almost every little stream is canalized

armin--this is a big difference between the mountains here and some of the mountain places in western europe--there is not much human residence in our mountains--there are some centres, of course-banff, jasper, etc, and lots of camping and other recreational facilities--in some spots; but you dont see the villages and farms famous in views of switzerland, for example...

when you come down into the lower lands here, much of it is farming country (until you go much farther north); in my area, there is a lot of halfwild forest even on the farms, and streams and rivers are mostly not dammed or 'canalized', but then there arent that many rivers around here
its not all happy though--the last couple of years in my immediate area they have started a campaign of spraying 'weeds' in the ditches (roadsides) of the small gravel roads, such as the one i live on... this is disturbing, as this is an important habitat for many wildflowers--if the roadsides are cleared semiregularly, they provide a rare habitat (for my area) of open, uncultivated, ungrazed land..then of course there are potential effects on wildlife and even livestock of this spraying

[cohan]

, although with more and more people partaking of it... one of the reasons we gave it up was because of more and more people out there in the areas we liked (and also, admittedly, because our own yard became more and more of a weekend sanctuary through time).  (The more and more people who I'm referring to included unmannered yahoos who would jump into a pool ahead of where you were fishing, or even cast over your line  .... baahhh!  )   

this is an irony for me, living in the country--although of course there are pure wilderness areas left, and even many of our roadside stops, especially on the david thompson highway,  are in places with no one around--it is funny that at many popular places in the mountains, the human density is much higher than it is here--i have one near neighbour (100metres?) that i cant really see through the trees, and others are nearly 1km away; nor can i directly/clearly see vehicles passing on the road...
the other day i walked up the road to photograph wildflowers, and though i passed a couple of farms, i didnt see anyone, and in a walk of over 2hours, only 2 cars and 2 tractors passed me....
that's why when we get to places like lake louise, we take one look at the parking lot and turn around...lol
even the siffleur falls staging in kootenay plains--in mid summer on a weekend esp, there are lots of people doing the hike to the falls, but as soon as i go off laterally into the plains, i have never seen anyone though there are trails..

[Lori S.]

More irony... we used to do most of our fishing on the rivers and lakes in the Rocky Mountain House area and off the Forestry Trunk Road (getting on it from just west of Nordegg)!  Anyplace there is fishing, don't expect solitude, LOL! 
However, in Banff and Jasper, despite visitation by something over a million people every year, most don't ever get 100m past the highway, so with a little effort and preparation, one can regain paradise fairly readily!   

[cohan]

More irony... we used to do most of our fishing on the rivers and lakes in the Rocky Mountain House area and off the Forestry Trunk Road (getting on it from just west of Nordegg)!  Anyplace there is fishing, don't expect solitude, LOL! 
However, in Banff and Jasper, despite visitation by something over a million people every year, most don't ever get 100m past the highway, so with a little effort and preparation, one can regain paradise fairly readily!   

i gues it sort of makes sense more people would be fishing out here, the locals at least are likely a bit practical in their recreations...lol.. nowadays of course, more and more people think the only way to enjoy the outdoors is to roar around tearing up delicate environments in 'quads' (all terrain vehicles, like muscly golf carts...)..
very true about 100m in the parks, or places that are official view points... we will see a gaggle of ten campers all pulled over to look at one particular peak, and just up the road, a place you can walk about all alone...even at official stops, there are usually some trails no one pays much attention to, and although clearly someone uses them, i almost never run into anyone on them... of course going mid-week and offseason is a great help too...

[cohan]

continuing....up to now, we have been following the David Thompson Highway, #11, which is the same highway i drive to work and to the towns east and west where we shop etc..
it continues on into the mountains and into Banff national park, then ends where it meets the Icefields Parkway, the highway that runs north/south through the mountains connecting Banff and Jasper, among other points...
a few more views along the way (reminder: these road views are taken through the windows -occasionally rolled down side windows- of the moving vehicle) ending with that highway junction, where we turned and went north, toward the Columbia Icefield, and Jasper..

as we go onward, the route moves deeper into the mountains, the peaks growing higher and sharper, and the snow and clouds creeping nearer the road as it rises...

in this area between the Kootenay Plains and pic 9 Saskatchewan River Crossing (as the junction is called), they have been doing controlled burning in the forest, there are signs along the highway, and on our last trip we saw a crew of workers in trucks and helicopters standing by; i haven't heard any details of this operation, but usually controlled burns are done to a)prevent buildup of excessive dead wood etc in the forest, which creates excessive amounts of fuel in the event of an accidental fire b)to rejuvenate the forest, by eliminating that build-up, clearing and fertilising the forest floor, and activating any fire cued species..

you can see that the fire has moved through these areas very quickly, scorching some trees which are now red/dead, but others remain green, and some patches are blackened, creating an interesting patchwork on the slopes...

[cohan]

now, northward on the Icefields Parkway;
the traffic is heavier now, in the national parks;
much of this route follows river valleys, peaks rising all around, the road climbing and descending again to follow the easiest path, then finally going up up up to not far below the treeline, in the last stretch toward the glacier...
the second last shot is taken from a justly popular viewpoint at the top of this climb, where a switchback in the road allows you to look back down at where you have come from, far below..
there always seem to be ravens sitting in a couple of dead trees there, waiting for handouts from the many tourists who stop here...

[cohan]

site 5
more views from that viewpoint, looking across to a waterfall.. pics 1-3
and a few metres farther, to another viewpoint--we had just pulled out and started to drive on, when i spotted something growing on the gravel banks beside the road; i was cussing my luck in not seeing it where we were stopped, and we saw another turnout spot, so my friend took pity on me and stopped again..
i hurried back along the road, catching a few more views 4,5 and several nice patches of this lovely
pics 6-10 Aster sp
of course the asters are in all sorts of genera now..i don't have a name, but its a charmer...

[cohan]

this set i put together specially for Paul T, who expressed an interest in Dryas drummondii, a very important plant from the foothills up to fairly high elevations; its abundant on roadsides, along rivers and on banks and slopes, i suspect it has a significant impact in colonising and  stabilising loose substrates and providing shelter for seedlings of other species...
at lower elevations, flowering was long finished and plants were forming their fuzzy seedheads which are more conspicuous than the tiny barely open yellow flowers that precede them; a little higher and flowers were just done with earliest seed heads developing, at the highest points we reached, plants were still in flower...

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wow wow wow Cohan !
Great pictures - the last pic of the emerging Dryas flower is an absolute stunner !!
I love the Aster too !

It's 10 years ago now, but I still remember the Icefield Parkway as the most beautiful highway I've ever driven on...
And do have mercy on pittyful tourists (I was one of them..  ) who don't venture more than 100 m off the highway..... there's sooooo much to see and soooooo little time...  when they have the opportunity to visit this area of (litteraly) endless beauty:'(
I will also never forget the equally endless views when we flew home from Vancouver over the Rockies and the Northern territories !  Amazing for us Europeans, used to the crowded continent we live on !

Thanks again (and Lori too !!) for bringing back these wonderful memories.  

[Lori S.]

And do have mercy on pittiful tourists (I was one of them..  ) who don't venture more than 100 m off the highway..... there's sooooo much to see and soooooo little time...  when they have the opportunity to visit this area of (litteraly) endless beauty:'(

Luc, I have often been the visitor, with too much to see and too little time, in other places, LOL!  (Being a "local" in such places has great advantages!  )  Interestingly, the only people one sees in the far backcountry tend to be a very few locals, and Europeans!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Yes Lori, I guess you are lucky...... euh... folks  to have this Rock Garden in your backyard. 
I don't envy you for the long Winters though...