Alberta Wanderings 2010

[cohan]

back to the mountain pics;
just to refresh, this was a short day trip on Oct 02;
last very short stop beside the road, and some shots of fall foliage in the foothills and beyond back to home..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#

first couple sets are from the stop--just a more or less random roadside area, with a bit of a hill and vegetation looking like more than grass; these spots in the foothills tend to be more interesting than one would expect, with some nice plants in most seasons, even if nothing really uncommon..
pics 1-4 one little bright yellow poplar- Populus tremuloides- crowns a small outcrop clothed in Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Juniperus horizontalis
pic 5 just at the edge of the wooded slope above, a very late flowering Castilleja miniata peeks from a mat of Arctostaphylos
pic 6 looking back towards the mountains we had come from..

[cohan]

same album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#

just across the road on a gravelly patch, ubiquitous and always charming Antennaria (trying to id these small species is above my pay grade so far..) growing with some other things, including a small composite, in seed (perhaps Erigeron, i took some seed   ) and a small probably Oxytropis splendens, Arctostaphylos-fall colour set off nicely against the white Antennaria...

[cohan]

final batch from this trip,
same album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/AlbertaRockyMountainsOctober022010F#

views while driving, 1-7 the 'boreal uplands/boreal foothills' forest, between nordegg and rocky mountain house
8-10-we went past home and toon the nearest city (Red Deer, population of about 90,000) for lunch; these views just at the edge of town...

[cohan]

some of you may remember me mentioning that i live just on the edge of the boreal forest, in a zone where several plant communities and soil types come together:
right here is mixed forest, mainly Picea glauca as climax forest in all spots except wetlands, with lots of Populus tremuloides and Populus balsamifera; Betula, mainly in moist to wettish areas, many Salix, Larix and Picea marianae in wet areas;

within around 30-40km west, the foothills biome starts, similar to above with Pinus and Abies added; a similar distance east begins to open up to Aspen parkland, where spruce are mainly found in lower, moister areas (as you go farther south and east, it will gradually dry more, and become grassland)..

this means that on our regular drives for work (30km west) and shopping (40-60km east) we drive through these gradual changes;


last week we went on a short drive, to a lake a little north and east of a place we go regularly for shopping etc-roughly 50km from home, and in a range of hills that runs west to east.. not that far, but it feels really different from here, especially on the big hills..
full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

pic 1 the (edge of ) the town of Sylvan Lake, where we regularly shop etc
pics 2-4 north of Sylvan; in this zone there are still spruce, but more so in low areas, and where planted around farms; all non-forested areas are cleared for farming
pic 5 this is farming country, but also oil country! wells and pipelines are never far away..
pic 6 a small river  near the town of
pics 7,8 Bentley; seems like a cute town, with old style mainstreet; i've never stopped..

[John Kitt]

Great pictures Cohan!!
It is fascinating to see where other forumists operate.
I'm impressed by the HUGE blue skies, the long straight roads, as well as the forests.
I suspect others are asking themselves "Where are these high hills" you speak of?

I can imagine the landscape change when the snows come.
John

[cohan]

lol--tks, john
--i didn't yet get to the photos that show the hills, although the camera lens tends to flatten them a bit, there is one shot at least that i think gives a bit of the impression..
with the rockies on the horizon (west), we don't talk much about hills, but these are enough of a rise to show (north) at 10-20km away, when there's a clear view, nothing really major, but enough for some appealing landscapes...
i've never been to the best part (pics yet to come) of this area in mid-winter -there is a ski hill somewhere in there, i'm not sure exactly where...lol

the serious forests start to the west of here, where they stretch all the way to the mountains(wait for the last set in this series); here and east, its a patchwork of secondary growth where farmers have left areas to regrow over the last couple of generations; this patchwork is constantly changing as one area is cleared, and another is left to grow, as use on a given farm shifts..

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

having arrived at Gull Lake (more accurately, at Aspen Beach Provincial Park, day use area) we found it closed for the season, meaning the road to the closest parking was barred, but the parking near the highway was accessible, and its easy enough to walk down; nearest the highway its forested, then gradually it opens up as you get nearer the lake, first a sort of scrubby area, (next post) which is the most interesting part to me, as there are at least a few nice plants there (i've never been in full summer!)..
one of the interesting things is a large colony of seabuckthorn- Hippophae rhamnoides-an introduced species which can be invasive in some areas, i think, though this is the only place i have seen it in person (apart from occasional urban plantings); i did see a patch of it dead at this site once, so they may be trying to keep it in check..with its large number of berries (although the berries are hard to remove, perhaps the reason that wildlife doesn't clean them off early), and dense thorny growth, i can see it being an issue in the right environment..i suspect they are not as much of a concern in my area since they might be shaded out by native tree growth in an untended area; road/fieldsides would prob be great habitat..
i collected a few seeds to try--the berries are supposed to be super nutritious (also used in skincare) and are very tasty-a hint of tropical fruit..
last shot is non-fruit bearing male plants...

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

poking around in the scrub beyond the beach--the usual subjects,
pics 1-3Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Antennaria, small composites etc; i've seen clematis in the past, but not in growth/flower to know if its a native or escape (there are houses nearby)

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

pic 1 i did go near the actual lake for a few minutes  i love the wide open view
pics 2,3 quite a few waterfowl passing through; likely a lot more at the right times
pic 4 heading back to the car (my friend)
pic 5 another little composite in wet spots by the road; no leaves at all left..

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

driving back;
pic 1, a nice barn; i like buildings, including all the varieties of barns, and various granaries and other farm buildings (esp love seeing the latter all lined up...)
pic 2 just before the town of Bentley, again (note streetlights), hills beginning just beyond
pic 3 these exotic willows are fairly popular in shelterbelts around farms, and farmyard plantings; they hold their leaves long past native species
pic 4 many textures of a slope with several different land uses going on....
pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure; pic 8 with a vehicle going up the hill may give the best sense of scale; we also enjoy this highway, since it has much less traffic than the highway we travel daily!

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

continuing west, homeward..
pic 1 although a bare slope could easily be mistaken for being natural, you can see the trees would cover the whole area if allowed; this is presumably a pasture, though no cows at the moment.. there are spruce here, but fewer than farther west..
pic 2 even a few miles farther and there are getting to be more spruce, though there are more in the valleys than on hills, and some of these are planted around farms.. more oil industry installations...
pic 3 the intersection just ahead is where we will turn south; now, at the same 'westerliness' as home, there are noticeably more spruce
pic 4 heading south, a somewhat hazy day, and a vehicle had just turned on a gravel road to the side, raising dust..
pics 5,6 looking west out the side window (zoom shot); depending on the light/atmosphere conditions on a give day, the mountains will 'seem' about this big or a little less-they seem bigger to the eye than they do to the lens, without zoom..
the farming zone continues at least another 20-30km west from here, but the forest starts to connect to foothills forest beyond...
pic 7 continuing south; this is one of the roads we travel regularly, as one route to/from work, near the small town of Leslieville; this dip in the road is a small river crossing..

[cohan]

full album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/November42010GullLake#

winding up the afternoon, the last leg of the trip, off the main highway, the last few miles to home..
a zoomed view of the mountains from the home road...
last shot is a cousin's place at the other end of the family land (one mile away) from our acreage...

[Lori S.]

pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure

The cleared stripes are cutlines... from shooting seismic or running pipelines.

[cohan]

pics 5-9 approaching/on one of the larger sets of hills; the cleared stripes may be the ski runs, not sure

The cleared stripes are cutlines... from shooting seismic or running pipelines.

those are common enough all over this region of course;
 there is a ski place somewhere around there--i've seen signs for it, but don't know exactly where it is...lol--no interest in going, so i haven't looked it up, just idly curious as i pass through, but haven't seen anything definitive on the several times i have gone that way..

[Gerdk]

Cohan,
Once again - I love your 'show' from your part of the world very much, let me feel like to be there!

Gerd