Shades Of Cool
To say I was excited about my trip to Canadian Rockies last winter is somewhat an understatement - to see the landscape featured so richly in The Revenant movie, to experience the ultimate cold ( -20 degrees average), to see majestic mountains and those dreamy ice bubbles? Heck yeah!
I packed the biggest suitcase I could find with the best thermal gear a man from Maine can find - multi base layers, several pairs of ski pants, gloves, boots, ice crampons, quite possible a thousand of hand /toe warmers and my favorite - bright red parka. I was ready!
When I arrived in Banff the temperature was almost 50 degrees and locals blamed everything from global warming to the american electoral process as to why it was so warm. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed - instead of frost bite I found myself wearing summer hiking pants.
The morning in this photo was the coldest of the trip - absolutely gorgeous frost hours were formed the night before, the air was amazingly crisp and the light was nothing but magical. My tripod was set up on the top of maybe one or two inch thick ice and I still cannot believe I didn't fall through - maybe the snowshoes created enough pressure coverage for the ice not to crack, to give me at least one morning of what this beautiful area is known for.