Tag Archives: nature

Oki from Crowsnest Pass

Posted on August 4, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Oki is the Niitsítapi word that approximates hello. It recognizes the humanness of each other in greeting and is like Ubuntu used in several African languages.

Yesterday, we headed back to the Crowsnest Pass and revisited the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. We were there Thursday, but soggy weather and low clouds prevented a hike through the slide area and good picture-taking of Turtle Mountain. The weather was better and we joined a group tour led by a geologist, Dr. Wilhelm, who brought the hike to life. We hiked for almost 2.5 hours instead of the hour the hike normally takes

This is Turtle Mountain’s north face where the 1903 slide occurred. The resulting slide is the deadliest rock slide in Canadian history with over 82 million tonnes of rock burying part of the town of Frank and killing over 100 people. The mountain is still unstable and the question is not if there will be another slide but when.

We saw this rock during the 1.5 km walk through the slide area. It is about the size of the cab of semi-truck. Most of the rock in the area is limestone, but there is also granite, feldspar, and quartz.

We had a great view to the west through the pass part way through the walk. This is Mount Tecumseh.

This picture is Crowsnest Mountain as you look west through the pass.

This is the Back to God Chapel and seats about 12 people.

This is the Burmis Tree and is the most photographed tree in Alberta. It is at the east entrance to the Crowsnest Pass. It is a Limber Pine which died in about 1978 and it was 300 to 700 years old when it died. The town of Burmis, like the tree, is dead. It was a coal town and, when the coal expired, so did the town.

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Posted in Nature in All Its Glory, Photography and tagged crowsnest pass, nature, photography, Rocky Mountains, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Waterfalls! Waterfalls!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

I disconnected yesterday as the Internet was unavailable. It was a dreary day, but we toured parts of the Crowsnest Pass. One stop was Lundbreck Falls. It is a stop you can easily miss, even though it is just off the main highway and visible from the secondary road. I liked it because I was able to get up, close and, personal. My fear of heights did not intervene too much.

This is a spectacular sight, but within 50 metres there is a pool at the base of the rock cliff where fly casting is possible.

Kathy took this shot from above the falls. I did not go on the overview platform.

Waterton has many waterfalls. Cameron Falls is on the outskirts of the town site and I was able to see it from below and climbed a bit to see it from above.

The red in the rock is from iron oxide deposits. The view below is from a stairway that goes up the hill along the falls.

Some waterfalls in Waterton are less accessible. Kathy took these pictures on the walk around Cameron Lake. The mountain, on the Montana side of the lake, is Mount Custer. It is named for a surveyor, Henry Custer, who worked in the area.

The source of the waterfalls is the snow pack on the mountain.

We hiked into Blakiston Falls which are bridal veil falls as they resemble a bride’s veil. I saw the falls from a distance and Kathy, the mountain goat she is, was able to get closer. This was my view and I was sitting on the ground.

Kathy took this picture from the platform almost directly above the falls.

Platform at bridal falls

The terror drains energy

View through others eyes.

Have a great August 3 wherever you are.

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Posted in Haiku, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged cameron falls, haiku, Mindful Practice, mount custer, nature, photography, poetry, Rocky Mountains, waterton lakes national park. Bookmark the permalink.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Posted on August 2, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

We went to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 50 km from Pincher Creek and with Waterton’s majestic skyline.

This area is the traditional home of the Niitsítapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) which means ‘original people.’ The Piikáni (North Piegan), a member of the confederacy, traveled to Waterton’s Blakiston Valley and gathered at Akaitapi (good campsite). The area was also used by the Ktunaxa (Kootenay or Kootenai) who came from the west and provided food, water, and shelter.

The Niitsítapi gathered at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and used innovative strategies to hunt the plains bison. Legend has it the name comes from an unfortunate incident when a young man wanted a closer view of the action. He waited at the base of the cliff, but the hunt was extremely successful and, when he was found, he had sustained a broken skull and died.

Archaeologists discovered evidence that this site was on a migratory path for indigenous people at least 5500 years ago. A buffalo jump or ‘pishkun’ in Niitsítapi used drive lanes marked by rock cairns. The buffalo ran in the drive lanes and, as they approached the cliff, the last part of the drive lane sloped up and the jump was not noticeable. The process required perfect human timing and was extremely dangerous.

A small herd of bison live in a paddock at Waterton, but at one time these animals covered the Great Plains of North America. The bison is often called a ‘walking supermarket’ as almost all its body parts were usable and often harvested.

Super store on legs

Symbolic prairie icon

A sideshow item.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is at the confluence of three geological formations. The Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains are well-known. The picture below is the rise into the Porcupine Hills. In the foreground is a hill where young Niitsítapi men transitioned to manhood through a vision quest. The hill, due to its spiritual significance to the Niitsítapi people, does not have public access.

Young person’s journey

Discover one’s inner self

Quest into adulthood.

We watched traditional dancing and heard traditional drumming and singing at the interpretive centre . The drum is symbolic of Mother Earth’s heartbeat in Niitsítapi tradition.

Drum reverberates

Symbol of Mother Earth’s heart

We are one with Her.

Another Day in Paradise

Posted on August 1, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

It was a less eventful day today with no bear sightings. We saw some deer late in the day, but they were in a hurry to get somewhere so did stop for pictures. What I have are some pictures of the natural beauty of Waterton Lakes National Park.

As we drove south from Pincher Creek, this is the view of the mountains before a person drives into them. The sign says, “Where prairie meets the mountains” and they do.

This was a similar view, without the bales, later the same day just before sunset.

And, if you give it a few minutes, this is what it looks like.

Sun embraces mountains

The sky in peaceful fury

Signals the day’s end.

This is the view from the beach at the town site of Mount Vimy. Can you imagine waking up to this every day? It would be pretty intense, but 88 people do everyday. According to Stats Can that is the official year round population of Waterton.

This is a view from the boat of the approach to the American side of Waterton Lake.

This is at Kootenai Lake which was at the end of our hike into Glacier National. The ramparts are spectacular.

Rise above it all

Magnificent natural ramparts

We feel safe below.

This is across Kootenai Lake. We waited but the moose did not show himself. He was there five minutes before we arrived.

At the end of the day, just before we left the town site, the moon appeared above Vimy.

Fair maiden appears

Light for evening’s journey

Keep us safe til morn.

Have a great August 1.

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Posted in Haiku, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged haiku, nature, photography, poetry, Rocky Mountains, teacher as transformer, waterton lake, waterton lakes national, waterton lakes national park. Bookmark the permalink.

Appreciate Neighbours

Posted on August 1, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

The Internet is slow particularly when uploading images. I may need to wait until tomorrow morning and post early before we head off for the day. In the meantime, I jotted this as we walked to Kootenai Lake.

Neighbours near,

Some visible

Ducks laugh and swim

Distract us, grouse–

Protect family and spouse

Woodpecker’s fly by lunch

Delectable larvae, I’m sure.

Others less evident

A fish plays–

Teases with hide and seek

Loon momentarily there

Beaver away from lake house

A moose–

Tracks and droppings

Insects whir in the stillness

Butterflies flit and feed

And move seed

A phantom breeze brushes floor

A solitary leaf responds,

And waves

Up high

Trees sigh.

What watches me?

I am not sure

Neighbours present,

A community–

Puzzles pieced together

Each a part

Seamless, yet not form fitting.

We are part of communities and this past few months I feel more of that; at Gonzaga, with my blog, and on nature walks with Kathy. I appreciate being one small part of communities made up of many parts.

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Posted in Blogging, Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged appreciation, blogging, community, Mindful Practice, nature, nature walks, neighbours, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Waterton Lakes National Park Day 2

Posted on July 31, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

We are back from day 2 of our Waterton Lakes National Park adventures. Yesterday, I commented on International Peace Park that within reason animals are right there and pose for you. We were unable to post our one bear sighting. Despite poor vision, bears hear very well our sighting was from the boat. As we moved closer, the bear heard us and headed for cover. We only took pictures of his rear end from a distance. Today we had two bear sightings.

This was our first sighting. This bear was about 100 metres away on a hillside as we left town. It is a fair-sized and is brown, but is likely a black bear and not a grizzly. What we could see of the snout and head does not look quite right and it is missing the hump on the back. Here is another view.

Grizzly bear are generally solitary and do not like humans around them where black bear are more likely to approach areas with humans around.

This sign is at the Cameron Lake trail and refers to the area beyond as a ‘grizzly’s garden’ and care is needed beyond this point.

Here is a haiku for grizzly bear we did not see, but we know is out there.

Grizzly’s home and garden

Tread gently and carefully

Grizzly habitat.

Our good fortune was not done. We spotted another black bear on another hillside on our way back from Red Rock Canyon. This one is younger and smaller and is definitely a black bear. I would guess it was born a year ago this past spring.

You can see the snout and the ‘piggy eyes’ of the bear. They are members of the same family as the pig. The ears stick up more and the grizzly would have ears that are ‘teddy bear like’ and stick out from the side of a very large head.

Not all animals we met were as intimidating.

This sheep was about 2 metres from the car and just looked up to have its picture taken.

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Posted in Haiku, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Uncategorized and tagged haiku, nature, poetry, Rocky Mountains, waterton lakes national park. Bookmark the permalink.

Sabbath in Waterton Lakes National Park

Posted on July 29, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Shimon who posts at The Human Picture left a comment on my post Sabbath’s Circle. I am grateful for his explanation of the roots of the word ‘sabbath’ which indicates sitting. It is always good to know what the roots of words are so when we use them we understand them more fully and, when I sit with something in quiet time, it finds its way into my practice.

Kathy and I will drive to Waterton Lakes National Park and I will enjoy my day of disconnecting in a place that is important to us. We spent part of our honeymoon there and it is a special place for us. I am looking forward to spending time in a special place full of God’s many gifts. We are not sure what we will do, but the next 3 days we will just let intuition guide us.

This is a view from about 50 km (30 miles) away from what we will be re-exploring.

I will have more to post when I return on Monday.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments, Uncategorized and tagged Mindful Practice, nature, outdoors, Rocky Mountains, sabbath, travel, vacation, waterton lakes national park. Bookmark the permalink.

Mount Hood

Posted on July 25, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

It is better to travel than to arrive, it is because traveling is constant arriving – John Dewey.

Kathy and I have spent time in the Portland Oregon area several times. It is such a fun place to visit. One summer we were there we went to Hood River, toured, golfed, and took pictures.

One of our excursions was a ride on the Mount Hood Railroad. I lived the first years plus in a hamlet on the Athabasca River in Alberta. Back in the day, it was a long way to Edmonton by car, but I vaguely recall riding the rails once or twice to go into Edmonton.

This is a working train. When I got back to school, one of my students asked if I knew the gauge of the tracks. I did not and he told me what it was sight unseen. I took him at his word. Another time he asked me if I knew how many penalty minutes a particular player took during an NHL season during the 1960’s. When I looked it up, he was dead on. I cannot remember how many penalty minutes I took in any season, but know I exceeded 100 minutes one season; not bad for a goalie. A favourite artist of mine is Johnny Cash. I enjoyed every element of his career from the Sun Record days to the American Hero days. Here is a song that fits: The Rock Island Line. It comes from his Sun recordings.

At various places you can take pictures of Mount Hood. It is snow-capped year round and has summer skiing on one its faces. I don’t ski, but I used to golf. There is pretty good course on the mountain and we played 27 holes in almost 100 degree heat.

Here is another view.

One of the stops was a museum and this was some of the equipment on display. Reminded me of the farm. There were a variety of old cars, tractors, a caterpillar, and parts of an old planer mill where Kathy’s family farmed.

Hood River is basically on the Columbia River Gorge with other modes of transportation available. The paddle wheel is more a last resort. When we lived on the Athabasca River, my dad built a boat with a Willys Jeep engine as an inboard motor. I impress my mother when I tell her I remember that, about the train rides, our dog, Brownie, and chasing my older brothers through the coal shed and jumping down onto the chopping block underneath the back window.

Some evidence of a way of life that is not totally lost but reshaped by the damming of the Columbia.

The majesty of the end of the day revealed in various colours and shadows.

I am now listening to Johnny Cash singing I’ve Been Everywhere. Not quite, but no reason not to dream and try. There is a Canadian connection to the song. It was originally written by Geoff Mack, an Australian, and recorded by Hank Snow, a Canadian, using North American place names.

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Posted in Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments and tagged Columbia River, columbia river gorge, Johnny Cash, Mount Hood, Mount Hood Railroad, nature, Sun Records, travel. Bookmark the permalink.

The Auditory Ilusion

Posted on July 20, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

Drops of water

No rhythm

Fall from eaves.

Seemingly,

Out of tune

An orchestra warms ups

Occasionally, silence breaks out.

The aftermath

Thunder chased itself in and out

Lightning lit the mid-day sky.

Now, a steady rain

With a different view

More than sound

More than intermittent drops

From the protected, artificial eave.

When I laid down, an afternoon thunderstorm had just started to move into the area. I listened and it sounded quite different from what I saw when I got up. Now, I am up on the fifth floor, or the penthouse, so it might sound quite different at street level.

I wonder what other illusions we have based on position and perspective on life?

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Posted in Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged afternoon thunderstorm, illusion, mindfulness, nature, poetry, rain. Bookmark the permalink.

In My Haste to Post I Forgot the Title

Posted on July 15, 2012 by ivonprefontaine

It was an interesting day. In the midst of it, Parker Palmer posted a poem by Wendell Berry on Facebook. It is a special day when Parker posts a poem by Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, or himself. The poem was How to Be a Poet (to remind myself). Wendell Berry is low tech and uses a typewriter to craft his words. Parker pointed to an aspect of the poem’s message: “Shun electric wire/Communicate slowly/Live a three-dimensional life.”The slow of life is worth something. It lets us be the person we are most fully.

Later, I began to think about two songs by two artists I enjoy and have seen multiple times live. Guy Clark sings The Carpenter and John Wort Hannam sings With the Grain. Both songs are rich with the metaphors of living a three-dimensional life. It is no coincidence the topic is that of a carpenter in both cases. It is about true to one’s self and living a life with value.

Sabbath

Silence, solitude, sacred

A mountain’s strength

The sky’s expanse

A lake mirrors

Words of wisdom

Spoken so softly.

Disconnect to reconnect

Listen that silent sacred space

The inner teacher beckons

Be present

Wisdom revealed