Johnston Canyon in Winter

During the summer season Johnston Canyon is one of the most sought after destinations in the Banff National Park. Hundreds of tourists visit the falls daily. And for a good reason as the falls and the canyon are spectacular

During the winter the trails and catwalks are still open and offer a hike of a totally different kind.

Instead of gushing rapids of turbulent turquoise glacier water, beautiful and intricate ice sculptures shine in the soft low winter light.

Still not a place for those seeking solitude, but one can easily find a parking spot and doesn't have to squeeze in between other hikers along the catwalks.

The trails are semi-maintained and easy to hike. It is recommended to have some kind of traction device with you though, for these icy winter days. We use the Yaktrax which are available in the Banff  Visitor Center.

After only 1.1 km the Lower Falls come into view..

... here an even closer view.

Light and shadow, canyon and ice are providing hundreds of shades of white, from the almost pure white, to tan to all sort of blue hues.

A smaller waterfall along the trail....frozen for the time being...

After 2.7 km and a few more of these catwalks

the basin of the Upper Falls opens up.
During the summer months standing on the overlook of the Upper Falls leaves you wet and dripping, this time of the year the falls are still trickling but otherwise rather approachable.

Please feel free to click on the images to enlarge them. The frozen water resembles dripping stalactites and are an rather amazing sight close up.

On the weekend we hiked the Canyon, the perfect combination of weather and temperature seemed to appeal to ice climbers, too. It's breath taking to watch them if not a bit scary. But all the ones we saw that day seemed to know what they were doing.

Ice climbing in a T-shirt....only in Canada, eh?

February Conservation Tip

EASY TREATS FOR OUR
FEATHERED BACKYARD FRIENDS

Earlier this winter, when we had these bitterly cold temperatures and lots of snow, I went out one afternoon to feed the horses. Passing a nearby tree, all of a sudden a half dead bird, a Yellow-Shafted Flicker, fell out of the tree and right in front of me. That poor thing was just bone and feathers. We tried to bring it back to life but starvation had already taken it's toll.

Time to get active and feed our backyard friends I thought, but wasn't sure what they would need and like. So I called my very knowledgeable birder friend Judy for some advice. And went right to work...

It was such a great success, that I did this all winter long and just made a batch yesterday as our weather forecast calls for snowfall for the next couple of days.

And this is what Judy recommended:

You need only need a few things, pine cones, peanut butter, sunflower seeds and a strong string.

Secure the string, I used some ribbon, tightly at the thicker base of the pine cone and leave enough extra string to hang the cone later on.
Then thickly spread peanut butter on the pine cone. Please don't use peanut butter like Skippy or Jif, not only are they sugared and salted, which the birds for sure don't need, most of them also contain palm oil, which nobody should use! (please see "Palm Oil, a Pressing Matter" for more info)
Just get the natural, plain peanut butter with no additives.

After the pine cone is covered with peanut butter all around roll it in a bowl of sunflower seeds.

That's it. You are ready to hang the bird treats. This is so easy, it is probably also a great activity to do with kids!

All you have to do now is hanging them. I chose some trees where I had seen the birds hang out and which had branches low enough for me to reach but high enough off the ground so that the cats could not reach.

Just for the fun I made a few for my chickens, too. They loved it.....

Exploring the Kootenays

Part IV

Fort Steel Heritage Town in Winter

Fort Steele, only a few miles down the road from where we live, is a bustling tourist attraction during the summer with an annual visitor count of close to 80000.

In the off season though, although the town site itself is open, all the shops are closed, and peace and quiet settles over the place.

I always wanted to photograph this lovely place in the snow and on a leisurely Sunday after a recent overnight snow fall I did exactly that.

Gate with view of Fisher Peak

In absolute solitude, nobody was around except a very few of the staff, I could a explore the "winter" beauty of this historic site.

Old Stables

The towns very beginnings reach back to the 1860' gold rush at the nearby Wild Horse River. At that point it was called Galbraith's Ferry. Named after John Galbraith who was smart enough to offer a ferry service over the Kootenay River to the miners.

Restored Store Front

The town went trough the for the west so typical booms and recessions and went from a population of 11 to one of a thousand and back.

One of my favorite shops, the Harness maker

Around 1888, by popular vote, the town got renamed Fort Steele, in honor of  Superintendent Samuel B. Steele. He and 75 members of the North West Mounted Police helped to resolve serious issues that started to erupt between the native Ktunaxa and the new settlers.

One of the little chapels

Unfortunately for the town of Fort Steele, the long-awaited Canadian Pacific Railway bypassed Fort Steele in favor of the growing community of the nearby Cranbrook.

Fort Steele Water Works Tower

In 1904 the government offices were moved to Cranbrook and by 1910 the population of Fort Steele was rapidly declining.

Icicles instead of Ice Cream

By popular demand the Government declared 1961 Fort Steele as an historic park with a mandate “to preserve, present, and manage for public benefit the historic settlement of Fort Steele . . .”

Not only is the town site lovingly restored with lots of educational and fun happenings during the summer season, Fort Steele is also the year-round home of many endangered heritage livestock breeds,

as the Cotswold Sheep here, they must just have had their breakfast...

and of course the beloved Black Clydesdales.

"Historic" Junk Yard

Apart from bringing the history so lively to the people, Fort Steele is also a photographers dream,

Pavilion

the scenery is spectacular

Old Wagon framing the Fisher peak Valley

and lots of old and older artifacts beg to be captured.

Rusty Remnants

Detail with View

And the snow just made my day!

Small Tree overlooking the Kootenay Valley

Starburst

Please visit the Fort Steel Heritage Town website for more information....and if you are in the area, make sure to stop by. It is well worth it no matter the season!

October Conservation Tip

TO IDLE OR NOT TO IDLE

Should be a no brainer one would think, but with the temperatures getting colder, at least here, I see more and more cars idling...in front of stores while the owner is shopping....at schools or at bus stops when parents wait for their children...in drive-through lanes....
After heated debates with friends and family about the topic, I thought a bit of research was in order...

I found four topics to be the most important in connection with idling:
Health, Environment, Money and Car Maintenance.

Let's see what I found in regards to idling and health:

The NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Commission) writes: "Exhaust from idling vehicles can accumulate and pose a health risk to employees, drivers, and the community at large. Exposure to exhaust can cause lung damage and respiratory problems. Exhaust also exacerbates asthma and existing allergies, and long-term exposure is thought to increase the risk of lung cancer"

The EDN (Earth Day Network )states in it's school kit: " Idling harms our health. Vehicle exhaust is harmful to everyone's health, but especially affects children who breathe more and at a faster rate than adults." and
"Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and the cause of most school absences. Children's asthma symptoms increase from exposure to car exhaust. Children breathe, on average, 50% more air per pound of body weight than adults"

The California Energy Commission: "Idling is linked to increases in asthma, allergies, heart and lung disease and cancer."

Puh, that stinks....how about the environment?

Natural Resources Canada has a very good write up about all the effects of idling towards climate change, which I would highly recommend reading, but summed up they come to the following conclusion: "In fact, if Canadian motorists avoided idling for just three minutes every day of the year, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes annually. This would be equal to saving 630 million litres of fuel and equivalent to taking 320,000 cars off of the road for the entire year. Eliminating unnecessary idling is one easy action that Canadians can take to reduce their green house gas emissions that are contributing to climate change."
This is just for Canada, if one considers that California alone has more licensed drivers then Canada, just imagine the impact of idling cars in the US...

OK, what about money??

NRDC:" Less idling means less wasted fuel, which can save your company money. A six-cylinder diesel vehicle that idles for one hour a day wastes more than $1600 worth of fuel over the course of a year, with gas at $2.50/gallon." I hope nobody idles quite that long, but considering that gas price are way higher now then $ 2.50/gallon the amount of money wasted could come close.

EDN: "A popular misconception is that idling your car uses less gas than turning it off and restarting. The truth is, if you are going to be sitting more than 30 seconds, it is more fuel efficient to turn your engine off."

Natural Resources Canada: " In fact, one of the most powerful arguments in favour of reduced idling is an economic one. For the average vehicle with a 3-litre engine, every 10 minutes of idling costs 300 millilitres (over 1 cup) in wasted fuel – and one half of a litre (over 2 cups) if your vehicle has a 5-litre engine. Unnecessary idling wastes fuel – and wasted fuel is wasted money."

I see, I see, the car enthusiasts are raising their fingers.....what about the car when it's cold?? I need to idle to warm it up properly, right?

Hmmm, maybe not....let me again quote some authorities:

California Energy Commission: 

"Myth #1: The engine should be warmed up before driving. Reality: Idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. With today's modern engines, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before driving away.
Myth #2: Idling is good for your engine. Reality: Excessive idling can actually damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems. Fuel is only partially combusted when idling because an engine does not operate at its peak temperature. This leads to the build up of fuel residues on cylinder walls that can damage engine components and increase fuel consumption.
Myth #3: Shutting off and restarting your vehicle is hard on the engine and uses more gas than if you leave it running. Reality: Frequent restarting has little impact on engine components like the battery and the starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add $10 per year to the cost of driving, money that will likely be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling. The bottom line is that more than ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine."

Natural Resources Canada again has a informative website about that, the short version being:
"Contrary to popular belief, excessive idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to warm it up is to drive it. [ ] What's often forgotten is that idling warms only the engine – not the wheel bearings, steering, suspension, transmission and tires. These parts also need to be warmed up, and the only way to do that is to drive the vehicle."

BTW, I also saw a lot of people idle here in summer, to keep the inside of their car cool...no car related excuse here...

Next time you are tempted to idle, think twice!