Day 7 ~ Forest Fires ~ Aftermath of a Lightning Storm

Well last night we had another Thunder and Lightning storm...so bad that it started three separate fires on Blackcomb mountain....When we woke this morning the sky was filled with smoke and has been that way all day while the battle the fires. We are to get another storm tomorrow and the fire crews that are working the mountain right now are worried about the risk of more. Right now they haven't shut down access to Whistler Mountain keeping the Peak to Peak lifts open. But Blackcomb is currently closed...for the safety of all. So because of the air quality we decided to take a drive to Lilloet. Lilloet is one of the oldest communities in British Columbia. The St'at'imc people have lived in this part of the world for over 8,000 years, thriving on abundant Fraser River salmon and the bounty of the land. But during the 1850's and 1860's changed everything. The Cariboo Gold Rush!!! The first trail to the cariboo gold fields came through Lilloet causing the town to boom during this time with 13 Saloons and 25 licensed premises...Wow what a place Lilloet would have been!! So because of the quality of the air today I'm posting some more shots I have taken around Whistler....The Dragonfly above I took in flight!! There are alot of marshes here and the opportunity to get shots of them flying is great and I took on the Challenge.

Above are some shots of a wee little bird...I didn't recognize the song, but easily located the birds by tracking it. I have to admit though my Husband and I have noticed that there isn't alot of birds here...the forests sound dead. Chris was the first one to point this fact out to me. Do you hear that he said...no I hear nothing. Exactly nothing where are the birds? Is it the heat or that we are so far up into the interior of BC? It really shouldn't matter...or is it our environment? Again I could ask these questions all night...but I'm not Scientist to be able to determine where the wild life is going...

These next two shots are of the storm clouds that were gathering last night before the storm...the one at the top I was practicing light play and the one here at the bottom, is an image I wanted to experiment on and play with the look of the image...I think it looks cool...no Photo shop..just adjusted the exposure a bit.

Day 6 ~ Got Eaten By Bugs!! LOST MY WAY

I woke up with ambition in my heart today....I had this totally wicked hike all planned, it was another Moderate trail according to the map. Same color coding used when I went out for my hike with Corey. Well when we reached the trail that I wanted to hike it said it would take 6 hours to complete the loop. I looked at Chris said Oh that's not bad I'll be back for dinner. I had lots of water, orange juice for energy and some power bars. All set right...no wrong. As I started out instantly there were black flies everywhere, one even drew blood within the first 15minutes. I thought ok .. once I start climbing they won't be so bad. Wrong again...as I started to climb it soon dawned on me that the trail I picked was more a pro trail very steep and not at all what I was prepared for. I was prepared for a Moderate trail according to the map. But being stubborn I continued on thinking ok the trail should level off...GREAT SCOTT I was wrong again. I quickly came to conclusion while I was sweating RIVERS and being eaten alive by black flies that this was not what I wanted to be doing today. Thank goodness I was packing my cell phone. ....Called Chris and said please meet me at the bottom of the mountain...I can't do it too hard. I think Chris was shocked, he knows it takes allot for me to give up or at least admit that I can't do something ( Which is never !!! when I start something I finish it) He agreed and I started back down...but I got lost took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of no where. Using my survival instincts I continued down and followed the water listening to it like it was a beacon in the night. I ended up a half mile away from the original entrance which isn't too bad the bad part was that I came out of the woods into a GRAVE YARD!! Since I was a child I can't even stand the the grounds of a grave yard or even enter the gates. I get instant goose flesh...and feel instantly sick. Well I almost had a melt down when I realized where I was....don't ask me how I got out and onto the road!! YUCK I'll probably have nightmares tonight. So since there wasn't any adventure today I thought I would post some of the Macro shot I have taken since I've been here.

All these flowers and berry shots are images you see everywhere on your hikes. There are alot of wild flowers here and berries everywhere. I haven't seen a bear yet but I have seen the waste of them....and the bears really love the berries here!! Don't ask my to tell you how I can describe this fact... LOL

Day 5 ~ Family outing Nairn Falls Provincial Park

Another hot day!! The temp got up to yet 40 degrees again, this is the third day in a row. The heat is not loving me I have to tell you. Last night I had to soak my hands in cold water to get my wedding bands off and a ring off my right hand as well. My hands are swelling so bad that my rings were cutting off the circulation in my fingers. I have never taken my Wedding bands off since I got married a very unusual feeling when your so use to them being there. But it had to be done...my hands today are twice as swollen as yesterday....glad my rings are off. But onto a better note the family went out for a drive today and we went to this wonderful Park. Nairn Falls was established in 1966 to protect this area's Natural and cultural history. Nairn Falls is the spiritual site of the Lil'wat Nation and part of the trail to the falls is a traditional rouite that was used by the Lil'wat people to access the falls and Mount Currie. These falls are a dramatic example of the erosive power of water. Notice the potholes created in the rocks as the water spins trapped particles in ever-deepening circles.

As you can see in the next three photographs I really tried to show you the realistic erosive views of the rocks. The picture immediately below is the exact photo as the description above. I hope you have the same awe and feeling of amazement as we did by coming and experiencing this awesome scene before your eyes. So cool to see this kind of rock Erosion and the spiritual surroundings of the Lil'wat Nations. Very humbling....

The bowl above was really interesting to stand and watch...as the water poured down from the falls the water seemed to catch here and swirl around a few times before pouring out the spout...just such a neat thing to see.

This middle image above was between the rocks and the wonderful misty spray of the water was a wonderful image...kinda mystical.

Day 4 ~ Morning Hike ~ Happy Birthday Corey

Well just like I had wanted too I started my day very early, and I did. My son Corey turned 10 today and he actually decided to join me today and he did fantastic today. I'm so proud of him. To show you how far we hiked today I took a picture of the map we used. We started at the P at the bottom of the page...then hiked up to the Suspension Bridge. It took the two of us about an hour and a half to reach the top. Plus another hour and a half back down. For a 10 year old that is a huge hike. I did take a video of the river, but for whatever reason Blogger wouldn't up load it. It's in quick time. If any one knows how to do this I would love the help.

The top three pictures here are pictures that I took by scaling rocks to get good images of the run off of the Glacier waters. This is the Cheakamus River and the water runs extremely fast and dangerous...definitely not a river you would want to fall into. You would die instantly..because of the high currents and rocks that you would surely hit. Not including the very icy water...hypothermia would be fast on your tail if you didn't hit a rock right away. Very scary to look at water like this feeling and seeing the force of it all.

When we finally hit the top the bridge you can see that Corey ran right out onto it to see the river from it's highest point. He couldn't believe that he had actually made it. He was so proud of himself :) So he should be to be able to keep up to his hiking maniac Mom ... LOL

To get ready for the Olympics there have been allot of beautiful carved rocks with images into them everywhere...this trail is no exception. This rock at the bottom marks the top and the end of this particular crossing. Very lovely.

Krativ Blogger Award

Wow another Krativ Blogger award!! I don't know what to say but Thank you to Kelly from Red and the Peanut. Kelly is a fantastic Birder and has a fabulous blog just about birds. She always has something different and unique for you to learn about. I have personally learned allot from her blog and so would you :) After receiving this award I'm to nominate 7 other blogs and state 7 things about myself. I received this exact award back in June from The Early Birder. So not that I don't want to do the work involved it's just I don't follow enough blogs yet to nominate 7 new sites. Perhaps in time when I diversify my blog world a bit more I can attempt awarding this lovely blogger award to 7 well deserving people. Yes I think that's what I'm going to do everyone is to put my awarding on hold and then out of the blue I will award it....now there's an idea :) Oh and if you want to find out the 7 things about me just check out my post in June not allot has has changed that dramatically about me in just a couple of months...LOL

Day 3 ~ My Walk Around Green Lake ~ Part 1

Well we woke up got organized and headed out to check out Green lake. Green Lake is one of the lakes around Whistler that receives water from the Glaciers. The water that flows into the lake is bright green. As the morning progressed so did the temperature. It hit 39 degrees before 10am. Too warm for me...my hands have puffed up and I was so hot that holding my camera became an instant challenge. My hands had started to sweat...I couldn't hold the camera as steady as I would have liked.

In the image above you can see the green water flowing into the lake...very neat. My family left me here as they went to find a nice location to swim. Hiking isn't their thing...my sweet hubby doesn't like hiking either...so as I explore the mountains of Whistler over the next week and a half I will be on my own now, while everyone else does what they like which is fine....it's too bad that no one from my family likes to hike and explore..... but you can't have everything in life can you...

Here is a shot in the inner channel flowing into the lake so lush of an image.

So due to the high temperatures here I will have to head out even earlier to get the hiking in before the Mid day Sun and Heat hit me like a wall. Even with the water that I bring and drink the amount of sweat your loosing dehydrates you in no time. I don't want to be stuck too far from anyone without water to drink or the protection of trees for shade. That would not be good. I'm hoping to head out this evening for a small stroll there is a trail I would like to hike, hopefully the temperature will be a bit more bearable.

Day 3 ~ My walk around Green Lake ~ Part 2

While I was walking around the lake I came across the wonderful looking birds. I couldn't tell you what they are. The top two shots are the adults this I can tell by their head dress so to speak, and the the third is a shot of a baby. I did take other shots of the babies but they where so busy diving that I couldn't get a good shot of them. Every time the surfaced they would dive again. Very cool looking bird.

Here is the baby it doesn't have the same markings yet as it's parents...too bad I didn't get more shots of them.

On the last part of my walk I came across this Dragonfly, what I found very cool was the fact that this one has green eyes. How ironic is that? To be on Green Lake and spot a green eyed Dragonfly....the odds are great I would say.

Day 2 ~ Day Of Hiking ~ Wow my feet are sore Part 1

Wow I saw so much today on my hike....Plus I hiked aprox 8 kilometers today! Did I love it I sure did. I saw amazing things, one of the amazing sights other than the beautiful scenic images before my eyes was the animals I saw today. Here are some totally awesome shots of a Chipmunk. We don't have Chipmunks on Vancouver Island, so when I spotted this little wee thing eating berries well of course I had to stop and stalk my pray. See how close I could get to this little one before it fled off into the forest again. I was pleasantly surprised by how close I could get....so so beautiful this little one. Oh I love it here already.

In these next two images they are to compliment the Part 2 post below with the images of the tree growing out of the rocks. In these two shots I'm showing you just how wonderful this tree has managed to survive by curling it's trunk around the rock and in the same shot showing the beautiful mountains in the background. So lovely.....how nature can adapt to it's environment. It has always amazed me how trees can grow anywhere even in rock.

Day 2 ~ Day of Hiking ~ Wow my feet are sore~ :Part 1

To compliment the first posting for today the added images I saw on my hike were: Rocky images, wonderful mountain views, water reflections my list goes on and on. In the first two images you will see some nice scenic images. One on this old tree that I find amazingly enough growing through the rocks you can see it's trunk curled around the rock to secure it's self impressive and I have also provided in the posting above a more detailed shot of the tree. In the second shot is a wonderful image of a lake just a short jaunt from the hotel that I'm staying in. I love the color of the water so green from the glacier run off....and icy cold Wow... The children as I type this blog post are with Chris right now at the lake...Nice

These next three posts are what I would call the aftermath look of a Thunder and Lightning storm. Yep I got to see a great one last night just after finishing my first post. I was so impressed with the color of the sky that I had to share these wicked shots with all of you. Have you ever seen a sky look like this???? Wow is all I can say. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get outside before the sky opened up for the lightning shots..but I'm told it happens up here alot, so you never know I may get some shots of a storm yet :)

Day 1 Leaving Home ~ Arriving at Whistler

Well we made it what a day I'm totally exhausted. We started our day at 5:30 am so we could catch the first ferry of the day the 7am sailing. As we waited for the breakfast line ups to simmer down, I headed out on deck to see if I could get any nice shots of the Inlet. The top shot and middle are shots I managed to get before breakfast. Nice two totally different feelings. One dark and dramatic and one warm and interesting.

After we got off the ferry of course my Chef husband who loves food to death had to go to the Krispy Kreme Donut factory in Delta. Yep great start to my waist line and we haven't even put a whole day in yet!! Then we got lost..yes you bet we did. We don't know Vancouver very well at all and of course Chris thought he could find his way out if we just keep driving....SIGH Eventually he realized that he needed to stop and ask for some help..LOL But we managed to get on our way. On our way up the mountain views were great, here is one nice shot. I have more but three pictures were all I could manage this evening to edit for the blog. I'm kinda tired and it is almost 10pm. Very late for me :) Tomorrow we will be heading out for our first hike...I'm looking forward to stretching my legs...a long day of sitting is hard on the butt I would like to say. :)

Fabulous Fruit Fridays!!! ~ Saddly no post this week the boys ate all the Fruit!! LOL

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say that I won't be posting any friut shots tomorrow for Fabulous Fruit Friday, because we are headed out for the first farry in the morning we made sure that there wouldn't be any food left in the house to spoil. So the boys have eaten everything!!! LOL which boys don't.

But I'm excited to say that are you ready to join me on my Trip???? My goals for this trip are very simple.
1. Capture more scenic shots with light refractions...I've seen shots like this and I'm motivated to try.
2. There have been sightings of Spirit Bears in the area...I'm hopeful I'm lucky enough to see and capture their image.
3. Canoe shots while I'm on the lake would be very cool.
4. I'm finally hopeful that I will capture pictures of an Owl...if not it won't be for lack of trying.
5. To have as much fun as possible and share it with all of you, I hope you have a great time too!!.

So see all of you on Saturday, when I post my first set of travelling pictures in the evening time. Just so you know my daily posts will happen in the evenings. Bye for now :)

My Most Popular bits on FLICKR

When I started my blog I aslo started with Flickr. Just like you Flickr has seen me grow as a photographer, but most of you who fallow my blog now have never seen, or have viewed my beginning shots. Like the Seal head shot in the middle here is now one of the most popular shots I have, as well as this little hummingbird shot I got the other day. I wanted to share with all of you these top three images. I didn't add the Macro butterfly shot simply because all of you have already just recently viewed the image in a past post. The butterfly is in the top shots as well. I'm proud of what I have accomplished and I wanted to share this accomplishment with all of you who fallow me everyday. Thank you for all your support and I value your comments everyday.