Sunday started like all the rest: rain plinking on our trailer roof. There were patches of blue to the south, so we decided to make another try at photographing Moraine Lake. It was a wasted trip. It was even cloudier and grayer than yesterday.
With nothing better as a suggested destination, we headed toward Jasper National Park. The weather alternated between partly cloudy
and totally gray. There were areas where the clouds only hung at the top of the mountains, while other areas were gray all the way to the ground.
We stopped for all the viewpoints where sunshine peaked through, but basically we spent the day taking single shots here and there.
The one exception was the picnic ground near Mt. Cirrus. High on the rock wall across from the picnic area were six mountain goats. Their white fur contrasted with the dark rocks of the mountain wall, so they were fairly easy to see. We put on our longest lenses and doublers and set out with our tripods to photograph the mountain goats. They were in a patch of sun, and it was a lot of fun watching them. I even got to use Bubba, which is quite unusual. Now, we just have to wait and see how the photos turn out. They always seem to appear larger in person than they do on the slide. If you need some help finding the mountain goats, double click on the image. I have circled one pair of mountain goats. Can you find the other four?
When we reached the Columbia Ice Field, we checked out the visitor center and gift shop. It was much more like an international airport than a visitor center. There were even gate signs for the tourists who were taking the glacier buggies. The Columbia Ice Field was our turnaround point for the day, so we headed back south for Banff.
It was still light when we reached Banff, so we decided to drive the road between Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka. We had read this was a good area for bighorn sheep. When we arrived at the parking lot at Two Jack Lake, there was a group of female bighorn with three kids.
To say they were used to people is an understatement. We got out of the car, and they walked right over to us. Obviously,
someone in the past had fed them. It wouldn't be us. The light was largely gone, but we loaded our 400 film and set out to photograph
them as best we could. The three kids were very cute, and the two leaders of the group weren't shy about walking right up to us.
We discovered the reason for their attraction to this location. They were licking the minerals from the rocks along the road. We worked our way ahead of them, and photographed them as they approached us. Carol soon found herself surrounded by a group. Hopefully, the photograph I took of them will have enough light. Carol wasn't too sure how to react to her situation
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