Canmore - in the shadow of Ha Ling Peak

Ann McRaeAnn McRae Registered Users Posts: 4,584 Major grins
edited October 3, 2006 in Journeys
My family and I spent the Sept. long weekend with friends in Canmore, Alberta. We wanted to do some hiking, but started out the weekend by challenging Ha Ling Peak. The folklore about this peak is that a railway worker bet someone $5 in the late 1800s that he could summit and leave a flag there in under 10 hours roundtrip. He won the bet, as apparently he made the trip in 6 hours, from the town.
The climb is about 3 km form the parking lot, with a gain of 700m, or from 1700m above sea level to 2400m above sea level. Most people doing this climb do so to see how quickly they can get to the top. My fitness level was not up to the trip and I quickly asked to be left behind. Most of the trip is on a path through heavy forest, so I took it as an opportunity to photograph the forest floor and study shape and texture.
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Occassionally there were breaks in the forest, allowing for vistas like this:
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I took the time to observe and enjoy the shapes, colors and textures of the mundane: tree trunks, deadfall, moss:
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And finally as I emerged from the tree line, more vistas:
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Right about here, I met up with the 10 others from my group, and turned around. They all made it to the top, and I justified missing photo ops by knowing it was mid day and really harsh light!

TBC

ann

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