Emerald Lake shore

A year ago today we (and many other people) visited Emerald Lake in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park. The smoke from forest fires dulled views of the surrounding mountains, as you see above, so for some pictures of the lake I aimed closer in. As an example of that approach take the second photograph, which plays up the tall trees while still allowing the color of the lake to come through.

The low plants along the water in the photograph above are sedges. Below is a close view of one taken from the shore looking back the opposite way. In “La Belle Dame sans Merci” Keats mentioned this type of plant:

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

 

And to counteract the pallor of any pale loiterers among you, here are some fireweed flowers (Chamaenerion angustifolium) that also grew close to the shore.

© 2018 Steven Schwartzman

Natural Bridge

In contrast to Takakkaw Falls, which people admire for its height, Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park impresses with its broadness. It also impresses with something else: the unusual rocks that underlie and surround the falls. Those rocks look to me as if they formed in horizontal layers that later got turned mostly vertical. For the sake of my photographs I walked out onto the upturned layers in several places, moving carefully to keep from slipping on and onto the rough edges around me.

The photograph below reveals the natural bridge that gives the waterfall its name. The picture also shows the force with which the water gushes out from under that natural bridge.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman