Banff Mountain

Psalm 147:8
Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

Bridal Veil Falls

Sonnet 03: Mindful Of You The Sodden Earth In Spring

Mindful of you the sodden earth in spring,
And all the flowers that in the springtime grow,
And dusty roads, and thistles, and the slow
Rising of the round moon, all throats that sing
The summer through, and each departing wing,
And all the nests that the bared branches show,
And all winds that in any weather blow,
And all the storms that the four seasons bring.

You go no more on your exultant feet
Up paths that only mist and morning knew,
Or watch the wind, or listen to the beat
Of a bird's wings too high in air to view,—
But you were something more than young and sweet
And fair,—and the long year remembers you.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

"Time does not bring relief”

“Time does not bring relief; you all have lied”    

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied   

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!   

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;   

I want him at the shrinking of the tide;

The old snows melt from every mountain-side,   

And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;   

But last year’s bitter loving must remain

Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.   

There are a hundred places where I fear   

To go,—so with his memory they brim.   

And entering with relief some quiet place   

Where never fell his foot or shone his face   

I say, “There is no memory of him here!”   

And so stand stricken, so remembering him.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay  (1892-1950)

Morant's Curve

Morant’s Curve is located on the western end of the Bow Valley Parkway near Lake Louise. It’s a beautiful spot that the railway passes through.

Down Bow River

Down the River

Henry Lawson, 1909

I've done with joys an' misery,

       An' why should I repine?
There's no one knows the past but me
       An' that ol' dog o' mine.
We camp an' walk an' camp an' walk,
       An' find it fairly good;
He can do anything but talk,
       An' he wouldn't if he could.

We sits an' thinks beside the fire,
       With all the stars a-shine,
An' no one knows our thoughts but me
       An' that there dog o' mine.
We has our Johnny-cake an' "scrag,"
       An' finds 'em fairly good;
He can do anything but talk,
       An' he wouldn't if he could.

He gets a 'possum now an' then,
       I cooks it on the fire;
He has his water, me my tea —
       What more could we desire?
He gets a rabbit when he likes,
       We finds it pretty good;
He can do anything but talk,
       An' he wouldn't if he could.

I has me smoke, he has his rest,
       When sunset's gettin' dim;
An' if I do get drunk at times,
       It's all the same to him.
So long's he's got me swag to mind,
       He thinks that times is good;
He can do anything but talk,
       An' he wouldn't if he could.

He gets his tucker from the cook,
       For cook is good to him,
An' when I sobers up a bit,
       He goes an' has a swim.
He likes the rivers where I fish,
       An' all the world is good;
He can do anything but talk,
       An' he wouldn't if he could.

Little Lodge On The Prairie

On the way out of Waterton Lakes Park the lodge is dwarfed next to the mountain peaks. 

Waterton River

Waterton River is located in Waterton Lakes National Park and is part of the South Saskatchewan River Basin.  The highway basically followed the river abundant with wildlife and waterfalls.

Cameron Lake

Waterton National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains is bear country.  The large brown bear was enjoying eating flowers on the road side to Cameron Lake.

Maligne Valley

Scenic views from Maligne Valley in Jasper National Park.  The valley is on the way to Maligne Canyon.

Mountains Thrilling to the Stars

 
 
 
 
 

Nothing like getting a lift on a gondola that takes you up 6,850 feet to look across the mountain range, valley and Lake Louise.  This is the most beautiful scenery in the entire Rocky Mountains in North America.  The breathtaking peaks of the Canadian Rockies make the Colorado Rockies look like hills.  The bonus is there is a restaurant on top and the burgers are cowboy size and delicious!

A Jewel of Lakes

 

Moraine Lake is breathtaking from the ten peaks to the turquoise waters.  It is a shining, glistening jewel among the ten peaks.

Moraine Lake Valley of the Ten Peaks

The Mountain And The Lake


I know a mountain thrilling to the stars,
Peerless and pure, and pinnacled with snow;
Glimpsing the golden dawn o'er coral bars,
Flaunting the vanisht sunset's garnet glow;
Proudly patrician, passionless, serene;
Soaring in silvered steeps where cloud-surfs break;
Virgin and vestal -- Oh, a very Queen!
And at her feet there dreams a quiet lake.

My lake adores my mountain -- well I know,
For I have watched it from its dawn-dream start,
Stilling its mirror to her splendid snow,
Framing her image in its trembling heart;
Glassing her graciousness of greening wood,
Kissing her throne, melodiously mad,
Thrilling responsive to her every mood,
Gloomed with her sadness, gay when she is glad.

My lake has dreamed and loved since time was born;
Will love and dream till time shall cease to be;
Gazing to Her in worship half forlorn,
Who looks towards the stars and will not see --
My peerless mountain, splendid in her scorn. . . .
Alas! poor little lake! Alas! poor me!                       
                                               

by Robert William Service (1874-1958)

Peaks of the Mountain

In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also.
Psalm 95:4

Marias Pass

Marias Pass is a high mountain pass near Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana. The above photograph is the Lewis overthrust, viewed from Marias Pass.

Lake McDonald

 
 The afternoon was very sunny and bright which fades the background colors but it was a beautiful day in the park.  I wished I could have stayed an extra day to get the sunrise and sunsets during the golden hours.

Still Waters - Lake Edith

“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.”
― W.B. Yeats, The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore    

Tangle Ridge

When Your Are Old
by William Butler Yeats


WHEN you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

Mount Temple

Mount Temple is a mountain in Banff National Park of the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Mt. Temple is located in the Bow River Valley Creek and is the highest peak in the Lake Louise area.

Icy Turquoise Waters of the Athabasea River

The most amateur of photographers will get a perfect picture at any angle of the Athabasea River running through the mountain ranges and valleys of Jasper National Park in Alberta Canada.

Maligne Lake

 
 
The above photographs are just a few of the magnificent scenic views I saw on the boat cruise to Spirit Island.  Maligne Lake is regarded as one of the most mesmerizing lakes in Jasper National Park, Maligne Canyon and Lake, the pride of the town of Jasper, is famous for its deep blue water surrounded by snow-capped peaks dotted with glaciers.