John & Anne Wiley

2010/09/02

Blue Rockies

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Random — John @ 00:37

I once had a recording by a group I think was named String Band, of a song I think was named “Blue Canadian Rockies” (first popularized I think by Hank Snow), that pined for the shores of Lake Louise. That of course implanted a lifelong yearning to visit this renowned place, and Anne I’m sure has her own story of wanting to see it. So after departing Edmonton and passing Rocky Mountain Home, we entered the Banff Park valley and turned South with considerable romantic anticipation. We weren’t disappointed.

0581 Water Colors

0581 Water Colors

Glacial runoff produces colors that can be difficult to believe, much less photograph. Does this give you some clue, when you remember that we were enjoying a panorama of such views?

0600 High Falls

0600 High Falls

We saw several magnificent waterfalls so high in the mountains that few people have seen them unless from a small plane. Reaching this spot would certainly involve an arduous and dangerous climb, because it’s quite high above the Saskatchewan River.

0619 High Glacial Lake

0619 High Glacial Lake

Before long we also saw high glacier-carved lakes fed by the runoff from the shrinking glacier that presumably sat and carved their bowl from solid rock over millennia. This is probably closer to how Lake Louise once looked, than what we see now down nearer the valley a few miles away. How many people will see this before it’s gone? Instead, most visitors will probably take the short drive up to Lake Louise from the main highway traversing the valley. Perhaps some might wonder how it looked with a glacier descending into the lake, rather than retreated up into the misty distance of this snapshot.

0622 Lake Louise

0622 Lake Louise

Further along the valley toward the South I noticed this cascade of small falls and pools on a high slope, and wondered how many people have ever been there.

0647 Tumbling Falls

0647 Tumbling Falls

A bit further was a striking scene where rocks and trees dance in a geological rhythm.

0659 Reaching Rocks

0659 Reaching Rocks

Such an amazing region! We’re so glad to have seen it from the air!

Shall I look for a few more pix of this passage to share in another post about this day?

2010/09/01

Jasper Seconds

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Random — John @ 02:07

The first time I ever saw Jasper was on a train from Smithers, so perhaps it’s fitting somehow that my third experience of Jasper began in this small town with a big regional presence. It’s not just the tourism that is now year-round, but also it serves as a shopping destination for some of the region of B.C. between Prince George and Prince Rupert. It was a delight when the hotel shuttle driver said she’d be happy to give us a “Mainer” enroute to the airport. Noting with some delight our quizzical expressions, she explained that’s what her kids called it when they’d cruise Main Street.

0274 Mainer

0274 Mainer

Though it’s changed a lot since I lived there, some of the places I lived and worked remain as reminders of another era.

We discovered Jasper anew too, because approaching it from the West presents a very different perspective and we noticed things we’d missed before. Even in this day’s heavier smoke, the Western entrance greeted us with a hint of ancient Egypt.

0538 Pyramid Peaks

0538 Pyramid Peaks

For reasons I don’t understand, this view also reminds me of our time in DC at the feet of solemn Abe in the Lincoln Memorial.

Sometimes the intensity of Being Alive almost overwhelms me, and I woke in that space this morning. Maybe that’s why there’s something massive for me about looking again at these faint impressions of places that evoke faint and distorted memories. How many miles and passages have piled into the misshapen vessel that is human memory? How is it that we ever experience as mundane, this incredible Life?

2010/08/31

Long Day

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Random,Tripp — John @ 04:49

Back on August fourth, after our short night in Terrace we flew past Prince Rupert to Ketchikan then back past Terrace to Smithers. We slept well in the hotel that night! Here then are two more views from our extensive exploration of Ketchikan. Aside from our few minutes at the airport after satisfying the CBP agent, those explorations consisted of arriving and departing this busy airspace in Tripp. After taking off and turning back toward Prince Rupert I snapped these overlapping shots across the bay.

0517 Ketchikan

0517 Ketchikan

0518 Ketchikan

0518 Ketchikan

As you may recall, the weather here differed considerably from that in nearby Prince Rupert where we’d planned to stop. Below is the one glimpse we got of that runway between the low clouds, as we pleaded by radio with various Canadian agencies to authorize changing our cross-border re-entry landing from Rupert to Terrace – that was eventually changed to Smithers.

0527 Prince Rupert WX

0527 Prince Rupert WX

I believe we actually could have safely landed in Rupert with “clear of clouds” (Special VFR) permission but it would have been a highly unconventional approach, and taking off again after clearing customs all but impossible. I’m glad we didn’t have to test my belief.

So we flew the now-familiar river route to Terrace and then took the back country shortcut to Smithers climbing high among these peaks to maximize our radio contact and options in event of an unscheduled landing. We always had passable sites within glide, but were again appreciative of Tripp’s ease in lifting us to the limits of our comfort level for flying without oxygen.

0528 Terrace To Smithers

0528 Terrace To Smithers

Tripp was eager to climb higher, so we’re probably going to buy some sort of supplemental short-term oxygen setup for future adventures. Flash the 172M we took on our first Big Adventure could not have taken only we two and two hours’ fuel this high, without considerable struggle. Tripp our 172Q happily did so even with more fuel and a lot of luggage and supplies added to her load. This is why people invest in that extra 20hp!

Still, we were glad to finally see familiar Hudson Bay Mountain pass beneath our wings. As we glided by glacier-fed Lake Kathryn on our descent into Smithers airport, the glassy waters seemed to promise a quiet and reflective sleep.

0531 Kathryn Welcome

0531 Kathryn Welcome

2010/08/30

Early Winter

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Random,Relationships,Tripp — John @ 21:53

I once scribbled a rough poem with the same title as this post, sitting on the tree stump that was then the front porch of the small cabin I built between two lakes a few miles outside the small town of Smithers, B.C. Though the view was different from there, the Presence of the mountain towered over my loneliness. Looking again today at this photo, a wide spectrum of powerful feelings is somehow summed up in a long, deep sigh.

0262 Return To Mountain

0262 Return To Mountain

More than with the first photo I posted from that flight a few weeks ago, this one connects because we’re sitting at home with time to reflect. Being a California native that was my first real Winter, and marking the end of my first marriage it was also a very cold season of my life. How miraculous to have transcended this icy passage shouldered up to Anne’s warmth, with Tripp’s stout wings lifting us effortlessly behind the throaty song of her engine. An archetypal journey with mythical steed.

0266 Cascade of Memories

0266 Cascade of Memories

I have paused in the refreshing mists of many waterfalls since this one draining the glacier on that peak. Each has cleansed my wounds with rainbows of acceptance and awareness. Nourished my arduous climb back into the light of Loving and Understanding.

2010/08/29

Looking Back

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,NxNW Adventure,People,Tripp — John @ 01:15

Today’s plan was to fly another dear friend around town, but she was just too exhausted after errands so we’ll reschedule. Like us she tends to get carried away and overdo things sometimes, so we certainly understand. In fact, we’d done exactly that yesterday after our flight!

Instead, today I looked again at pix from our NxNW adventure and in this extended review I’ve reached the first passage of that trip through the Jasper area. Wow.

Even with the smoke that day (seems impossible it was this month!), it’s easy to find more pix that convey some glimmer of how incredible it was.

0182 Eastern Gate

0182 Eastern Gate

From the Hinton airport I’d admired this silent sentinel, so minutes after takeoff we were awestruck by the magnitude of it and imagining the glacier that carved it.

0186 Tree Choir

0186 Tree Choir

Glacier, rain, river and other now silent forces were also on display in this bend descending from the peaks. A rugged stand of trees in the natural amphitheater seems to be pausing in a performance for an audience of their peers across the ravine. All this within a few miles of takeoff, as you can see from this glance back at the sentinel gate beneath Tripp’s broad wing.

0191 Looking Back

0191 Looking Back

The glacial water in the river was a brilliant hue of turquoise. I was reminded of the views from my only other trip through this valley, decades ago on the train. I recall the magnificent snow-capped mountains, and peaks endlessly assaulted by cloud armies.

0208 Cloud Cauldron

0208 Cloud Cauldron

Beyond the spectacle provided from the train, this time the view was expanded considerably by our increasing altitude. We spotted a tram station among the trees with cables leading up the slope that would be all but invisible from the train. Near the peak the cables end at buildings on a high ledge where people hiking to the top make small groups of happy little dots on the road.

0214 Alpine Perch

0214 Alpine Perch

By the time we were nearing the end of a powerful fast moving hour in slow flight we had risen above the lower ridges to gaze in wonder at the rows of ragged peaks layered among clouds into the distance.

0228 Upper Passage

0228 Upper Passage

Glancing again at a pic showing the lines of road and rail in the valley, I’m moved to offer a suggestion for anyone who dreams of flight: when you visit this area, be sure to include an aerial tour. Hinton offers them, and you can probably also buy rides in Prince George just a few miles from where I snapped this.

0234 Western Gate

0234 Western Gate

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