Glenbow Ranch Fire & Ice January 21, 2020

I am overdue for being out & about while a new day is dawning!  The dawnings the past few days have been incredible and I had faith today's would be too!  I also found a source that said the Bow River near Cochrane is nothing but a massive ice field.   So, you gotta know where I went this morning,  Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park where it was a fire and ice show!

The crescent moon was still high in the sky when I arrived.

This time around I aimed for the viewpoint just past the turnoff for Tiger Lily.

From there I watched the show.  

The colors were as I hoped they would be.   

framing the colors

you can see a trail bottom middle

I was being watched as I was watching!

When I thought the show was fading, I carried on along down the trail watching my footing as the path was covered in a thin layer of frost, which was pretty on its own.  When I looked up a few minutes later, there was an encore taking place.

I reached the bottom of Tiger Lily and as the oranges were turning to pink.  

 from east to west there was color exploison in both directions

The sun was up but it had not warmed up.  I was at the valley bottom now and it was bitterly cold.  I still had ground to cover so covered it quickly to keep warm.  All the while on my way to the Bow River, the helicopeters were in taking off and landing training.

with so much sun of course there were lots of shadows

By the time I reached the river the sun was on it and it made for wonderful lighting for taking pictures.  Each tree had a layer of ice wrapped around it which was up to a foot or two high.  These trees were not that close to the river which shows how far the ice pushed the water in land.

The river was a field of ice!  As far as the eye could see there were wild and crazy ice formations.  It was pushed up onto the land so I did not have to venture far to see it up close.  Some formations were like lace.  I like how the sun reflected and created stars.  Also, I think I see an ice bird on the far right!  Do You?

the ice, the sky, the whispy cloud, oh so dreamy

This chunk of ice created by Mother Nature is like a pillar of strength!

This piece is about two feet tall.

I spent about an hour by the river doing nothing but admiring the ice formations and capturing their beauty.  At times I was laying down being one with the ground to capture different perspectives, all the while the two helicopters were flying over top doing their training loops.  I wondered if they saw me and if they wondered what the heck I was doing. 

I could have spent another hour down by the river.  I did not hike a very long stretch of it, the ice was so close, so compacted, piece after piece after piece all right there.  I felt so full of fulfillment, my stomach was growling,  I was chilled to the bone, it was time to go home.  With a few kilometers to go to get back up to my car, I just put her in overdrive and got up there.

today's 11km route