Akamina Ridge #2

It's now 10:30 at night and I'd like to go to sleep...I'm sensing a pattern here...blogging and sleeping. Hmm. Anywhooo...

Here are the rest of the pictures. Once these are up, I'll have to come back once again to label all the shots...but that will be tomorrow or some other day.

Ahh...breathtaking! Early morning (sometime before 6) rest stop on the way up to the ridge
Three uncconcerned deer we saw on our way up...they just continued to eat while we snapped more than a few shots :)This guy had the biggest rack...it was awesome. My first time seeing a deer with antlers!Not a great technical shot, but this is a shot of the beginning of our scramble up to the ridge. I LOVE scrambling :)Halfway up the scramble we had Wall Lake on our right, and Forum Lake on our left...this is Wall.Two of the peaks we crossed along the ridgeMy first time seeing a marmot! It was the cutest thing ever, and I wanted to take it home :) It had the cutest mannerisms!Forum Lake from halfway up the scrambleThe view from our lunch spot...at 8:30 in the morning :)Another view from our lunch rest stopThe lower saddle coming up to the ridge. Leah and I were ahead and hunkered down behind the rocks to get out of the wind while we waitedLeah waiting patiently for the guysUp we go!Leah finding her way up the next scramble sectionA variation of wild crocusesAnother lake seen from the ridge..not sure what it was. I love the different types of mountains in this shotStill going up!Mountain range seen from the ridgeKevan and Leah at one of the peaksI love that red rock!And another type of rock...there was a mountain goat that Kevan saw in there somewhere!All the way down to Wall Lake...after bushwhacking for about 10-15 minutes, which felt like an hour! We lost the trail because of an avalanche. The lake was a welcome sight!Almost back to the car! Crossing the border back into Alberta

Oy! That took longer than I wanted it to. Off to Dreamland I go...

~K~

Waterton National Park - Akamina Ridge

I don't know HOW I'm going to do this post without simply posting a whole whack of pictures. That's really the only way I think I'm going to be able to do this! I can't choose only a few, so they must all go up, I guess! I wish I knew how to do a slideshow thingy...that might be nicer for the readers than having to scroll down forever.
Be prepared for a really long post. I apologize. If you have Facebook, maybe you should just check out the pictures there...might be less painful. If you don't have Facebook...oh well...you must deal with the post, I guess.

Here goes!

This was on our way into Crandell Lake campsite (the first time, Friday afternoon)...a 2 km walk.

Indian Paintbrush along the way
Not sure what this furry flower is, but it was neat!Self-explanatory This is where we spent a bunch of our time...on the rocks next to the lakeI just love this tree...it was so neat!Small, blue Forget-me-notsAlberta's Wild RoseAnother unknown flowerAn old, gnarled tree next to the cookhouse on the beachAnd again...flowers!Evening light on the lake..and a duck :)Crandell Lake in the eveningThis friendly little deer came to see if he could find food while we were eating dinner.This picture was taken at Forum Falls shortly after 5 in the morning with my point and shoot Canon, hence the terrible light and the dew splatters on my lens...it was still dark! It seemed like too much work to pull out the big camera that early :)Boardwalk crossing a marshy area just before reaching Forum LakeA first glimpse of Akamina Ridge at first lightGetting closer! Yes, that's snow we're walking over in the middle of July!This is what you get when you wake up at 3:30, start hiking out of camp at 4, and start hiking to the ridge at 5. First light is beautiful. A part of me still wanted to be asleep at camp. Needless to say, it was NOT my idea to be up that early.Forum Lake and Akamina RidgeNeato plants!Starting to head up the trail to the ridge

Ok, so at this point I'm about to fall asleep...no, not from boredom...so I think I'm going to run and have a quick nap (or not so quick, as the case usually is with me!), and then I'll come back later to add the rest of the photos. I kinda doubt anyone's going to read this in the meantime, however. If you do...come and check back later...there'll be more! Like I said...there are LOTS of pictures :)

~K~