Highwood Ridge, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country, Alberta

[Lori S.]

I thought I'd try out the new easy-load photo feature with some hiking photos from Highwood Ridge, from July 20 and 31, 2015!
July 20th was a showery day, and we were soon chased down by cold rain and sleet.  We got to explore further along Highwood Ridge on our return trip on July 31st, on a day with clear skies and cool conditions up high, periodically blasted by very strong, cold winds.  (Meanwhile, it was sweltering hot back in Calgary - 32 degrees C.)

First, a few views to set the scene...
On the way up, just the last push left (I tend not to take many pics on the way up... too busy suffering.  )  The rock bands and vegetated areas on the way up seem to be favoured by Rocky Mountain sheep, judging from all the droppings.  We saw a couple of small bands of females and lambs, resting in the rock bands, on our second trip - our path detoured around them, so they were more-or-less undisturbed... other than keeping some watchful eyes on us.


On the ridge - Grizzly Col (this is a route out to the adjacent Grizzly Ridge... a little too hairy for me) and views of green, vegetated Pocaterra Ridge, and the Paleozoic limestone ridge behind it.
 

View to the east into Ptarmigan Cirque, an extremely popular day hike, with the peak of Mount Rae in cloud and Mt. Arethusa to the right:


View out along Highwood Ridge (left), with Paradise Valley and Grizzly Ridge to the right, backed up the peaks that define the Alberta-BC boundary:

[Lori S.]

Sorry, a few problems posting (plus I decided to show the photos full size) but I will persist!

[Maggi Young]

Hang in there, Lori - your photos are always such a delight to see to illustrate the landscape as well as see the flowers there. 

[Lori S.]

Ah, success!  Not having to resize is great!   
(Oh, don't make me bush, Maggi...  )

Arnica louiseana in the steep, coaly, scree slope on the slog up to the ridge - a very charming little plant that I've only seen in this area, so far.


The first time I've come upon Erigeron lanatus, also in the coaly scree slope - I suspect it may be restricted to fairly high elevations.  Delightfully furry!

[Maggi Young]

My, that Erigeron lanatus is a very attractive little thing. Superb foliage. I expect it would be very difficult in cultivation - most of the best "furries" are. 

[Lori S.]

Androsace septentionalis, showing some interesting colour:


Arabis lemmonii:


Antennaria alpina (I guess)... beautiful tight foliage, and a view out along Highwood Ridge:


Myosotis asiatica:


Ranunculus eschscholtzii:

[Lori S.]

Some brilliantly-coloured Phacelia sericea, nicely offset by the yellowish sandstone:
   

[David Nicholson]

Great stuff Lori, thanks for posting.

[Robert]

Lori,

Very impressive scenery and flora!

Arnica louseana, Erigeron lanatus, and Phacelia sericea were among my favorites. Our Phacelias, in general, are such a wash-out compared to the intense color of P. sericea. Very, very impressive! Can it be grown in the garden? Can any be grown in the garden? It would certainly be fun to try.

Thank you so much for sharing the photographs. They definitely caught my interest. 

[Lori S.]

Thanks for the comments! 

Robert, yes, Phacelia sericea can be grown in the garden, though perhaps not with such intensity of colour as in the wild, and it seems to be monocarpic, from various reports and in my own experience.  I have very much enjoyed your postings of your hikes in California - just wonderful!

[Chris Johnson]

What wonderful images, Lori - a powerful landscape. Thanks for sharing.

[fermi de Sousa]

Wow, Lori,
great stuff!
cheers
fermi

[melager]

Wow fantastic photos, thanks so much sharing and great to see tge new photo size
Mel

[Robert]

Thanks for the comments! 

Robert, yes, Phacelia sericea can be grown in the garden, though perhaps not with such intensity of colour as in the wild, and it seems to be monocarpic, from various reports and in my own experience.  I have very much enjoyed your postings of your hikes in California - just wonderful!

Lori,

Thank you so much. I will keep my eyes open for such seeds in the various seed lists that come around.

Some of our Phacelia species that are said to be "perennial" are more or less monocarpic too. Also, I would be pleased if the color intensity remained the same when we brought these high elevation beauties to our low land gardens. Oh well.

I certainly enjoy the photographs from your local mountains. It seems to be incredibly beautiful country. I look forward to your next outing. Very inspirational!