A few goings on...

A very busy season meant that I didn't have time leftover for keeping this blog up to date.  So I'm combining the photos of a few months into one post.  The first is of the Japanese maple seedling from the old, now dead, Japanese maple in the backyard at home in Toronto.  Despite my efforts this seedling died after about a month - it was just too hot and shady in my bright condo.

Japanese maple seedling from Toronto home in a thunderstorm

Miles got it in his head this summer to get good photographs of each and every orchid species in the Rockies within an hour or two's drive from his home in Canmore, Alberta.  He even bought a Canon Rebel xxx for the mission.  He was inspired by my photos of orchids from last year - realizing that much better flower photos could be taken - I was flattered.  (His photos from last year were pretty abysmal.)  He did end up taking many beautiful photos of orchids this year - a natural!  And now he's completely hooked on botanical photography.  Some of my photos are below.

White coralroot orchid

Botanical kindred spirit Miles

Calypso orchids

Cory's Groove was a 7 pitch climb that Ian and I set out to explore - given that one could rappel down at any time so commitment was minimal and we had planned on a later start.  The hike up was a crazy steep obstacle course, made even less fun by the dew that soaked our shoes and the air alive with viciously hungry mosquitoes.  An interesting climb - we got three pitches up - although the placement of some of the bolts baffled us (*why* would they be placed where one would have to climb silky smooth waterworn limestone was a complete mystery), which made Ian take a slightly different line on the 3rd pitch and place his own gear, or even skip a bolt here and there altogether.

Cory's Groove view

Cory's Groove partner and whip - Ian

One weekend I went on a solo orchid photo hunt, with mostly terrible results.  It yielded just a couple of mediocre photos.

Listeria obtusata

Listeria obtusata

Another solo trip was a hike up Devil's Thumb, accessed from Lake Louise.  There were few people on the trail after Lake Agnes, which was exactly what I had hoped.

Lake Louise hike "Devil's Thumb"

I wish I had more photos from my climbs this season, but I was pretty focused on feeling more confident leading on gear so no more climbing photos.  My goal was to climb in the Bugaboos on my birthday weekend with my best bud, but an encounter with an infected tick has made best laid plans go to waste, so they say.  Well, one can try to make good use out of being sick, as you will see in my next post.