Images by Arshad

Back by popular demand

2010-09-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year since I posted new images and have had many requests for more. So here they are.

For the last year I spent on average twenty days a month working away from home and for the most part I spent this time in the Pitt river valley, a beautiful rugged place with towering mountains, icefields, natural hot springs and lots and lots of wildlife.

Corbold creek falls. Pitt Lake, BC

Starting at its headwaters in the mighty Coast mountains the upper Pitt river meanders through canyons and valleys till it empties into Pitt Lake. At the south end of the lake the lower Pitt river become a broad sluggish brown expanse of water which eventually joins the Fraser river, which in turn empties into the Pacific ocean.

Upper Pitt River Valley, BC

Pitt Lake is one of only a handful of freshwater intertidal lakes in the world. This creates a unique ecosystem supporting an incredible variety of wildlife. Massive sturgeon roam the depths of the river right up into the south end of the lake. Multiple species of trout and salmon inhabit the lake, and the Pitt river sockeye salmon run is an incredible event to witness.

This year saw the biggest return in a hundred years. An estimated 39 million sockeye returned to spawn in rivers along the west coast. A far sight better than last year which saw less than two million fish.

Intertidal marshes are home to eagles, great blue herons and numerous other varieties of wading birds. Spawning sockeye weighing upto 15 pounds carpet the river starting in early September and the water seems to boil with fish. Seals swim all the way up to the mouth of the upper Pitt following the salmon, and bears, elk, deer, coyotes, wolves and cougars are just a few of the other wild animals that inhabit the mountains here.

A great blue heron hunts for dinner. Pitt Lake, BC

Spotted fawns. Pitt Lake, BC

A young black bear, probably spending its first year fending for itself is frightened up a giant hemlock by Dakota the bear chasing dog.
Pitt Lake, BC

Seals on the log booms. Pitt Lake, BC

After spending days hiking up and down the mountains looking at giant firs and cedars a visit to the natural hotsprings is exactly what you need to relax.

Fifteen years ago someone diverted the scalding hot water seeping out of a crack in the canyon wall and built two concrete walls to create two pools. This was quite a feat considering the access to the springs is not for the faint of heart.

A quick hike through the forest brings you to a tree leaning out over the edge of a cliff. Using the ropes tied to the tree you need to lower yourself down the cliff to the rivers edge to get to the pools. Since the pools are right beside the river they flood during spring runoff when the winter snows melt. In February however, when this image was taken, the river was low and calm.

Pitt river hot springs, BC

Old growth cedar. Pitt Lake, BC

This is a small tree. I've seen some which are at least double its size.

That is all from Pitt Lake...for now anyway.

These next images are some other interesting ones taken over the last year.

Ice breaks up on the river as spring arrives. Fraser river, BC

Window frost. Minus 38 degress Celsius. Horsefly, BC

Needless to say we did not work this day. I spent the morning taking pictures of frost instead.

Climbing IcyBC. Marble Canyon, BC

Electric skies light up Kamloops, BC

That is all for now folks.

"The world we've made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking."
Albert Einstein

Summer

2009-08-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost at an end and I thought I'd showcase a little bit of this wild and beautiful place I call home, in all its glory.

Yellow fields, Cornwall Hills, BC

A boreal bluet in early spring, Crown Lake, BC

When I spent a weekend fishing at Hoopy Lake there were reds and yellows in bloom everywhere. These are just a couple of the wildflowers that colour BC every summer

Red Columbine

Wild tiger lilies

And of course there are the mountains . . .

Granite peak reflected in Roxey Creek, South Chilcotin Range, BC

The glacier which feeds Roxey creek

Spot the Ptarmigan

View from the top of the world

After weeks of scorching heat left the province tinder dry we had a thunder and lightning storm.

The biggest I've ever witnessed, it stretched hundreds of kilometers from the coast and covered most of the Southern Interior. Hundreds of new wildfires started that night.

Three times what was budgeted has already been spent fighting wildfires this summer, and firefighters from as far away as Australia have been helping battle the flames.

Lightning strikes the shores of Kamloops Lake, BC

Lightning strikes Kamloops Lake.

At the bottom left of the image you can see the hood of the jeep I was inside.
It gives an idea how close the lightning was.

Resounding cracks of thunder echoed between the hills and the flashes of lightning were blinding. Trees exploded in orange fireballs on faraway hillsides and the air was charged with energy

To experience the raw and immense power of nature from so close up was an exhilirating experience!

Helios

2009-06-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Wherever you go sunrises and sunsets are moments of splendour.

Summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The sun rose at 4:30 am.
North Norfolk coast, UK

Sunrise over la Seine.
Paris

The setting sun coloured the low clouds pink as we finished work for the day.

Horsefly, BC

A brilliant orange setting sun. I played with the aperture and created some lens flare in the process.

Horsefly, BC

While hiking down we saw the setting sun briefly between the higher layer of clouds we had just descended out of, and the lower layer we were soon to hike into.
This was the only glimpse of the sun we'd had all day.
Baldy Mtn. BC

After two days of really hazy skies due to wildfires, the winds changed direction and the smoke cleared up. You don't always have to venture far from home for a beautiful sunset.
Kamloops, BC

Macros

2009-04-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Winter

2009-02-13T18:29:00.001-08:00

Its been a white winter my end of the world. The first time in close to fifty years that its been a white winter all across Canada.

The temperature has varied from warm spring-like days that don't feel like winter at all, to 35 celsius below when the hair in your nose freezes every time you breathe in.

I thought I'd share some winter pictures.

Driving the backroads of BC early in the mornings I've seen foggy winter sunrises

And shared the roads with snow covered logging trucks getting ready to haul a load of wood to the mill.

Spent the day in a winter wonderland (this was in France last year)

And frozen my feet off taking pictures of snowflakes when conditions create big fat crystals

The dry cold one weekend created a carpet of inch long ice leaves. Snowshoeing through them sounded like walking on broken glass.

They even covered the bare wild-rose bushes giving them winter foliage.

And finally, spectacular sunsets to end the day.

That's all for now. I hope everyones doing great.

Mount Bowman

2008-10-09T01:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks after I returned to Canada, the mountains beckoned. Early one Saturday, I packed up my truck and drove out to the small mining town of Logan Lake to meet up with Jared.

The morning was clear and crisp. A perfect fall day dawned, the sun a fireball of orange rising over the old Lac le Jeune ski hill.

Tucked away in the interior of British Columbia is the village of Clinton. An hours drive north, down gravel roads brought us to Western edge of the Marble Range. We explored some rarely used side roads, some merely hints of trails that once were, before we found the trail head we were searching for.

The mountains here are mostly karst limestone. The passage of time has created caves, sinkholes and underground drainage in the soft rock. Rivers and creeks vanish underground, only to reappear further downstream. Our destination this time however was the summit of Mt. Bowman. We hiked through forests of Douglas Fir in their autumn hues; splashes of red, orange and gold everywhere.

We set up camp below the summit as the sun set and rainclouds appeared. The surrounding mountains became black silhouettes against the darkening blue sky.

Jared cooked dinner over the fire, while I explored around camp taking pictures. It was wet, cold and desolate. And I was happy. We ate dinner and listened to the wind rush between the peaks and down the valley. Music of the mountains.

We woke up to a thick blanket of fog covering the peaks and valleys the next morning. It had rained intermittently all night.

By the time we fired up the stove and got some breakfast down, the sun had started to burn through the fog. We discussed our route up the summit as we fueled up.

Fifty minutes later, we'd scrambled up the scree slopes and wound our way through groves of gnarled and stunted pine, hiked above the treeline, around giant sinkholes, and arrived at the summit.

To the west, just beyond the Edge Hills, a strip of fog covered the Fraser River.

Beyond the river we could see rainclouds gathering. They were heading in our direction. We spent another hour on and around the summit, before heading back to break camp.

On the hike out we saw caves in the side of Mad Dog Mountain. They remain to be explored on another trip. Exciting!

The mountains hold a strong attraction for me. Their remote ruggedness, their solitude, and the feeling of incredible bliss I get when I'm in their midst induces an all natural high. Returning to the sights and sounds of civilization brings me crashing down from this high. For days afterwards I'm prone to argue more, avoid people, and seek out silence and seclusion. And from this crash arises the idea for my next foray. Seventy five percent of British Columbia is mountainous. Sixty percent is forested, and ninety percent of its population lives within an hours drive of the US-Canada border. That means a lot of wilderness to explore. I think I might go hike the Trophy Mountains tomorrow.

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life.

Remember to look for the magic in the everyday!