For this week’s challenge, I scrambled around looking for any and all pictures taken during recent travels that could be relevant to the theme of windows, regardless of the context in which the theme could be invoked. The result could appear to be somewhat scattershot. Perhaps the real unifying theme is that these pictures a part of larger stories that appear elsewhere in my blogs.
During our recent visit to New England, we stayed one evening at a lovely Bed and Breakfast establishment in Gorham, NH. I wandered around early in the morning, taking the following pictures that showcase some of the windows in this old home.
The following pictures were taken during the same New England trip in Tip-Top House, which used to be a hotel right at the top of Mt. Washington in NH. The entire facility still exists in its original form even though it is not in use today. The windows here seemed somewhat small. Perhaps they are that way in order to minimize the loss of heat.
The following pictures were taken from the window of my plane on my way to the Canadian Rockies for a six day bike ride.
The following pictures were taken from the window of our van as we drove into Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies for the start of the bike ride.
These last pictures was taken during the rescue operation after the bike ride, during my train ride from Edmonton to Toronto on The Canadian.
The following pictures are from the Forefield trail.
I joined the others for breakfast after the walk. Then it was time to get ready to depart. I saw Ben outside our hotel window getting the bikes ready for the day’s ride.
Today we crossed over from Jasper National Park to Banff National Park as we went over the Sunwapta pass. This is the second highest pass that we will cross during the ride, and it is at about 2035 feet.
We stopped for hike at Parker Ridge. We crossed over the mountain ridge to the other side to see the Saskatchewan Glacier. It was a pretty steep climb.
We found this chap beside the trail, taking in all the tourist traffic going by.
You could see the support vehicle at the bottom of the mountain as we returned from the hike.
Then came another challenging section of the ride. This one was a little scary, but we all came through in good shape. We were essentially speeding down a mountainside on a road that was not in the best of shape, a road that was also lacking a good shoulder, or even a shoulder in some parts. We were riding besides other motor vehicles on the road. It was bone rattling ride at high speeds. Ben had a stop for us at the halfway point, where he instructed me on how better to hold on to the bicycle handle so that I could take the rough road without wobbling too much. One of our riders hit a speed of 70 kmph coming down, a personal best for her. I was just a little slower. 🙂 The picture below shows a very short section of that descent.
And then we were riding the rest of way to our destination for the evening on the flats beside the North Saskatchewan River. This river flows into the Hudson Bay. The Columbia Icefield is a source for rivers that flow into the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.
We were riding beside a wall of rock for a certain distance.
After a certain while, the river disappeared behind some trees and woods. There was less things to stop for, and the rest of the ride became more about the sheer enjoyment of the experience of riding. Folks were speeding along all the way to our destination, which was a place called The Crossing Resort. It was located at a spot just before our road, the Icefield Parkway, crosses the North Saskatchewan river. Here is a picture of our digs for the night.
These are some views from the resort.
After dinner we drove to the Mistaya Canyon where we could take a hike to a spot where the Mistaya river goes over a waterfall. The Mistaya river feeds the North Saskatchewan river.
That evening a few of us stood outside our rooms hoping to see some colors in the sky at sunset. The show was a little disappointing.
We are halfway through the ride at this point!
Splattered Brains 