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North Thompson River
Kamloops BC
Ever notice on a sunny winter's day just how bright the blue of the sky is?
Thompson River
Looking toward Battle Bluff
Kamloops BC
This picture was taken about a month ago. What a difference a month makes! It was still kind of summery weather then. And now, we have snow coming in a couple of days! :-( If the snow does materialize it will be the earliest that I remember for first snowfall.
Kamloops, B.C.
It may not look like it here but it is starting to feel like spring might come after all. The air is warmer, the snow is starting to melt and here in these fields are a lot of mama cows with their calves. Spring!
"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. "
--John Steinbeck
What a difference five days makes. Five days ago I thought spring was around the corner.
Paul Lake Road
Kamloops, BC
This area has long been a favourite place for me to come late afternoon on a sunny day for the sun casts long shadows. I might like early morning too but I will probably never know for there's the bit where you have to get out of bed early.
I think I may stop using the location marker map on my photos because the places it says are just so wrong. The map used to work just fine. :-/
... a train, and a pair of birds walk into a bar...
Okay, sorry, I couldn't think of a good punchline. HFF!
View across the Thompson River
From Mission Flats
It looks like one mountain from this angle but there are two distinct peaks with a plateau between them. Mt. Paul is in front and Mt. Peter, which has an elevation of 3650' or 1110 m, is behind.
Westsyde Road
Kamloops BC
Jensen Island is a private island bounded on one side by the North Thompson River and on the other side by an oxbow lake. Though the island itself is all private land, all of its foreshore is part of Oxbows Provincial Park and is a protected riparian habitat for waterfowl, otter and beaver. Several species of migratory birds stop there including white pelicans, trumpeter swans and tundra swans.
Flickr Friday -- theme "Vanishing Point"
This is a shot of the railway tracks heading past the abandoned settlement at Tranquille, just a few kilometres west of Kamloops.
This was once a self-sustaining community back in 1907 when it was established as a tuberculosis sanatorium. Many films and TV shows have been shot there, including several episodes of the vampire TV show "Van Helsing".
Thompson River
Kamloops, B.C.
It's been cold here (-11 C during the day and -16 overnight). But you don't really mind if there is beautiful sunshine and no wind.
North Thompson River,
Kamloops B.C.
As I watched great pieces of ice move past in the river in a slow motion flow, the sunlight glistening upon them, I stopped thinking about how much I hate the cold weather. It's amazing what sunshine and blue sky can do to one's thoughts!
Thompson River
Kamloops, B.C.
I have to admit to doing some serious hating on the snow the last few days. It's almost the middle of March! It's not supposed to snow three days in a row.
So today when I went out to take some pictures, it was quite grudgingly that I decided to take some photos of the very thing I was cursing. And... it was nice along the river. And, yes, it was pretty. Dammit, I can't hate you snow but I really hope to stop taking pictures of you very, very soon.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of this same view, minus most of the snow. I said I'd take one after the snows came. And here it is!
... after the floodwaters recede.
Across the pond (which is still a bit larger than usual) are the abandoned buildings of Tranquille
Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on
--- Ella Fitzgerald
Thompson River looking across Rabbit Island toward Battle Bluff
North Thompson river
Kamloops. B.C.
Downtown Kamloops is in the distance just beyond the point where the North and South Thompson rivers meet.
Kamloops, B.C.
Now there's a unique way of displaying your street address. Living's a bit different, a bit laid back on the north side of the Thompson River.
Chip is a chipmunk. Until today I might have said that we don't have chipmunks in Kamloops because I'd never seen one. Today however I saw lots scampering around on one side of the Rivers Trail by the airport.
Info courtesy Encyclopedia Britannica:
Chipmunk, (genus Tamias), any of 25 species of small, striped, terrestrial squirrels with large internal cheek pouches used for transporting food. They have prominent eyes and ears, a furry tail, and delicate claws. All are active only during the day, and all but one are North American, occurring from southern Canada to west-central Mexico. Body length among most species ranges from 8 to 16 cm (3.1 to 6.3 inches) and tail length from 6 to 14 cm (2.4 to 5.5 inches).
Rivers Trail
Kamloops, BC
This is a small stretch of the Rivers Trail, a system of over 40 kilometres of walking paths which follow the banks of the three rivers which bear the name Thompson (N. Thompson, S. Thompson and Thompson). In the sections of the trail which run through city parks, like this one, the path gets plowed of snow.
Kamloops, B.C.
Those halcyon days of autumn seem so long ago, though this photo was taken just yesterday. Today I drove with a couple of friends over a high mountain pass with a lot of snow coming down. What normally takes 4 hours took 6.5 as several times we could not move ahead because of traffic ahead, mainly big transport trucks sliding all over the road and not able to get up the hills. There were vehicles gone off the road all over the place too. It was a bit scary.
I really liked this shot for the composition but the colours were off. The hazy sky was flat and washed out. And usually when it's like that, the river looks mirky. So my main aim was to bring some colour and texture to the sky. HSS!
North Thompson River
Kamloops BC
This shot was done in December. I pulled it out of the archives because I loved the sky that day. There's no snow here now but -- ugh! -- snow is forecast for Friday. I really hope it doesn't happen.
McArthur Island park,
Kamloops, B.C.
The archway formed by these branches reminded me of the opening arch of a grand cathedral.
I'm being followed by a cloud shadow, cloud shadow, cloud shadow.
Leaping and hopping on a cloud shadow, cloud shadow, cloud shadow.
-- apologies to Cat Stevens
I just love cloud shadows! They're not something we see here very often for the sky is usually blue with no clouds or at best, a few wispy ones, either that or the sky is totally overcast.
Ranch along Paul Lake Road,
Kamloops, B.C.
By this picturesque old corral and cabin, the cows munch happily in the little strip of land which bears green grasses. I think the strip is a little lower than the surrounding land and holds what little moisture there is. To the left, there is a small pond.
Thompson River
Kamloops BC
As I took this shot, I was cursing about the train on the bridge. I'd been waiting for it to go over but it stopped and had been unmoving for a while. I can't help but thinking that it would have been a nicer shot without the train. However, to you train lovers out there I say: "You're welcome."
Clouds fanning out above
North Thompson River
Kamloops, B.C
A few days ago I posted a picture of clouds fanning out from Mt. Paul. This picture was from the same day. It's not as wild as the one with the mountain but, still, nice clouds.
Thompson River
Kamloops BC
I miss clouds. There hasn't been one for weeks, or so it seems anyway. A flat blue sky is so boring for photographs and the weather is way too hot!
Tranquille Farm area,
Kamloops, B.C.
I'd never been on this path before and was excited to see where it went and what new vistas might open up. After taking this photo, I got a few steps along the path when the sky opened up in a big, quite unexpected cloudburst. I had a T-shirt and shorts on. No adventure for me today!
a tree along the River's Trail
Kamloops, BC
I first came across this tree about two years ago and I marveled at it then. And I wondered at the mysteries of it: who had done it? It was clearly a talented artist/artisan. Was it sanctioned by the City of Kamloops as it was along apublically funded walking trail?
After two years, I am still wondering. I did find out though that there had been sightings of tree carvings in at least two other communities. And that there was an artist in Prince George who did bark carvings that reputedly did no harm to the tree.
North Thompson River
Clouds are quite tolerable when instead of being a drab grey blanket they are soft and white like these. And, of course, a patch of blue is always nice too.
As I was processing some of today's photos I kept coming back to this one. I love this old bridge and I liked the composition of the shot but the colours seemed so drab and washed out. Sliding up the saturation didn't work too well so then I came up with the idea of making it look like a vintage faded print. Voila!
Rose Hill
Kamloops, B.C.
When I was a kid, a teenager, there used to be a horse stables somewhere around here called, not surprisingly, Rose Hill Stables. They had a few ads on the local TV station featuring a couple of people riding horses through waving golden grass with a fantastic view like this behind them. Their slogan, for lack of a better term, was "Ride the High Country". That's always stuck with me.
I used to ride here and I don't remember ever thinking how beautiful it was. All I thought about was how beautiful the horses were! You know kids -- single-minded and I was a bit horse crazy back then.
Trail to Tranquille Creek
Kamloops, B.C.
As I walked along a trail on the other side of this fence the other day with a cold wind blowing I thought "At least I don't have to worry about rattlers." It was a funny thought because I've actually never worried about rattlers. Perhaps I should though. They say there are a lot in this area.
HFF!
Kamloops B.C.
This is another shot taken from the same vantage point as one I posted a few days ago. This one is zoomed in. If you zoom in even more you will notice on the hillside to the left that the trees look dead. This was the site of a small wild fire many years ago. I remember watching from my home on the other side of the river as helicopters scooped up buckets of water from the river to use on the flames.
At the time, I felt quite safe across the river. However, years after that when I was living elsewhere, there was a huge wild fire up the river which raged for days and days and, even though it was some 30 km away, the air in this part of Kamloops was black with smoke. And here is the frightening part -- the fire was so huge and hot that it was jumping back and forth across the river. The fire swept through one small community, leveling almost every home and business there.
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see
--- Irving Berlin
Those are the real blue skies not doctored on Lightroom. Well, actually, they -were- doctored. I had to de-saturate just a bit because the blue was just so intense I thought people would figure the colour was so crazily blue it must be fake!.
A comedian's nightmare
I'd been shooting something in a different direction but was vaguely aware of the cattle, clustered around a water trough, off some distance to my right. I'd left my glasses in the car and couldn't see them too clearly so looked at them through my zoom lens.
I know this photo isn't of the best quality but it cracks me up every time I look at it. :-) We stared at each other for a while till eventually they lost interest and wandered off, deeper into the fields.
This tree is located along The Rivers Trail, a network of walking paths on the banks of the North and South Thompson Rivers. It was kind of a surprising thing to find this carving as it must have involved several hours work and it's doubtful that it was sanctioned by the city. I do love it but I just hope it hasn't harmed the tree.
And I don't even know what kind for that bird totally photobombed my shot. I didn't even know I'd got the bird until I was processing the day's shots.
Rose Hill
Kamloops, B.C.
This was taken about halfway up Rose Hill and looks eastward along the South Thompson valley. There was a fierce wind blowing, seen in some of the treetops and in the rippling grasses. Though the sunshine was pleasant the wind was very cold. It was exhilarating though, especially with the great views.
On the north-eastern shore of Kamloops Lake
The dark clouds gathered across the sky in an ominous wave for about three hours and the light dimmed, warning of the impending storm. The rain only lasted for about 15 minutes though and the sky immediately started to brighten.
Beyond the tree (more of a distance than it looks here) is Battle Bluff, elevation 671 m.
Canoes under snow
Paul Lake
Kamloops, B.C.
I'm not sure if these canoes ever get used because they always seem to be sitting up on the shore. I haven't been in this spot in the summer though so... I'll have to have a look this year.
Kamloops, B.C.
This is an area just a few kilometres west of town which was once a self-sustaining community back in 1907 when it was established as a tuberculosis sanatorium.
Sagebrush is featured in the foreground of this photo because it's quintessentially Kamloops. And also because I love it. In the spring it is a pale green colour and smells like the aromatic herb for which it is named. It grows like a weed (well, I suppose technically it is one) covering all the hillsides and scrublands. The name of the theatre which houses the professional theatre company of Kamloops is The Sagebrush Theatre. So, yes, quintessential. :-)