So, I was challenged a few months ago by barbaraelka and kalyrical to post some photos of the wide open spaces of BC.
Now BC is a very diverse province in terms of landscape. The Lower Mainland is pretty urbanised in places. There’s wide open areas of agriculture in the Fraser Valley. Obviously the ski hills around Whistler as well as Big White are different again. Loads of unspoiled first growth as well as second, third etc. growth (i.e. previously logged and now managed) forests. And desert and near-desert in the east of the Province.
A couple of weeks ago, I took my son and heir (in lieu of the missing hair) for a couple of nights camping, when we had a public holiday. Expecting the more popular sites to be totally heaving, we went to one of OUR favourite sites. Being a bit out of phase, our favourite places are w-a-a-a-a-y less likely to be busy. Sure enough, we easily got into the Juniper Beach Provincial Campsite, just outside Cache Creek. As well as the usual RV pads, it’s a lovely tent site with a beautifully manicured lawn to pitch on, as well as hot showers to offset the usual pit toilet experience common to BC campsites. So why so easy to get a spot on the long weekend? Easy… trains. Lots of trains. It’s in the Thompson valley, with CPR tracks on one site and CN tracks on the other. Every hour or so (all night too) there’s a freight train on one side or the other. You get used to it, but apparently it’s not to everyone’s taste!
Needless to say – I took a few snaps. The colours were a challenge, as it’s quite an arid area, with lots of washed-out hues. Below are a few of what I think are the better photos. Comments always welcome…
- These steel tubes made a great graphic image I thought. They were sticking out towards the fence from a small welding shop in Ashcroft
- High contrast B&W makes things look moody I think. Especially if they’re industrial or straight edged
- I liked this fence plank. It had attitude
- The sun was trying so hard to burst through the clouds, and the sky was a deep blue. The stove pipe made a hard contrast to the fluffy clouds
- Sorry! Just can’t help myself with power lines. They fascinate me!
- Now THIS photo I think I might enter into a competition. I liked the way sky/hills/field cut up the frame, and the artificial regularity of the bales contrast with the chaotic beauty of the glacier-scarred hillside.
- All weekend the sun and clouds made great sweeping gestures across the landscape. I never did figure out how these watering devices move across the fields.
- Agriculture was reshaping the land around Ashcroft
- The colours were quite bold in this frame. The light on the sandy landscape usually made for a washed out palette I found.
- Thompson valley. The green patch is the campsite – Juniper Beach
- The Thompson had steadily cut its way deep into the rocks
- The trains on the South side, over the river, were Canadian Pacific
- The clouds came and went all weekend, dramatically changing the “vibe” of the photos I was taking.
- A lake on the way back from Kamloops
- This is what you get when an OCD person hires out heavy equipment. A little reminiscent of Ursus Wehrli’s work, I thought…
- On the way back from Kamloops. A purveyor of mining, drilling and other heavy equipment. these were all shiny and new. As yet, they had not been used to rape Mother Nature.
- Chez Elephant where son and I spent a couple of very pleasant nights.
- Not a place to walk around in sandals.
- Not surprising to learn it’s snake country…
- The landscape looked like a high school project with quite sharp delineation in contours.
- These dead branches put me in mind of dinosaur bones for some reason.
- The river was fierce, but obviously got a LOT bigger when the mood took it!
- These pools were a reminder that the water-level didn’t need to raise too much to fill this entire area.
- The full-flood river must be quite a sight!
- I wonder if these smooth rocks were always here, or have travelled far.
- The diversity of the colours and shapes caught my eye.
- Plenty of freight travels this route each day, keeping the wheels of Canadian commerce turning.
- When the rains swell the Thompson, this entire area would be a maelstrom.
- The train echoing the old travel route of the Thompson itself. CP Rail on the South side. The river is hidden by the sand bank.
- These gnarled twisted bushes were surreal. Like dried muscle tissue.
- The OTHER railway. CN have the line to the North of the river. The same side as the campsite.
- The drivers were very circumspect at blaring their horns in the middle of the night as they approached the road crossing… just in case any campers were actually asleep.
- Though the engines themselves were noisy, the thing that really woke you was the squealing wheels as the trains dragged untold thousands of tonnes of freight around the bends in the track.
- Yup – there’s trains in them thar hills.
- The bends and folds in the mountains sing testament to the power of the glaciers that helped shape this area.
- Despite the huge length of these freight trains, they are nothing compared to the majestic mountains they travel through.
- Looking towards Kamloops. “Wheel-squeak corner”.
- A busy valley. the river is off frame to the left. The tracks show the train’s route. There are many Amps of electricity flowing through the power lines, and up on the hillside is the highway between Cache Creek and Kamloops.
- Life is a question of balance.
- I can wait. They’ll come back for me. One day. I know they will.
- I like to think some oily train engineer threw these down so he could embrace his gingham-clad wife and passionately kiss her until her knees trembled. Or something.
- “Join the army” they said. Well I don’t like my post.
- Life. It stakes it claim wherever it can.
- And would you like fries with that?
- Even deserts can have a little colour when the mood takes them.
- A burst of sun through the clouds lit up the hillside.
- I just fancied taking a picture in portrait for a change!
- Chalk/clay hillside and a splash of yellow.
- On the way home on Hyw 1. I liked the splash of early autumn in the bottom/right.
- The trees looked like models, and the streaks showed the power of steady repeated rain and water over millions of years.