May Long - Day One
It rained.
It rained a lot.
It wouldn't be May Long weekend without a bit of weather....
Friday evening was spent taking in the newest Mad Max movie, not the greatest idea right before bed. With adrenaline coursing through my veins and visions of my truck welded onto a bigger truck and wielding flame throwers I fell into bed and drifted off while contemplating the pros and cons of a 4x4 vs tank tracks. I woke up Saturday morning and for the first time in a long time - I had absolutely zero obligations. With visions of highway dancing in my head, and Mr. Bastard headed north to live out his own Mad Maxian fantasies (next time you see him, ask him why he's limping and how difficult it is to jump from one moving vehicle to another......) I packed up my suddenly substandard truck, grabbed Creepy-dog and hit the road.
I had a specific photo in mind that I wanted to make and it required a rather robust flash light, five minutes later and I found myself in the Canadian Tire parking lot with soaking wet feet. We were off to a good start....
Creepy and I arrived in the Crowsnest Pass shortly after 1 pm and pulled into the parking lot at Lundbreck Falls. Our first order of business was to immediately get the rest of ourselves soaked with a quick jaunt around the area to scope it out. Wet feet, newly wet clothes, shivering wet dog and a sudden hankering for warm coffee and lunch, we hopped back into the truck and roared towards Blairmore.
Already soaked, I thought nothing of wandering around town for a little bit to give Creepy some exercise, I was delighted to see 6 train engines roll through town, though I decided they wouldn't be nearly as cool in a post apocalyptic Mad Max world. I stopped in at a local coffee shop for a cup of java and headed back towards a municipal campground to cook up a bit of lunch. I set up my picnic in a shelter while Creepy investigated every disgusting little thing on the ground. Hoping to keep her occupied while I ate, some of my stir fry "accidentally" wound up on the ground. Now when Creepy hears the words "oops" she suddenly pays very close attention to me. The lunch break didn't warm me up however and soon we were back on the road with the windshield wipers and heater on full blast.
I stopped in at Lundbreck Falls once again, this time armed with a rain suit, boots and an umbrella (Dignity be damned, I need one of those stupid looking umbrella hats). I left Creepy in the truck and huddled next to the river bank to snap a photo in the time between waves of families pausing occasionally to assist the odd tourist with their vacation cell phone photos. One tourist even went so far as to apologize to me for the small size of his cell phone camera compared to the 30 pounds of gear I was lugging around. No need to apologize, the cell phone photos I snapped this weekend outnumber my "real camera" photos by about 10 to 1. Convenience is King.
Cell phone snaps from May Long - Day 1
After I was satisfied, I rejoined Creepy in the truck and together we headed for Waterton National Park. I was expecting the same glorious mountainous views as I'm normally greeted with in the area, but instead we were treated to a flat grey cloud that covered the landscape nearly to the ground. We wandered around the town, had a bite to eat and then I settled in at Cameron Falls to wait for nightfall. I had a particular vision for this set of falls but as the rain began pouring down harder than before soaking me and my camera gear faster than I could mop the water up, I took a consolation photo, tucked my camera away in it's soggy bag and headed for home. I wasn't too upset though, the falls aren't likely to go anywhere and like most landscape photos - sometimes it takes a couple of visits before everything lines up in real life the way it does in your head.
The drive home was typical of May Long weather, strong winds blew the rain across the highway in horizontal sheets lit up with headlights from the oncoming traffic. Soon after getting onto the northbound highway, the pouring rain turned into a dizzying pouring snow. After 12 hours on the road, I was glad to finally be home, dry and tucked into bed. Perhaps Day 2 would be a little more comfortable and successful.
