I am just getting around to posting my best pictures of Tonquin Valley. It is a spectacular place but challenging for photography.
I have just decided that I will go back next year in early September after figuring the place out. It was about 22km and 700m elevation gain in. We went up Portal Creek. Stopped at Portal campground (after 8km and 500m) then over the pass the next day and down the Valley to Maccaribe Campground (about 2km from Lake). The hard part was - mosquitoes biting in evening, the trails were churned by horse such that you could sink to your knees in mud for about 12km with a 50lb pack. And even muddy near the Amethyst Lake. When I do it again next year I will book the lodge mid lake who will carry in 25lbs of food and avoid my tent, sleeping back and stuff.
Anyway it was a great 4 day experience.
Comments and feedback are appreciated. Scott
These are likely off because I bought a 2nd hand Sony a7r2 too keep the weight down and rented 12-24 Sony and brought 28-70 Sony and even bought a 2.1lbs carbon/mag tripod to keep the weight down. So I am not yet used to the Sony raw files.
1-4 of 4
1 Amethyst Lake from Maccaribe Lookout
2 Amethyst Lake from mid Lake after a 2 hour 4am hike
3 - Portal River just upstream from Portal Campground
4 - Portal River just upstream from Portal Campground
graytrekker: Glad you like 1. It was a great evening hike after a very long 12km of slogging through the mud day. My campground is visible in the trees near the river mid picture. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
dakel: Glad you like 1. I was hoping for more colour but the sky was interesting. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
bibek: Glad you like 1 as well. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
junglialoh: It is a wonderful place. Unfortunately I was a bit tired when I got there and its so big it requires a longer time. I just missed a mountain caribou at 7:30 am because my gang was too tired and cold after picture 2 in the morning that was not overly compelling. Glad you like them. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
MedicineMan404: Glad you like them. Thank you very much. Scott
Scott, the first one is just outstanding. Hats off to you for this hike, it sure paid off. My $.002 IMO in last 2 images there is a blue cast on the image.
Scott,
Good to see you here again.
Fantastic series...i'm always envious of your work, the effort you put into your trips and bring back scenes not often seen.
#1 is just beautiful.
The rest have a cyan/blueish cast on them
in #2 its towards the left glacier and the mountain
#3 and 4 the shadows and the water
keepclicking: THanks for the encouragement. Glad you like the 4th. I will look at the blue cast - thanks. Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
Sunny Sra: I have been busy having fun and work and I am getting fussier with age about what I post. It gets more and more challenging to find something different and challenging after living in the same beautiful spot forever. But thanks for encouraging. Glad you like the series and my effort. Thanks for the feedback and specific suggestions on improving the processing. Much appreciated. Scott
Chaz: There is no higher complement than suggestions of printing on my wall. Thank you. Much appreciated. Scott
morris: Glad you like 4. It was an interesting river and getting up before all for the final 10km uphill push was great. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
xterra07: Glad you like 1 (and 4 too). Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
mwalrod: The effort was fun. I lined up 5 of my ~60 yr old non hiking friends and we had a great week. We were the only ~old people on the hike. Glad you like the series. Much appreciated. Scott
dwa652: Glad you like 1 (and 4). It was a spectacular trip. I saw Caribou tracks but missed them after carrying extra weight to capture them. Part of the problem of hiking with hikers instead of photography friends is that you don't want to slow their schedule and you do less pursuit of caribou. A person at the camp I was near on 2, sent me a picture of a big bull caribou (and I just missed it by minutes because we were too cold and wanted to walk back 5km for breakfast so we could do more hiking). Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
Great shots, Scott, of this beautiful place near Jasper. It's tough enough to extricate ones Muck boots from ankle deep muck (no pun intended) but knee deep? Wow, that would be tough.
gordon l: Glad you like 2. I should have worked harder at it to get some foreground interest but there was a lack of cloud features and it was cold and my friends were shivering. Then we rushed back and missed the mountain caribou that I carried 2lbs in to capture Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott
dalite: We walked around the mud which was better but it meant bushwacking and other challenges. As I indicated above, next year I will avoid the mud and come in through Edith Cavel and get my food moved in by horse and stay at the rustic lodges avoiding tent, sleeping bag, the wet horse churned part of the trail, and other stuff. Glad you like the shots. Thanks for the feedback. Scott
Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. Scott