I set my alarm 30 minutes before sunrise at 5am so I would have some time to quickly explore for the right spot.
Quickly I came upon the athabasca glacier and surrounding mountains, which unfortunately had no interesting features on the ground so I just took the mountains on their own. As the sun rose I couldn’t have asked for better light.
I could see some mist had settled in the valley a few km away so I then headed there to see what I might find and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. I’m wondering how this scene would have looked with those first rays of light.
I also explored around the athabasca river as the mist flowed though the valley and had never got so many shots around sunrise here in the Rockies.
I then headed for the famous maligne lake and hike around the area exploring to discover the best spot that so many had taken pictures of was Spirit Island that required a boat to access, something that wouldn’t be possible when the light is best after 8pm. So I left to explore elsewhere for a sunset position.
The spot I chose didn’t quite work out as the light had faded by the time I was all set up.
Driving toward my sunrise position 25 minutes after sunset suddenly the sky burst with colour, something I didn’t expect so late but was due to some very high almost invisible clouds. I raced along looking for somewhere to stop before the light faded and luckily I just found it. If I only I was in a better position but even then I would have left already not expecting any colour much more than 10 minutes after sunset.
