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surmise that the rapidly warming Arctic Others surmise that the average annual in the last 15, the weather paradigm for is causing the speed of the air within the position of the jet has actually shifted the West seems to be changing. Along jet stream to slow down, which seems to north over the last few decades. with the diminished snowpacks of drier Take Advantage Of produce more pronounced large loops I’ve been photographing the American winters come hotter summers and ear- in the jet, which then causes storms and West for the last 30 years, and my task lier and longer wildfire seasons. The Current weather patterns high-pressure systems to get locked has become noticeably more difficult smoke that now cloaks Idaho, Montana into place, thus producing larger rain- lately. With only a few average or above- and Wyoming in a near-perpetual haze yield rare opportunities storms and more widespread droughts. average precipitation years embedded for much of August and September for nature photographers TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES KAY How2>> Perhaps you thought last summer’s weather was particularly wild, espe- BIG cially if you live along the Bow River in the town of Canmore, Alberta, at the Weather gateway to Banff National Park. Last June, the largest single storm to ever hit the region was poised like a giant ham- mer over the headwaters of the Bow, Punleashing 17 inches of rain in one day. A huge wall of water descended on the town, severing Canada’s transcontinen- tal highway, and further downstream, turning the city of Calgary into a large, murky swimming pool. Two months before those storm clouds gathered over the peaks, I re- ceived a backcountry permit for a weeklong backpacking trip in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, just south of Canmore. I had selected a route that promised a wealth of images along a particularly dramatic portion of the Continental Divide. Unfortunately, Peter Lougheed was the epicenter of the maelstrom, where roads, bridges and trails were erased from the map in a matter of minutes. The area was shut off from the rest of the world, and officials estimated it would take months to open it again to visitors. With permit in hand, I was left high and dry. From farmers to photographers, any- one who makes a living off the land al- ways struggles with the weather. After all, the jet stream doesn’t determine where it’s going to dip or dive simply for our benefit. Indeed, we all have our horror stories where our well-laid plans Current weather patterns yield rare opportunities for nature photographers are shredded by the vagaries of the jet stream. While this high-altitude river of air has been the traffic-control system for the storms that have swirled around our planet since time immemorial, its recent behavior has left more than a few atmospheric scientists and photog- raphers scratching their heads. Some 76 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com each year has become the norm rather tems that typically dominate the weather masses so the air becomes hazier and main susceptible throughout summer equals better photo opportunities. for breakfast. Within 15 minutes, small than the exception. in the Western states during summer. As hazier as summer progresses. On the to more variation in weather due to Back to my cancelled trip in Peter holes began to form in the clouds, and I Are these smoky skies or that freak Western fires ignite, they pump smoke other hand, the Canadian Rockies, due the influence of the jet stream. Lougheed. I wasn’t about to give up on realized something amazing might hap- storm which sliced and diced my plans into these region-wide stagnant air to their more northerly location, re- Periodic storms equals cleaner air my plans to spend two weeks shooting in pen at another location I had scouted in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park the the Canadian Rockies after my just south of here at Waterfowl Lake. I result of climate change? No one knows Glacier National Park work- arrived just as the clouds were shred- for sure. Whatever the cause may be, shop in July, so I had to come ding into a perfect veil across the face of the reality is that I’ve needed to adjust up with a new itinerary. With Mount Chephren. I captured the scene, my summer photography schedule in thousands of square miles of and within 15 minutes, the swirling the northern Rockies for this apparent serrated, ice-clad peaks, tum- mists were gone. It turned out to be my new reality, shifting my usual August/ bling glaciers, waterfalls and favorite image from that trip. September trips forward to July before turquoise-colored lakes to This was a perfect example of why the summer fires really take hold. choose from, it wasn’t a dif- it’s pointless and actually counterpro- If you’ve spent as much time as I have ficult task. ductive to get angry about the weather over the years staring at weather maps Leaving home in what not cooperating with our plans even trying to decipher what the jet stream turned out to be the hot- though at times it may feel like a well- is about to do, you’ve probably noticed test single month ever re- orchestrated conspiracy. Being able to that it snakes across the center of the corded in Utah, my wife, anticipate and take advantage of chang- U.S. in winter, shifting north of the Susie, and I traveled north to ing sky conditions and rolling with the Canadian border each summer. As it Glacier in mid-July to witness weather punches are both key elements moves north, it takes the storms with it, Montana suffering from one in being able to seize the moment for leaving behind large high-pressure sys- of its warmest, driest sum- the photo opportunities around us. mers on record and the most When I think about what attracted OPENING SPREAD: nonexistent wildflower bloom I had ever me to the Canadian Rockies in the first Mount Chephren seen. As we drove north into Canada place and about what continues to moti- and Waterfowl after our workshop, this dry-weather vate me in my work today, I recall one of Lake, Banff regime changed dramatically, as Banff my favorite quotes by Steve McQueen: National Park, was experiencing one of its wettest sum- “I’d rather wake up in the middle of Alberta, Canada mers on record. This was both good and nowhere than in any city on earth.” ABOVE, LEFT: bad news over the next couple of weeks. My passion for exploring remote, wild Bow Lake While I struggled to get clear horizons places developed long before I acquired and Crowfoot at sunrise and sunset, and had to dodge a passion for photography. Once I com- Mountain, Banff daily cloudbursts, the stormy weather bined the two, I discovered how they National Park, provided spectacular, swirling cloud reinforced one another. I’ve always Alberta, Canada formations and quickly doused any lo- been driven to find out what’s over the ABOVE: cal lightning-caused fires, making for next ridge or around the next bend in First light crystal-clean air with 100-mile views. the canyon. By adding a camera to the illuminates Mount In the end, the images I captured were equation, I learned that the simple act of Babel above better than anything I could have imag- traveling through a landscape, in search Consolation Valley, ined had the skies been a monotonous, of compositions, allows me to connect Banff National monochromatic, hazy blue. with the land on a much deeper level Park, Alberta, As I dealt with these challenging than I would otherwise. This delibera- Canada weather conditions, I lived by the pho- tive process causes me to slow down, LEFT: tographer’s rule that dictates that the look around and pay attention to those Waputik Icefield farther we travel from home and the details I might have missed. viewed from more money we spend to get there, the As a lone wolf by nature, landscape Niles Peak, Yoho less likely we are to give up and roll over photography is, for me, a solitary, con- National Park, and go back to sleep when a cloudy, templative experience. My most vibrant British Columbia, dreary scene greets us before dawn. experiences occur when I immerse my- Canada Who knows, we might get lucky. With self in a remote location where I may this rule in mind, I grabbed my gear and not see another person for days. As I headed out one morning into a dismally move through the landscape in search of thick layer of low stratus clouds filling light and texture, I begin to feel like part the Bow Valley. I drove north along the of the scene. The mesmerizing, Zen-like Icefields Parkway to a distant location I state I enter gets deeper and deeper the had previsualized as a dramatic sunrise. longer I’m out there, but comes crashing Arriving at the scene with no breaks down the moment I finally do run into in the cloud deck, I hung around for a another person and need to communi- while on the long odds that something cate and say something intelligible. It’s wonderful would happen. It didn’t, so I like breaking the trance. packed up and headed back to the cabin Before traveling to a particular loca- 78 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com outdoorphotographer.com March 2014 79 tion, I always sketch out a plan with an itinerary of times and places, often based on notes I’ve kept from past vis- its where the conditions weren’t exactly right when I was there.

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