[Canada_Rockies]

In June, my wife and I joined our daughter and her husband in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. Cypress Hills is a sort of mesa that the glaciers went around in the last ice age, making it a fascinating sort of place with flora and fauna that are unique to that area of the prairies.

Between the main Elkwater town site and campgrounds on the Alberta side and Reesor Lake on the Saskatchewan side of the park there is the Reesor Lake lookout. On a whim, not having the tripod with me, I took five shots hand held with the K-3 and DA 12-24 keeping the top line of the viewfinder on the hazy distant horizon. When we got back here after the trip, I merged four of the images using Lightroom CC's auto panorama function in Merge Photos. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The two benches left and right are approximately the same distance from the road as I am, so this is virtually 90 degrees.

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Last edited by Canada_Rockies; 07-24-2018 at 06:50 AM. Reason: Corrected Lake Name

[The Squirrel Mafia]

Hahahaha! I was expecting to see a group shot of Cypress Hill. Nice pano, though.

[Canada_Rockies]

Hahahaha! I was expecting to see a group shot of Cypress Hill. Nice pano, though.

Just a tad different scenery ...

[RGlasel]

This photo turned out really well, definitely captures the sensation of looking out over the top of the Cypress Hills area. I haven't spent a lot of time in Cypress Hills and don't think I've been to the Lessor Lake lookout, but the sensation of leaving the wide open prairies to climb through groves of trees and then come out on flat grassland at the top is pretty special.

[Canada_Rockies]

This photo turned out really well, definitely captures the sensation of looking out over the top of the Cypress Hills area. I haven't spent a lot of time in Cypress Hills and don't think I've been to the Lessor Lake lookout, but the sensation of leaving the wide open prairies to climb through groves of trees and then come out on flat grassland at the top is pretty special.

It sure is special. We come in from the Alberta side, obviously. The road to Reesor Lake is only paved from the Elkwater side. There is gravel access East, but we didn't go past the lake.

[lesmore49]

Love the pictures. My wife and I are planning to go on a trip to Saskatchewan and Alberta and one of the places we earmarked to see is Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. I'll have to bring my K5 and 12-24, after seeing these photos.

[Canada_Rockies]

Here's a view of Elkwater Lake with the K-3 and DA 12-24 -- almost a panorama at 12mm ...

[pete-tarmigan]

In June, my wife and I joined our daughter and her husband in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. Cypress Hills is a sort of mesa that the glaciers went around in the last ice age, making it a fascinating sort of place with flora and fauna that are unique to that area of the prairies.

Between the main Elkwater town site and campgrounds on the Alberta side and Leesor Lake on the Saskatchewan side of the park there is the Leesor Lake lookout. On a whim, not having the tripod with me, I took five shots hand held with the K-3 and DA 12-24 keeping the top line of the viewfinder on the hazy distant horizon. When we got back here after the trip, I merged four of the images using Lightroom CC's auto panorama function in Merge Photos. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The two benches left and right are approximately the same distance from the road as I am, so this is virtually 90 degrees.

I think you're referring to Reesor Lake. I worked at Ft. Walsh National Historic Park (Saskatchewan side) one summer several yeas ago. Yes, the Cypress Hills plateau is an interesting outlier of Rocky Mountain foothills vegetation and birds: lodgepole pine and white spruce and, on top of the plateau, there is prairie dominated by fescue grasses (Festuca spp.). The prairie below is mixed-grass prairie of wheatgrasses (Pascopyrum), speargrasses (Hesperostipa), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and June grass (Koeleria macrantha), but is heavily grazed so its appearance more closely resembles short-grass prairie. An erosion resistant cap of conglomerate prevented the plateau from being eroded away, although it is somewhat dissected by erosion. The highest part of the plateau survived the last glaciation.

[Canada_Rockies]

I think you're referring to Reesor Lake. I worked at Ft. Walsh National Historic Park (Saskatchewan side) one summer several yeas ago. Yes, the Cypress Hills plateau is an interesting outlier of Rocky Mountain foothills vegetation and birds: lodgepole pine and white spruce and, on top of the plateau, there is prairie dominated by fescue grasses (Festuca spp.). The prairie below is mixed-grass prairie of wheatgrasses (Pascopyrum), speargrasses (Hesperostipa), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and June grass (Koeleria macrantha), but is heavily grazed so its appearance more closely resembles short-grass prairie. An erosion resistant cap of conglomerate prevented the plateau from being eroded away, although it is somewhat dissected by erosion. The highest part of the plateau survived the last glaciation.

Flying fingers -- it is of course Reesor Lake. We have Ft. Walsh on our list of places to go. It's a full day's drive from here to the parks, so it's a major effort. Thanks for pointing out the errors: I have edited the posts.

[Dr_who]

Cypress Hills is on my to do list as the skies are about as dark as one can hope for for some night photography. I only wish the central core of the Milkyway rose another 15-20 degrees here in Alberta