Wildlife & Nature Photography Blog

Medicine Hat is an English language translation for the Blackfoot word ‘Saamis’ meaning a Medicine Man’s headdress, and several varying legends all claim to tell the true tale of how the area first got its name.  

The region around Medicine Hat was long a natural gathering place for wildlife and First Nations people, and as the railway pushed west, it soon became an important divisional location for the CPR as Medicine Hat lies midway between Winnipeg and Vancouver.  

Because of its abundant natural gas fields, Medicine Hat is also known as “The Gas City” and was perhaps first immortalized by British poet, author and Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling who during a 1907 visit was quoted as saying, “This part of the country seems to have all hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat.”

Also know in its early years as “the Pittsburgh of the West, a number of industries including coal mines, brick works, flour mills, pottery and glass bottle manufacturing plants were all located here . The surrounding region also provided abundant crop and livestock operations all of which combined to make this a bustling centre with easy access to a well-established transportation route.

I’ve lived in “The Hat” for almost 3 years now and find it to be a well balanced blend of  urban and rural landscape. From its National Historic Clay District, to its charming gas lit downtown streets and its meandering trail system that links many of its beautiful parks together, “The Hat” truly has something for everyone, and I’ve tried to capture a little taste of that in the Medicine Hat gallery.

The Gas City

April 8

Today I took a drive out to Echo Dale Farm, a heritage preservation site just west of Medicine Hat, Alberta. The site contains a farm house, barn, smithy, and an adjacent coal mine, all of which provide a glimpse into what life was like here about a century ago. It’s a great place to wander around with or without a camera, but of course I like to carry mine along to capture some of the character and atmosphere of the place.

For more images, check out the Echo Dale gallery.

Echo Dale Smithy

Well this has been quite a week for me. Weather wise I’ve seen everything from light snow flurries to raging blizzards, cloudy and overcast to bright blue sunny skies.  All of which just goes to prove that if you don’t like the weather here in the mountains … wait five minutes.

I’ve also seen more than my fair share of wildlife this week: bighorn sheep, coyotes, white tail and mule deer, 6 and 7 point bull elk, and of course the highlight of my trip – a grey wolf!

Today its time to leave the mountains behind for a while as I head off to Edmonton to visit my son & g/son before returning home tomorrow with lots of wonderful memories, and hopefully a few good photo’s from a week well spent.

To see more images from this trip check out the Looking for Spring gallery.

Roche Ronde

To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul – hope you like what you see. ~ Aldo Leopold.

This morning I was up early again and decided to head south to Athabasca Falls. Although the road leading in was closed, I strapped on the snowshoes and enjoyed the short tramp in. The morning was cloudy and overcast and provided ideal lighting for a few shots of the frozen falls.

I was still about 16 kms south of the Jasper townsite on my way back when I saw what at first appeared to be a large black dog standing on the side of the highway.  I wondered what a dog would be doing all the way out here by itself when it suddenly dawned on me that what I was looking at wasn’t a dog at all … it was a wolf !

I pulled over and stopped on the shoulder, then watched as the wolf crossed the highway and stood directly in front of me.  He watched a car approach from the opposite direction, then trotted back across the road and into the forest.

Luckily I had my camera in the front seat and was able to bang off a few quick shots to record my first ever wolf encounter.

Grey Wolf - Sunwapta Pack