Giant – 2020

One of the most impressive mountains in the Canadian Rockies is Mount Chephren. It towers over Waterfowl Lakes along the Icefield’s Parkway. In the winter, after the lake freezes over, there is the potential for a lot of great photography. In the winter of 2020, I set out for the second straight year to try and get a photograph of the mountain with good morning light. Having seen a few photos from the area from the likes of Marc Adamus, I knew that magic could happen along the shoreline of the open creek that runs along the base of the mountain.

A wake-up call at 4 AM, followed by a 2-hour drive, greeted me on my first morning in the Canadian Rockies. The forecast looked like it could be okay for sunrise photography at Mount Chephren, and I was excited to make the trip. Upon arriving, two things became clear. First, there wouldn’t be a colourful sunrise. There were just too many high altitude and low clouds that would snuff out that light, but I was hopeful that the sun would at least hit the peak later in the morning. Second, there was more snow than I could have imagined. I did bring snow-shoes for to make my trekking easier, but I had decided before setting out down the trail that they weren’t needed. After sinking to my waste for the third time in as many minutes, I knew how wrong I was. I finally reached this spot as the morning light was beginning to break, found this composition along the shoreline, and grabbed my shot.

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