During the Under Western Skies conference, I stayed with my cousins Erin and Jon in Canmore, about 100km along the Trans-Canada Highway from Calgary.

When I arrived after driving through snowy Canadian National Parks (Kootenay and Banff), I was not surprised that the cloud cover was impeding their view of the mountains. However, when I went with Jon to take their dog Siku for a walk, the mountains emerged.

It snowed for the next couple of days, dumping almost a foot of fresh powder in the area. My cousin Erin, who is a kindergarten teacher, had to have an emergency garden harvest with her students at school that day! The pictures were very funny – bundled up children walking around in snow holding harvested carrots.

We took a walk downtown and along the Bow River one night when the snowfall stopped.

On Thursday, finally, the snow stopped, and the sky was less dark, although still a little cloudy. You can see the tallest point –  Mount Rundle  – peeking out below.

Since the sun was out over the next few days, Jon and I took a hike up to Grassi Lakes in Canmore. I can’t do the scenery justice with words, so you will have to see for yourself:

So, I pretty much want to move to the Canadian Rockies someday, and Canmore convinced me of that! I’ll keep you all posted on that, I’m sure..

*All photos are my own.