As you may or may not know, I am drawn to waterfalls. When we travel, I like to include a waterfall somewhere on the trip, if possible. The closest waterfall to Edmonton, is Crescent Falls, which is west of Rocky Mountain House.

Last month, I was finally able to see Crescent Falls in all its frozen glory.

My husband, Sam, and I took the warm Sunday in January to celebrate our 37th Anniversary by driving 3 hours to see Crescent Falls and the frozen bubbles in Abraham Lake, which is only 30 minutes from Crescent Falls.

Sam and I like road trips, getting out of the city, breathing fresh air, and seeing new things. We read and discuss things together that make the journey shorter. This time we started talking about Steve Bell’s Album and book, The Glad Surprise, which will probably find its way into this year's Art Vocabulary for the Soul Retreat in July.

We arrived at Crescent Falls Park and stopped at the first parking lot to see the view and the map of the park. The canyon walls were unexpectedly deep and tall. The snow on them made the layers stand out.

We drove on to the trail head and found a picnic table in the sun that we could wipe off most of the melting snow/ice. Picnics in January on a warmer +5C day are a treat. The sun was warm on our faces as we ate our picnic.

After lunch, we took the woods trail that meandered down the picturesque hillside crossing frozen streams. This is the time of year where the shadows are deeper blue and the sun doesn’t get overhead. The sunlight coming through the trees dances on the snow between the blue shadows. I took photos for reference for future paintings.

This one I particularly like. The diagonal shadows on the slope are emphasized by the strong sunlight through the trees illuminating the pine and the snow.

And this one with the pale Bluegreen ice.

We reached the wide frozen river above the falls. I could imagine how loud and powerful it must be in the spring when the waters are full and flowing.

We hiked around to the next platform and the stirs down. Now we could really see the crescent shape of the cliff the falls tumbles over. Crescent Falls is in two tiers with a deep expanse in between. The lower platform sits just above and back a little so you can kind of see the second falls at an angle.

You can get a photo of it if you hang your camera over the edge. I took some time to do an ink sketch of the way the ice formed on the upper falls. (My pen was running low on ink – I need to remember to get a new pen for my kit.) I worked quickly to capture the essence of it as my fingers were getting cold.

In the center of the upper falls, you could see a thin layer of ice was covering moving water. There was a deep crack in the ice showing the evidence of the power of the river as it continues to flow under the ice.

One edge of the canyon was in the sun, but not the falls. When in person there is a subtle color shift in the ice of the falls. The camera picked up all the blue hues in the ice. And look at all the colors in the canyon wall!

It was a long hike back up the stairs and the hill to get back to the car. I could tell I have not been getting out to walk lately.
I would like to come back in the spring or summer and camp there. I would enjoy painting it.

Back on the road, we drove on to Abrham Lake. This is a manmade lake to control the flow of the North Saskatchewan River. The bubbles are methane gas released from the decaying plants and tree limbs on the bottom of the lake. I had seen photos online and wanted to see it in person.

As we drove along the lake you could see the ice had formed up the banks of the lake. There was a strong wind buffeting the car. We found a parking place in the nearly full lot. I was surprised at the number of people there (and back at Crescent Falls). We slid down the ice-covered bank, like a slide, until we were at the flat surface. Some people brought their skates. We just walked the surface. It was amazing to see the layers of flattened bubbles like something from a Star Trek landscape.

Some bubbles where huge others small. If I had used my polarized lens on my camera, some of the sun glinting on the ice and cracks in the ice would not be so strong. (a tip from my sister after showing her the pictures.) I usually forget to take the lens with me.

You could see the ice was at least a foot thick.

There were these cracks that separated planes of ice.

Another part had what looked like pieces of ice in the ice.

There were gusts of wind that would try to throw us off balance. I wondered if the strong wind had been a part of the way the ice formed on the banks. It looked like the ice had rippled and heaved along the edge.

We walked around for awhile and then I went to sit where I could paint for a bit and capture the beauty of the day for me. Two sketches in one day. Yeah! Sam wrote in his journal while I sketched.

We had dinner in Rocky Mountain House on the way home.

A beautiful day and I even had the chance to paint/sketch ‘en plein air.’ As you can see en plein air or sketching and painting on location is as much about the adventure, the moment, and creating memories as it is in getting a painting or sketch done. I can't wait to do this next fall in Italy at the art retreat there!

In the studio, I will work on new paintings inspired by the day and the wonders I saw and experienced. For example, I started this one yesterday during a class to use as a demonstration of watercolor techniques.