Summer Fun, Part One

I didn't get much art done this summer, but did get to go on two long, amazing trips. One was a road trip to Banff National Park in Canada, with a side climbing trip to City of Rocks, Idaho. The other was a canoeing trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota which I will write about in another entry.

City of Rocks is an endless maze of blob-like granite outcroppings perfect for rock climbing. We spent 5 days there camping, scaling the rocks and savoring the gorgeous, sage-scented landscape. Though the beginning of the trip had us in every layer of clothing we brought, we were soon chasing the shade in 90-degree temperatures. One evening, I sketched a view of Elephant Rock, which we climbed just hours before.


Then it was on to Banff, Kootenai and Jasper National Parks, where we met up with my family and did some sightseeing. I soon realized the sheer size of these parks... it took all day just to drive from one park to the next. We enjoyed breathtaking scenery and walked up the shrinking Athabasca Glacier. The fact that the June sun rose before 5 a.m. and didn't set until after 11 p.m. should have given me plenty of time to sketch, but alas, it didn't. There were too many hikes to go on and sites to see.