When Duane and I first sat down with these guys a few weeks ago to discuss their wedding, one of the things that came up very early on was how Colby did not take good pictures. You know, one of those Chandler smiles that always looks unnatural and cheesy. I find it funny that the people who say those sort of things always take smokin’ good images in the end. Colby, I think you will agree, is no exception…

We had a great time shooting the fall colors down near the Glenmore Reservoir and they were both really good sports. They didn’t even get discouraged at all when the heavens opened up right at the beginning of the shoot and drenched us. You should have seen us all make a mad dash back to the vehicles! Five minutes later we were back in business (although our feet got a little wet:) and just loving the light!

This past Saturday, Duane and I were invited to climb Mt. Athabasca (11,450 ft) with Jenna and some of her friends. I had never done any glacier travel before, so I will admit to a few nerves. I was super excited but also a touch nervous.

Duane and I went up on Friday night, because this is a mountain that requires a very early start (awake and gearing up by 4:00 am). I only mention this, because this required Duane and I to sleep in the back of his car. Have I mentioned that he drives a small Mazda Protege hatchback. Long story short, the only way to make the car long enough was to open up the hatch and tarping it off. It was cozy. And cold. It has been a long time since I had involuntary full-body shivers.

Anyway, we met up with them at the base of the mountain (Columbia Icefields). We started off with a night hike, and by the time that we could turn off the headlamps came up we had already gained 1,500 ft of elevation and geared up for our glacier travels. I have to say, there is a certain feeling of invincibility before the hike when one is wearing crampons, a climbing harness and holding an ice-axe. Truthfully though, I was quite alright to take up the rear position on this expedition – just try and absorb as much as possible.

I found keeping a steady pace to be quite interesting when roped to three other individuals. It was fine on relatively flat sections, but once things got steep it was harder. The reason being, the guy on the front would speed up once he got past the section, but I would still be in the middle of it. Just an interesting exercise in teamwork I guess!