The season is running out at Chestermere Lake and it will be drained soon. I never know if each trip I make this year will be the last. The temperature was up and the wind was down so I made a beeline for the water the moment work was done yesterday.
I had hoped to get some nice video of the lake from the camera suction mounted to the front of my board, but it was not writing to the card for some reason. I guess I should have formatted it before heading out. It’s something I’ll look into today. I could have pulled into the launch to play with it, but I was enjoying the water so much it seemed like a crime to interrupt my quality time on the lake for tech troubles.
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
There is some proper fall colour appearing by the lake. Proper for Alberta, that is. Our prominent colours are green and gone. Sometimes we get yellow in the five minutes before our customary strong winds strip the leaves off the trees. The leaves have mostly been a sickly brown thanks to drought, but one would imagine trees sitting on the edge of a lake would not have this issue.
Lake, Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Lake, Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
Chestermere, AB, 2024-09-24
AB, 2024-09-24 copy
I had a lot of fun working the light and the reflections on the water and it shows. Photographers take what they’re given and it is lovely when you’re offered a feast. There may have also been a gratuitous selfie because Ray did love his selfies and this photo diary is and always will be for him. This means selfies.
The only real downer this evening were the motorized redneck morons, a.k.a. “severely normal Albertans” who were ignoring the 12 kph speed limit on the north side of Chestermere Lake.
Speedboat Boy at least showed a bit of courtesy by keeping his distance from me when he ripped back and forth, so the wake was tolerable.
The raging twat on the jetski actually tried to kill me. I heard a motor approaching and looked up to see him coming directly at me and I could see him looking at a passenger behind him. I barely got out of his way. There was plenty of light and I would have been easily visible to him if he had been looking straight ahead. I heard, “YOU ALMOST HIT THAT GUY!” just after he passed. He was going flat-out and his wake nearly flipped me.
I fucking hate motorized watercraft and long for the day when they’re banned from Alberta rivers and lakes. (Yeah, right.)
This could be my wonkiest GPS track yet as I didn’t even make a full circuit of the lake (with a 9 kph top speed?!?). The clouds and the light were just too good, so I prioritized photographing over paddling. I had not expected to get more good sunset photography in but the conditions were right, so I went for it. Bonus rounds are rare and wonderful. You had better take them when you get them.
Images and videos are from my OM System (formerly Olympus) Tough TG-7 and my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. My craptastic Akaso EK-7000 action cam shit the bed and was a no-show in today’s outing.
