“There is peace even in the storm” Vincent van Gogh

The Tonquin valley is like a throwback in time. It gives you an idea of what it must have felt like to see Banff or Jasper before there was any development other than a few horse trails. The trail here is infamous for its mud; and it did not disappoint. Over the course of the hike we had our fair share of particularly cold rain, and it often felt more like wading through a swamp than hiking. Despite this there were numerous moments of serene beauty where the mountains cleared and we had spectacular light. This shot was a 30 second exposure (f7.1, ISO 100) of the Ramparts from Amethyst Lake. Rising to a height of 3,313m (10,869ft) and straddling the continental divide they fall partly within Jasper National Park in Alberta and Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia. Amethyst lake sits at height of 1,975m (6,479ft) so the wall rises dramatically over 1,300m (4,265ft) in front of you. On the third day with the temperatures continuing to drop the rain started turning to snow on the pass; so we hiked out in a single day and skipped our planned forth day. We were extremely lucky to be able to see some endangered mountain Caribou bulls; but I will save that for another post. Jasper National Park. Alberta, Canada


Hope everyone has found some inner peace with the roller coaster that was the update to HF20 !   

[![StormyRamparts.jpg](http://www.intrepidphotos.com/intrepidphotos/PermaLinks/StormyRamparts.jpg)](http://www.intrepidphotos.com/intrepidphotos/PermaLinks/StormyRamparts.jpg)

If you would like to learn a little bit more about my background in photography you can read the interview @photofeed did with me [here](https://steemit.com/photofeed/@photofeed/introducing-photofeed-profiles-an-interview-with-intrepidphotos)

Robert Downie
Love Life, Love Photography

<sub> All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com</sub>