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Barbara Read and Fred Schaad | all galleries >> Canadian Landscapes >> Alberta > Red Rock Coulee Two
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June 2006 Barbara Read

Red Rock Coulee Two

Red Rock Coulee

As a result of a recomendation, some excellent directions and a map from Tom, Fred and I found
ourselves pulling into the parking area for Red Rock Coulee at about 6:30pm on our third day of our
Alberta trip. It had been a long day: started out by getting up 4:30 for a sunrise shoot at Waterton
Lakes NP, then driving all the way across southern Alberta in search of grain elevators and ghost
towns. Red Rock Coulee was to be our last stop before heading into Medicine Hat for dinner and some sleep.

"The most striking feature of Red Rock Coulee is the large, rounded sandstone concretions that can
measure up to 2.5 meters across. It is believed that the boulders were formed as calcite and iron
oxide collected around a "nucelus" such as a shell or bone. Layer upon layer of mineral was deposited
over a long time to produce the boulders." Well, the best way I can describe the place is: you drive
up a narrow dirt road in the middle of literally 'nowhere' and at the top of a small rise you
discover that you're no longer on Earth, but some alien planet. I'm glad we arrived there later in
the day while the sun was lower in the sky. We had planned to stay until closer to sunset, but the
long day had done us in so we stayed maybe an hour then packed up in favor of something to eat. Red
Rock Coulee Natural Area is truly a unique place to experience--I hope we can get back there again sometime.

Minor adjustments in PSCS2, including leveling. Image was then resized for the web and sharpened.

Comments and feedback always appreciated.

Canon EOS 5D ,Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Tripod, cable release, circular polarizer
1/13s @f22, 19mm, iso 100 EV-1/3 full exif


other sizes: small medium original auto
comment
Greg Burke04-Oct-2007 02:57
These formations are really cool. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Good photos of a unique area.
Guest 25-Jan-2007 00:05
Thanks for sharing these with us...these are excellent photos and the coulees are wonderful subjects. It is indeed like an image from another planet.