Banff Trip Planned - Must Take Lenses?

[beewee]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

3 hours ago, Eclectic Man said:

I understand that Canadian lumberjacks use Avon 'Skin So Soft'.  I've used it in Scotland and it does work, you do not get bitten where you spread it on your skin, although it is not sold as an insect repellant.

Interesting. Never heard of such thing.

I’ve used Natrapel’s 30% Citridiol from lemon eucalyptus for several years and I’ve been happy with it. It’s DEET free and doesn’t ruin technical clothing like Goretex jackets or plastics and rubber gaskets on cameras.

Usually on the eastern side of the great divide, it’s much dryer so unless you’re camping or hanging out in a swampy area, mosquitos aren’t really a problem. Also, if you’re in the alpine, the wind will usually keep the mosquitos away.

If you do get bitten by mosquitos, a nifty first aid trick is to put a bit of saliva on the bite area within 15min of the bite. If you do it quickly enough, the enzymes in your saliva will neutralize the irritants from the mosquito bite and reduce itching/swelling. Usually, if you can do it right after the bite, the itching and swelling will disappear within 15-30minutes. 

My biggest concern with bugs is usually ticks in the spring from April to June but they tend to be more problematic in the Kananaskis area rather than in Banff, unless you’re in the Lake Minnewonka area or Banff Townsite area.

Edited April 1, 2022 by beewee

[Jim B]

Banff,

One of my most favorite places on earth! I would take a wide angle for landscapes, and a telephoto zoom for landscape details, wildlife. 
Have a great time!

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited April 9, 2022 by Jim B

[beewee]

For anyone planning on sunrises, sunsets, and milky way photos, I highly recommend the following apps:

• The Photographers Ephemeris or PhotoPills for figuring out the direction and angle of the sun/moon/milky way for different locations
• Clear Dark Sky which you can find third-party apps for hourly conditions with breakdown for wind, temperature, cloud cover, humidity, smoke, and observing conditions
• Mountain Forecast is also useful for more localized and elevation specific forecast but is a bit less reliable than Clear Dark Sky

For the Canadian Rockies, Clear Dark Sky is by far the most accurate and reliable forecast I’ve seen and used. Updates are issued twice a day and the data source is from raw forecast data from NRCan.

It’s not very intuitive to use, especially since it doesn’t forecast for rain but once you figure out how to interpret the data and interpolate across multiple forecast locations for your specific area, it’s usually accurate to the hour, even when it contradicts more mainstream weather websites/forecast, even Environment Canada which also uses the same data from NRCan.

The key for figuring out precipitation is looking at a combination of humidity, temperature, and cloud cover. If temperature, humidity, and cloud cover are all high, then it means it’ll likely rain. If humidity and temperature is high and cloud cover is low, then it’ll likely be foggy. If only humidity is high but temperature and cloud cover is low, then it’s just normal daytime temperature fluctuations.

There’s been many times where there were major conflicts between Clear Dark Sky and other forecasts and Clear Dark Sky always wins out when backed by on-the-ground observations in the mountains. Generally speaking, if the forecast is less than 24hrs out and I’m in the mountains, I would put money on Clear Dark Sky over all other sources.

Edited April 9, 2022 by beewee