In Alberta, when the mercury plummets in the winter months ice crystals that fill the air cling to every square inch of the landscape commonly known as hoar frost. This hoar frost often builds up to an inch thick and will cover trees from top to bottom and virtually everything else exposed to the elements right down to the wires on a barbwire fence. During these conditions, the landscape becomes a winter wonderland.
Flowing parallel to the Smith Dorrien Trail in Kananaskis, Smuts creek twists and winds through an open meadow, as the last few sections of flowing water remain ice free.
A turkey vulture adjusts its wings in the plains of Washington state near a carcass it was feeding on.