"Unforgettable" - The Choo Choo on the Kananaskis 40 Loop

Another Photo Friday challenge shot - "Unforgettable" was the theme for the week of Sept. 24 - Oct. 1 2010 .

But how so?  An old caboose is "Unforgettable"?  Really?

Well, there is a story here....

I went riding with my friend Ken today.  We did the Kananaskis 40 Loop, so coined by all the motorcyclists who ride the highway from Calgary to Bragg Creek, into Turner Valley, right to Longview and through Kananaskis heading north to the Transcanada highway and back east to Calgary.  It was my first long ride (5 hours), the first time along this loop... and...   IT IS/WAS SPECTACULAR!!!!!   The high mountain pass actually makes it hard to concentrate on riding... a dangerous thing, particularly for a new rider like me!   But, this is not what made it "Unforgettable".

This... day was particularly spectacular, as the leaves were turning with the fall season, making the whole trip a visceral one, with the fresh air smells and the visual collage of splattered yellows, reds, oranges and greens, assailing the senses.  Still, this too, did not make for "Unforgettable".

About a third of the way along the loop, we passed a field that held a dilapidated caboose, all by its lonesome.  It was like someone dropped it there out of thin air.  We made a u-turn and came back for a few shots...  here is just one.  Again, a fantastic site, where you would never expect one to be, but still, not all that "Unforgettable"

The shot has been retouched;  ya, I know, you are shocked... but I can't help playing with CS4.    I did the usual photoshopping, with adjustments to curves, exposure and dodging to lighten up the dark areas... I then erased the old wooden platform that allows access to the steps seen at the back right of the caboose...  finishing with a favorite plug-in called Photo Wiz Contrastmaster, that gave the old caboose a grungy look... a look I really like.  "Unforgettable" yet?  Well no, but.... almost!

It is what you can't see that makes this shot "Unforgettable"... at least for me.  The erased wooden platform I mentioned...  it is that, that sealed the deal... and made the whole day "Unforgettable".  That platform partially collapsed as I stepped off the caboose, dropping me flat on my face...  leaving me in shock and bleeding from my right hand...  it left me shaken enough, that I dropped my bike a little while later in a rest area we stopped at, to clean my cuts... and brought back memories of another time that I fell through a partially constructed deck and almost broke my back...

And so...  the culmination of all the sights, smells, sounds, the shock and the pain... with the finishing touch of riding with a good friend...  makes this whole experience one that is truly "Unforgettable"...

...and an experience that revolves around an old caboose.

PS...  One day, with late day light, one closer to sunset, this caboose will make a fantastic HDR shot... and will make today, a picture worth hanging on the wall as...  Unforgettable!

PPS... And one more shot from another angle (obviously)...