I’ve just begun to discover Kananaskis Country in spring…thanks to some long-time local hikers who are introducing me week by week to new places…
Here we are in the Sibbald Lake region venturing out to the Ole Buck Loop.
Spring is just barely springing. Its new green is such a refreshing sight!
We gained 500ft. before stopping for lunch at what used to be a viewpoint, before the pines grew tall…
It was lovely nonetheless and even boasted a geo-cache which we duly signed.
My PB&J sandwich was all the better for the lovely setting ( :
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This Crocus chorus greeted us along the way back.
But that was last week’s hike. The following day a grizzly was reported in the area making advances toward a hiker and the trails were closed till further notice.
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Today our hike took us to a lovely falls, also in Kananaskis Country.
These trails double as cross-country trails when the snow falls.
The leader of our expedition has a very long history here; she’s written books about the area and one of the trails is named after her—a downhill stretch that’s sure to be a ‘screamer’ on skis!
This is Ruthie. She is fast approaching 80 but still on the move and still very much in love with Kananaskis Country.
She names for me the flowers along the way…
(names I am disappointed to have now forgotten…)
And points out the spot where she would like a bench placed in her memory…
As we near our destination, the effects of the 2013 flood are clearly in evidence despite extensive clean-up. This area was hard hit.
Troll Falls is our destination–
Named for the troll who keeps watch as it tumbles…
The nearby Nakiska ski slopes were built for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics…the meadows we traverse used to be full of wildflowers but they have yet to recover from being used as parking lots for this event.
But the valley is lovely still, from beside…
and above…
…and has become a popular setting for wedding parties.
We, though decidedly less glamorous, pose for a picture anyway.
In 2002, top world leaders met in this out of the way place for the G8 Summit of 2002.
It became the largest peacetime security operation in Canadian history.
For today though, we have the place almost to ourselves! Though over the weekend the Prime Minister and his cabinet were here for a cabinet retreat!
These and other bits of trivia I hear as I walk for the first time in Kananaskis Country…, but it’s the flower names I wish most to remember!
And I have it now…Calypso Orchid is that flower’s name!
–LS
The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Ps.93:3-4
Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity. Ps.98:8,9
