We set out to discover the fabled āSunshine MeadowsāĀ on this fine summerās dayā¦ prepared to skip the shuttle bus and hike the extra three miles each way for the full experience.
In the winter this is ski country!Ā ButĀ in the summer and fall tourists are lured up to the alpine meadows above the ski runs with the promise of easy hiking and stunning wildflowers.Ā A school bus shuttle will spare you the huffing and puffing of the final three miles to the treeline but at a cost which seemed unreasonable to us.
So we walkedāat least until it began to rain, and then to hail as we approached our destination! OUCH! At which point we sped up to a trot and took refuge under a gondola lift till it let up!Ā 
We were soaked and chilledā¦
And the poor wildflowers we had come to see didnāt fare so well eitherā¦
It all seemed pretty bleak.Ā Not only were we wet, and getting cold, but the landscape was a great deal bleaker than weād anticipated.Ā Some reward for a three-mile trudgeā¦
Even the flowers looked a little blueā¦
Behold, the continental divide.Ā Look closely and youāll see the post markers that separate Alberta from British Columbiaā¦
But then, as we topped the rise to the meadows, leaving most of the straggle of visitors behindā¦
the sun cam out!
and we rounded a bend to find this little gemāRock Isle Lake.
Things were looking up!Ā Shortly thereafter we foundĀ a bench in a sunny protected spot, perfect for a cat nap– to dry out and to warm up!
But the mosquitoes were pesky and the bench hard and I was restless to find wildflowers and to see where the trail would meander nextā¦ 
Intending only to snap a few pictures close by,
I had soon left both bear spray and good sense behind as I wondered on down the trail while Jim dozed oblivious to my whereaboutsā¦ 
Every rise and bend in the trail lured me further along; the views were irresistible.
I strolled right on past a fork in the trail, never considering how Jim would know which way Iād goneā¦
But I was happy as a lark, or a Sal hunting blueberries* , or a Heidi in the Alpsā¦whistling along, intoxicated with the beauty and the carefree delight of discovering more around each bendā¦oblivious to the passage of timeā¦
This ground squirrel seemed to appreciate my songā¦
The earlier dismay at the stark, wet and chilled landscape had dissolved in the sunshine and birdsong.Ā It was glorious!
The rest of the story was not as glorious.
For though I neither met a bear, nor got myself lost, and though I did eventually come to my senses and retrace my steps bubbling over with tales of the glory of the trailā¦ by this time my husband was no longer drowsing but searching for me down the fork in the trail I had not thought to take.Ā Sigh.
Still, we opted to extend our walk together and see what else was to be seen.Ā We logged just over nine miles before we were back where weād started, glad to have seen Sunshine, and wildflowers! on an alpine meadow.
–LS
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.Eph.5:1,2 ESV
All this business of hiking in the mountains is āold hatā to these bighorn sheep
snuffling winterās leftover salt along our way down the mountainā¦
* Have you read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey? Itās a picture perfect summerās classic you donāt want to miss!