Forget-Me-Not Ridge -- August 30. 2012

A great hike to finish off the summer!  We had a beautiful day and great company!

10.5 km

5 hours 40 minutes.

According to Craig and Kathy Copeland, in their book, Where Locals Hike,

Legend holds that a courting couple admired a cluster of tiny, light blue flowers beside a raging river.  while picking them for his love, the man tumbled into the whitewater and was swept away.  He tossed the flowers to her, calling his last words:  "Forget me not!"  This dainty flower, know as alpine forget-me-not, is a delight to behold.  Its striking beauty is unforgettable.  Many hikers consider it symbolic of their most memorable mountain experiences.

We didn't see any forget-me-nots on the hike, but we were probably to late in the year!  We did, however see them on the Galatea hike!

 We get to hike each week with our very own "Barry"!  (aka Joe!)  You may have visited the Hiking with Barry website, because he has good descriptions of many of the hikes we did this summer.  As we were climbing, another hiker looked at Joe and asked, "Are you Barry??"  Not sure if there is much of a resemblance, but we sure do enjoy having Joe hike with us, to help us find the trail, to keep us safe, for his outdoor expertise, and great company!  And now on top of all that, it is like hiking with a celebrity!!

 Looking down to the North at Forget-Me-Not Pond

 A hike is not complete without some climbing!  The path went off to the right, but we took the ridge.

 Barb and Dianne admiring the "Holey Rock Tree!"  We managed to find a few holey rocks to add to it.

 I think my favorite part of hiking is the views!  There was lots to see on top of the ridge.

 One of the cool things about this hike was that we could look across at other trails we had already hiked.  Nihahi Ridge is center right in the picture.  The partial to the very right is Powderface.  We were also able to see Prairie Mountain and Moose Mountain.

 Cairn at the North Summit

I "heart" hiking!

Heart Mountain Circuit - August 23, 2012

What a killer!!

10.1 km

7 hours and 15 minutes!!

I have been waiting a long time to do this hike.  Even though it was physically demanding, I am glad we did it.  We climbed up and up and then up some more.  It was steep!  When we finally arrived at the top, we were only barely half way.  The climb back down was also steep and difficult.  Why do we like to do this to ourselves?

I feel like we really accomplished something.

The views are STUNNING! And there is only one way to see them!

 The famed "crux"

The hiking books all talk about how this is such a difficult part of the hike.  It is straight up, but it is short, and we also had Joe to help us!  

 Barb going up...

After helping all of us, Joe had to get up all on his own!

 Here we are looking over the edge of the crux.

 I found this part much more scary than the crux.  I just didn't look back.  We climbed into the gap, then inched along the right side and then up onto the top.

 Wow!

 Dana the hiker

 Dianne the hiker

(I think I am finally learning to use my new camera!)

 Barrier Lake and Mt. Baldy from a new direction.  From the top of Grant McEwan Peak.

There are two summits on this hike.  Heart Mountain, then Grant McEwan Peak.

 We made it!!  (Now get me down!)

 Once we made the summit, there was still alot of hiking left to do.  We continued up and down the whole ridge before finally finishing.

 The ridge looking east.  You can see Grant McEwan Peak on the left, it is green on top.  Heart Mountain is the right peak.  It looks kind of like a heart from this direction as well.

 Classic!  Thanks Joe, for guiding us through this hike!  You can see Mt. Yamnuska on the right side of the picture to Joe's left.

 One of the steeper downhills from the bottom

Making our way back down.

We had a wonderful day.

Moose Mountain - August 16, 2012

Great Hike!  I know I say that every time, but each hike is unique in its own way, and I enjoy seeing the world from the perspective of a new hike.  We had perfect weather for our hike.  There is a fire lookout at the top of Moose Mountain, and we saw a helicopter practicing landings there.  We were joined today by Lincoln Baines, and I am sure he could have done the hike in half the time if we weren't slowing him down!

15.3 km return

5 1/2 hours

 The lookout is at the top of the left peak in this picture.

 Getting a bit closer...

 A steep climb on the rocks for the last bit up to the lookout.

 And this is why we hike...fantastic views!

 Dana taking it all in from the helicopter landing pad!

 Dianne happy to be at the top!

 I could see Calgary when I took this, but I can't see it now :(

Galatea-August 9, 2012

We had a wonderful hike yesterday to Galatea Lakes.  Our day began with the plan to hike to Lillian Lake, but we arrived there after only hiking for two hours, so decided to press on to the more impressive Galatea Lakes.  We were not disappointed!  The weather was warm, so I was grateful for the shade as we returned.  This is a very enjoyable hike, with lots of variety on the trail.

Elevation gained: 728 m

Distance traveled:  18.5 km

 The path stays fairly close to Galatea Creek most of the way up.  We crossed 10 bridges on our way to Lillian Lake.

 Lillian Lake

 Lower Galatea

 The hiking pole is pointing at the pass on the left of the picture that leads to Upper Galatea.  It took about 30 minutes to travel around Lower Galatea and up in to the upper lake.

 The water was so clear, and a most inviting color.  I was tempted, but only got my hands wet.  It was surprisingly not that cold. (for a mountain lake)

 Upper Galatea

The brand new "composting" biffy at Lillian Lake campground!  A five star attraction!

Upper Kananaskis Lake Circuit - August 2, 2012

 This was a long, but very enjoyable hike.  So very easy, with very little elevation climb.  We enjoyed the views of the lake and also the mountains surrounding Upper Kananaskis Lake.  The weather was varied, so the raincoats were on and off about 5 times during the day. We had a small group, as Miriam named us, "Miriam and the 3 D's"!

16.6 km

5 hours

 If you came on the Rawson Lake hike, you will recognize this waterfall.  We began this hike on the same trail as Rawson Lake.

 Self-portrait!

 The lake was stunningly beautiful!  There was no wind, so it was smooth and peaceful.

 Falls on the north side of the lake

 Tree burial ground...

Miriam overlooking the lake after we ate lunch here.  It was raining five minutes later!

 We saw this mumma bear and her two cubs way up on Mt. Indefatigable!  

 The photos above and below show what the day was like weather-wise.  These were taken about 20 minutes apart.  Kind of unbelievable how fast it can change in the mountains.