Forgetmenot, Glasgow Creek, Wildhorse November 30, 2021

Back on November 11th when I hiked out in the Elbow Valley area, I knew then I wanted to come back before the road closes tomorrow, December 1st at 8:00am until May 15 of 2022 when it opens again.   I expected there would be more snow at the end of November but seeing recent photos where there was more brown than white, I still wanted one last hike out that way.  I knew it would be a gorgeous place to "Remember to Breathe!" 

I parked at the Forgetmenot Pond lot and made that my start and finish location.  This way I could make a loop around The Pond before heading off along the trails.  The level of The Pond was low yet there was still loads of open water.  This was the first time ever that I could walk along the shoreline the entire way.

clouds reflecting in the water

I enjoyed playing with large chunks of ice!

mountains and trees reflecting in the open water

It crossed my mind with such a gorgeous day and there being so much open water, 

would kayakers show up for one last paddle of the season.

This was the view from the shore of the Elbow River.  I followed along the shore for a little while then did a bit of cross country to intersect the trail that follows Glasgow Creek.

It's been warm out this way and rainy.  What water remained on the trail was now ice.

This was a view from along side Glasgow Creek.  What caught my attention was how the water in the creek coming from different directions came to a meeting point as you can see in the bottom of the photo.

Ice!  Ice!  Ice!  I wore my spikes the entire time!

ice covered trail full of bubbles

a tree reflecting faintly in the ice on the trail

In some areas I went off trail and wandered through meadows.  

I purposely became one with the ground to capture this photo!

view off to Nihahi Ridge

I did an out and back, a meander and a wander in the Glasgow Creek area.  I took a few detours down trails to see what was there.  Once I arrived back at a main junction, I took the trail back down to the Elbow River and strolled around there for awhile.  When I turned around to return, this was the view of the sky.  The wind was picking up and a few snow flakes were falling.

It was time to cross back over that pink bridge...

...then hook up with the trail that would take me back to Forgetmenot Pond.  I settled at a picnic table for a while to finish off my hot chocolate/gingerbread tea drink and savoured the last of my treats.  In a way I did not want this day to end but it did come time to head on home so I did.    I wanted to end November on a high note in my mind considering what our world is facing.  To be out here today was so satisfying!