High Noon Hills June 2, 2022

wild & western

hills & horses

It's been just short of ten years since I made a trek around the High Noon Hills so when a plan was put out there to hit those hills, I jumped on board.  The hike started in the foothills south west of Calgary at the Sheep River Ranger Station.   The beginning of the trail is a little more than a klick away but starting from here worked best for us.

view after reaching the trail head and beginning the climb

After getting a little high on a hill, we had this view further west.  While there is still much snow in the mountains to melt, it is very dry in the foothills with a fire rating of high.  

in some sections the hills were carpeted with wildflowers

One of the two crocuses I spied along the way.  

There were thousands of shooting stars!

along come the others

Around every corner and at the top of every hill, there was a sight to see!

on top of one of the High Noon Hills with the Sheep River below me

Further along on the hills and as noon approached at High Noon Hills, we found a perfect spot to settle for a lengthy lunch.  This was our view! While dining, I saw movement come out from behind the trees. It was a lady on a horse with another horse beside her.  They stopped in the middle of the meadow.

I zoomed in to see she was looking our way while stopped amongst a field of pink wildflowers.

I could see at one point she pulled out her camera and was aiming the lens in our direction. 

After lunch, we aimed back in the direction we came from but then veered off onto another trail.  We did a little bit of route finding while working our way down towards the river.  We crossed a creek section then climbed back up the other side.  We aimed for the ridge line at the top of the steep slope and followed it to where it headed off into wide open sections.

Mother Nature's wood frame of the mountain scene!

This was the wide open section we reached and from here we followed the trail over another hill then out to the road.  We crossed the road then aimed for the forest having just a little over a kilometre to get back to the Ranger Station.

Out exploring these High Noon Hills felt like being in the middle of a western show.  The lady showing up on her horse in the middle of the meadow was such a fitting sight to see.  The wildflowers were so pretty giving the feel that the hills were alive!