Horseshoe Canyon Drumheller October 28, 2022

go east away from the wild wind and wet weather   

    to a land on this earth that looks like no other   

        accept Mother Earth's invitation to explore her creation

            open your eyes, free your mind, let it touch your soul 

Not that long after sunrise, I arrived at the trailhead for Horseshoe Canyon.  A mere matter of minutes once I stepped out of my vehicle, I was on my way down, deep, into the Canyon.  Shortly thereafter,  I could tell the ground was dry enough, I could feel the temperature was cool enough and I could witness just enough white fluffy puffy clouds in the sky.  

No sooner did I arrive down at the Canyon bottom, I then found a way up to a formation's top!

I know this hike would entail loads of ups and downs and ups, with my head my eyes and my feet! There was much to see everywhere I looked and with every steep I took.  It was the cloud rays radiating from the top of the ancient formation that grabbed my attention.  

Views like this drew me in....

....so I answered the call!  

From the wondrous views of the wide open to intricate delicate details up close!

cactus will weather the winter which is at our doorstep 

just me being me getting high when I feel happy

lichen growing on the rocks

The ground cover in this area of the Canyon was made up of black shale.  These shrubs with red leaves carpeted the ground and stood about a foot high.  You can see in the background how plentiful they are.

I love this look!

I wonder, what does it look like on another plant?  

I felt like I was there when I arrived here!

Each and every formation, no matter how big or how small, beckoned!

open your eyes, free your mind, let it touch your soul

Around every formation you will find another feast for your eyes!

When I began to work my way back out from the deep reaches of the Canyon, I then began to see others.  That tiny line on top of the formation at the left is someone else who accepted Mother Nature's invitation!  

looking back as I aim for the way up and out of Horseshoe Canyon

the views as I near the end were just as spectacular as the second I began

A climb up at the end is the only way out!  

I needed not the luck of a horseshoe for this day in Horseshoe Canyon.  

What Mother Nature and Mother Earth provided,  filled me with everything I came for! 

This is the track from my seven kilometre hike with the start and finish being on the left.  When I arrived at the location on the far top right, I could not see another way down off the formation that would take me to a trail I spotted far below.  This was an area I had not been to before. There is that long stretch across the top that I hope to cover another time.