Bow Valley Provincial Park May 27, 2024

  🎵🎵 These boots are made for hiking 🎵🎵

🎵🎵 and that's just what they'll do! 🎵🎵

After discovering that my oldest pair of Styngers are no longer waterproof, the time came to incorporate my newest pair into the mix.  The old ones will be good for dry easy urban walks.  After 16kms of hiking today, these boots proved to be tried & true just like every other pair of Styngers I owned over the decades.  Yet it will be my middle pair that comes with me on my hiking holiday.  

Loads of snow still remains in the higher elevation mountains west of Calgary and I am just so not into fighting through that so I opted for low elevation trails in the Foothills in Bow Valley Provincial Park an hours drive west.  Before even leaving the parking lot, a Dark Eyed Junco dropped by to make an inspection.   

Crocus season is long past in the city but out in the Foothills, they are in their prime!  I knew they peak later out there but seeing them today still surprised me and I spent plenty of time admiring them.  

The Ruffed Grouse choose to cross the path right in front of me, it strutted its stuff at a slow leisurely pace.  This is probably a resident of this location as I remember seeing one in the area on a previous hike here.  Once it stepped off the path, it blended in with the brush.

It was very soon after snapping this shot, that it was time to delayer.  There have not been many days at all where a jacket was not necessary while out & about. Today was ideal shirt weather.  As the hours progressed, shorts would have been suffice.

The crocuses were everywhere and plentiful.  

I have seen and heard Cedar Waxwings in the city but had not been able to capture a pretty picture of one.  There were three in this tree, this was the only one that was not hidden by branches.  I prefer a side view of them but I was just happy to see them and hear them and get a good photograph.  As it turned out, there was a flock of them hidden in the tree, they all flew off as I stepped back onto the pathway.

Arriving at the picnic spot in the open area coincided with an early lunch time.  It was me and a lady fishing that owned the space.  The Bow River is known worldwide for amazing fishing.  It was free of ice and snow and it was running fast and high.   While dining and admiring the mountains across the way, I let my mind wander to when I hiked to the summit of a few of them. 

looking back at my picnic table 

In another area of the Park, I came across meadows of Shooting Stars. 

The plan for the day was to hike a great big loop before intersecting the trail I hiked earlier in the morning.       Near the end of the loop, I stopped by Middle Lake.  The water level was very low.  The rain over the past few days helped somewhat with the draught but much more moisture is needed.

trail around Middle Lake

one last look at Middle Lake from higher up 

This trail leads to the road which I needed to follow for a very short distance before finding the meadow then forest to route find through.  

When I arrived at the meadow, it was time to veer off and hike through it. It was decorated in hundreds of Shooting Stars which I gingerly stepped around.  Following the track on my app, I entered the forest and found my way up to the path I was on earlier in the day.  

looking back at the area I found my way through

I made it back up to the trail I was on earlier and now completed the great big loop.  There were only three kilometres left to cover along the paved path back to the parking lot.  

I just wanted those three klicks done so made a business of it to cover them.  It wound through a beautiful forest filled with bird songs so while I don't care for hiking on pavement, the forest and the songs made for an enjoyable finish.