Elbow Valley April 4, 2025

This was the view this morning as I drove Route 66 through the Eblow Valley district of Kananaskis Country.  Those far off mountains are off limits as they are located beyond the closed gate which opens mid May.  For now, the closed gate would be my starting point for a meander along the trails throughout Beaver Lodge and the Campground.  Shortly after passing the warning sign for cows on the roadways, I saw big brown movement up ahead and thought sure enough there are the cows.  That was until I got closer and saw they were not cows, in fact they were.....

....the wild Mustang horses!  It was early morning, no other vehicles were on this Route so I stopped in the middle of the road to admire them and also to let the big black one get off the road. I could see three were smaller, they were probably born last spring. The small ones were the brown one at the far back on the slope, the black one in the middle and the brown one to the right of it.   

the small black Mustang was curious about me

the small brown Mustang on the slope had no interest in me

I could have stayed and watched the Mustangs go about their morning business but I had other business to take care off.  The further west I drove, the more wintry it looked.  I came prepared with my spikes and warm layers. While I am well ready for green, crocuses, light layers and buds on trees, it is what it is out here and I made sure to savour it.  Into the forest I go!  

At Beaver Lodge the ponds that are open to the sunshine are mostly free of ice.  

I followed a broken trail in the snow, through the Campground, that lead down to the River.  I wanted to be by water today.  Between forests, hills, meadows, mountains and open water, it's open water that is calling me the loudest.  Parts of the River had a thin layer of ice and when I saw this section, I wondered why and how does water freeze creating ice patterns like this! 

walking along side the River

standing on the edge of a Beaver Pond at Beaver Lodge

circles of open water

When all was said and done at Beaver Lodge and The Campground, I stopped by Elbow Falls to see how the falls were falling then to sit and have an early lunch.  It was not until I got home and loaded my photos onto my iMac that I saw the rainbow over the waterfalls.  I enjoyed everything about this visit to Elbow Valley. I look forward to getting out here mid May when the gate opens and I can get close to the beautiful sights deeper into the Valley. 

If you have been following my blog throughout winter, then you will have seen my posts about the sweater, socks and slippers I knitted using a shade of yarn called "Seaglass".  I called the items my "Seaglass Sweater", "Seaglass Socks" and "Seaglass Slippers".  I have a thing for seaglass/beachglass.  

My latest knitting project is my "Seaglass Purse"!  I learned to knit a buttonhole and a flap. I designed the pattern myself, picking a size and figuring out the size of needles to use with the yarn, number of stitches to cast on, how many rows of the accent yarn for the flap and how many rows necessary for the size of the purse.    

In my last post "OOOH those BLUES", the last photo was of a piece of remanent fabric that I found at the fabric store.  I had an idea for the fabric and this is it!  I used it as the lining for my "Seaglass Purse".  You may be able to see at the left, I added a pocket to the lining.  All the sewing was done by hand.  I still need to add four snaps inside for closures.  Between the calling of being near open water as I shared with you earlier in this post, my mind also drifts off to the beach every now and then.  

Between being "out & about", knitting, attending to every day life's happenings, I make sure to fit in time to lay some shades on paper.  While googling I came across some seasonal sights that are not seen in my little piece of paradise.  This time instead of creating a painted scene for my 2026 Calendar, I did a watercolour painting of a pathway lined with cherry blossoms in full bloom.   

visions of cherry blossoms dance in my head