Week ending Jul 31, 2014 Crowsnest Pass

Friday morning we realized why we love the mountains; a  good sleep because the temperature is always cool over night. We are in a place were we need the heater in the morning and the air conditioner in the afternoon.   We stopped at visitor information to pick up a local hiking guide, as well as see if we could track down a lady we had purchased mugs from a couple of years ago while at the Butterdome Christmas craft show in Edmonton. Of course we couldn’t remember her name. The ladies at the visitor info gave us a few leads so off we went. After checking a couple of places, walking down main street, we finally gave up.  We will replace the cup when we find another ceramic mug that suits us.  We finally went back to the trailer to study the hiking trails.

Saturday we left for a hike to Window Mountain Lake. There was a warning that the last 2 km road to the trailhead can be difficult.   After much discussion we decided we could walk that. Are we crazy? Yes we are. The road was a pain to walk on and our truck would have easily handled it. There was more than enough parking at the trailhead. So after slogging up to the trail head we carried on. Once we hit the headwall, Joan said 'I give up'. John carried on up the headwall, but still didn't get views of the lake, so turned back. The good news was we were in an area of great scenery and we enjoyed the hike.

 Sunday was our day of rest.  We watched MLS soccer and Nascar racing.  Enjoyed the warm mountain air and were happy that we didn’t have to use the pool here as it was packed with screaming kids. It was too warm,even for us, to use the hot tub, which is a kid free zone.

Monday we headed for Castle Mountain ski resort.  Trever instructed there for a few years, but we had never been there.   We decided on a hike to Haig Lake.  After walking up Buffalo Flats run, we headed on to a seismic road. We enjoyed the trail until we got to a spot that dipped steeply down with an equally steep up on the far side.  We elected to follow the directions in the guide, which turned out to be a mistake. We could have followed the ski out, which must be new since the writeup in the trail guide,  and avoided putting ourselves through one of the steepest sections of the trail.  The trail took us along the edge of a cliff (the bottom of it) and all in all it was a great hike, with fantastic scenery. We sat on a spot the ski run on our way down to finish our lunch. As we sat enjoying the views Joan noticed a deer sharing the run with us, but as we stood up, it decided to depart into the bush.  We now know why Trever liked this hill so much.

 On the way back, we checked out a couple of provincial rec areas along the Castle River.

Tuesday was another hot day, should we go for a hike? Every time we are in this area we go to Chris’s Restaurant, so we decided on  a late breakfast rather than another hike.  We then picked up groceries for the next week and then headed back to the campground to enjoy the pool.  During the week there are very few people in the campgrounds, hence we have a “private” pool.  We have a list of hikes we want to do for another visit. Its always good to have a reason to come back.

Finally a hot sunny dry day to  move. What a shock, one of the few nights we have had before moving that it didn`t rain. We chatted to our new neighbours as we were getting ready to move. One group was on their way to Pontiex, Saskatchewan for its 100th anniversary . The other family was from Didsbury and on their way to Moyie lake. The last time we were at Moyie lake Karen and John dumped the canoe.  We finally got to Vulcan and settled in the town campground.  John set up the hammock and spend the rest of the afternoon reading and dozing in the sun.

On Thursday morning, we headed back to Stavely for our $10 round of golf.  

Karen texted us that she and Dominique are on their way to join us in Vulcan.