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| The beginning of the hike, past Barrier Dam |
Most school children in the northern hemisphere are on summer holidays at the moment. Not so for R. and B., my two home-schooled charges. Luckily, our school schedule is very flexible and we can take advantage of the lovely weather and the huge range of summer activities on offer in Alberta's huge outdoor playground. Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, so after a couple of hours of school in the morning, R. (mother ... too many R.s in this family!) and I decided to pack the kids up and head for the mountains. We entered Kananaskis Country from the north and ended up at Barrier Dam. You may recognise the name and some of the pictures from an earlier jaunt to the area, when I went on a fantastic trail run in the forest around the dam. This time, we were destined for a 12 kilometre return hike called Prairie View. The beginning of the trail followed the dam's edge before climbing up through the forest. The hike up was easy but fairly boring as there was nothing really to look at. The two tourists in the group (myself and H., 10 year old B.'s Swiss friend) were excited and nervous when we discovered recent bear scratchings on several trees. We became even more nervous when we came across a ranger who told us that last week, four bears were seen on the very trail upon which we were walking. I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved that we hadn't seen a bear. Luckily, hiking with three energetic and noisy children, any sensible bear would retreat upon hearing that noise. Just as the children started the "Are we there yet?" questions, we rounded the corner and wow! As we turned the corner, we each made loud exclamations of surprise and amazement. The view was stupendously beautiful. We enjoyed the scenery as we ate tuna sandwiches, vegetables and licorice. Forty five minutes later, we returned the same way and the children had a swim in the dam. Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday afternoon at work. Now, half a day left for the week followed by five days off. Life is good.
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| Bear scratchings on a tree |
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| View from the top |
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| View down the valley |
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| View in the other direction |
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