Sunday brought a steady climb with soul-warming views. When Amanda picked me up at 7 a.m. I said, “just drive south.” After some discussion we decided to climb Nihahi Ridge in Kananaskis. Really it was Amanda’s idea since my brain was numb from the week. You decide. I’m good to go.
I wasn’t feeling a really long hike/run because my feet are giving me some grief. A short hike would be just fine. (I was happy that Amanda took a picture of the directions because we had no service and I had no clue where we were headed.)
We found the trail head easy enough. In fact, I remembered being at this parking lot three years ago. My memory is sketchy but I remember Mark and I had met up with the Calgary Trail Runners for the first time. What I do remember is that we (me) couldn’t keep up with them. It was a fun day though and I met some cool people.
Speaking of memories … how far do yours go back? I ask because at my editors meeting earlier this week we got to talking about school – elementary school, specifically the names of our teachers and our classmates. I can’t remember any of my teacher’s names in grade school let alone university. Can you? One editor remembers every single teacher and their personality etc. Crazy, right? (We did establish that I can remember last week.)
I digress …. (Yes I have been doing a lot of that lately.) We had a pretty chill hike. We weren’t concerned about our pace or the time. Soaking in the mountain air was our main agenda. We didn’t see many people for the first few kilometres until we reached the ridge. As we caught up with the hikers, we heard them before we saw them. We found out later they were part of a Meet Up group – Slow and Steady. Nice group of people.
We climbed up this little bit so we could bypass a bunch of hikers. In the distance you can see some climbers making their way up the ridge.
Amanda took the lead while I tried to keep up with her speedy legs. My chubby legs were concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Thankfully it was not a windy day.
We stopped ahead here and watched the climbers. Neither Amanda nor I were feeling the ridge. Amanda was (thankfully) prepared and brought an extra sandwich. (I always seem to forget to pack something other than an apple or two.) At least I didn’t run out of water this time.
Since this was such a short hike (12K return), we decided to head to Community Foods in Calgary. Amanda, who is newly vegan, has never shopped there before. I love shopping there. I was happy that she was just as excited as I was to find some good deals.
I highly recommend this hike, if you’re looking for a short hike with some amazing views. We had a wonderful day (save for the drive home on Hwy 2). I am looking forward to more time in the mountains before the snow begins to fall.