The Unexpected!

Within 20 minutes after we sat on the bottom stair with books and maps, our plan for today was fully revisited then totally revamped.  We shifted our focus from one P to another P to better manage the possibilities Mother Nature could potentially present today.  Instead of Piran we went with Powderface.  

One part of the original plan that didn't change was to try my new backpacking boots. I did carry my Asolo Styngers in my pack just in case these new boots made my feet scream.      

It was nice having a quick drive to our trail head and being the only ones there.  Five minutes into our hike, we realized we may not have the pleasure of owning the trail today.  We were not expecting a trail full of trail runners, and then came my old hiking buddie running the Transrockies race.  You never know who you are going to run into in the mountains.  

This onslaught of runners was short lived and then we took ownership of the trail.   I soon realized today was not going to be the greatest for scenery shots.  The low lying cloud hung around the entire day.  At times it was erie as we saw the low clouds come towards us, envelop us and then move past us.  

eyeing Nihahi Ridge

photo by Happy Hiker

Before heading up to the Ridge, we took the optional outlier detour from the Pass.  

I was here, at the Pass, on March 24th of this year when it was snow covered.

Today it looked like this.

I brought my guide book along (purposely adding extra weight) so we could check out other options along the way.  Happy Hiker was happy to read all about the area we were in.  I didn't expect my GPS to malfunction so the map and book came in handy.

My summit shot at our high point!

Another unexpected today was the quantity and variety of wild flowers.  

Approximately three quarters of the way through today's hike, I tripped on a rock so looked down to see and then remembered I had my new boots on.  Now that is a good sign!  They were proving to be very comfortable.  As it turned out, I didn't need to change into my old boots and arrived back at our trail head still wearing the new ones and my feet feeling very happy.  We covered roughly 10kms and approximately 490 meters of total elevation gain.  The next test for my boots will be covering more distance, more elevation gain and carrying more weight.

I was pleased that "The Unexpected" today was all in our favour!