all the right angles

It's spring!  

It's almost April!  

It's time to go forward in life at a different angle...  

...in fact, four different angles!      

#1 head on down to the front range of Kananaskis 

#2 spend time with friends I have not seen in ages

#3 gear down to hiking boots, gaiters, microspikes

#4 clip bear spray to my pack and watch for bears

They are all the right angles in my books for this time of year.  

Right angles = 90 degrees

Four 90 degree (right) angles = a square

This is our main destination today!  Square Butte, otherwise known as Mesa Butte! You can see our second, lower destination off in the distance to the right which is known as Hill 64E.  Our plan of attack is for our final track to look more like a square than a loop.

We meandered our way up and through the forest, following no particular trail until we came out into the open and could clearly see where we wanted to be. This shot shows the summit of the Butte and I believe that lone tree on top is where the summit register may be.  I forgot about it, in all the excitement of the beauty surrounding us when we arrived.  The lines along the slope all the way up were eye catching.

This was our view south from the summit.  

The many layers of ranges were barely visible through the fog/cloud/haze.

My first mission once we reached the summit was to capture my "leap of love" shot.  Oh see, I did create a 90-degree angle, yes a right angle with my legs bent.  The others went to secure a great lunch spot but I prefer to get my jump done before filling my belly.  The lighter the belly, the higher the jump!

a perfect pack tree rack

I finally settled down with the others to dine.  At least I tried to settle down.  This is something I am realizing I have an issue with.  I can sit still long enough to quickly eat my lunch but then I'm ready to occupy my time in other ways.  I spent the rest of the time, taking photos, scoping out close by views and today, I built a snowman.  

Lunch time energized us to carry on with summitting our next destination.  First we descended through the forest, in sticky, wet heavy snow.  It accumulated on the bottom of my microspike and my foot was so so heavy to lift that I ended up with a cramp in my calf muscle.  But, look, I did create a 90-degree angle, yes another right angle.

photo credit to Nikita

I love the Sheep area for the aspen trees and the lack of snow this time of year.

We made our way across the wide open meadow to begin ascending again.  We bypassed these trees and I waited for the sun to peak out through the clouds so I could grab a shadow shot.  We were fortunate to have sun and warmth today.  

in the forest again

We reached the top of Hill 64E.  Once again we had a hazy view but still so very pretty.  My second summit shot this Saturday was geared more towards today's theme, lots of right angles.  Yes, there are quite a few 90-degree (right) angles going on here! 

You can see in the last chart below, we did complete a square-like track. I thoroughly enjoyed how all the right angles today created fun in a very square place.  I will clarify that it took exactly these seven ladies today who have the know-how, to turn something so very square into something so very right!  

YES INDEED, today's four different angles were the right angles!