Prairie Mountain April 15, 2018

STOP!  HALT!  SLOW DOWN!  WAIT!  I CAN'T KEEP UP!  This past little while has been a blur, the days are blending together and now it's mid April already!  I haven't been able to "stop and smell the roses" or to "remember to breathe".   I fit in a few hours this morning so I could get to a place where I could stop the clock. Prairie Mountain was that place!

My hope was to get there and be part way up for when the sun woke up but I was late.  

Yet I was still early enough to be afforded a front of the line parking spot and a very quiet trail.

I was early enough to be before the winds and clouds of the day came along.

There is still lots of wind whipped snow to the sides of the main trail.

How did mid April arrive so quickly, like out of the blue it snuck up.  That means in a mere month more hiking options will open up like Moose Mountain.    It sure looks like there is tonnes of snow over that way.

It was sunny and calm when I arrived at the summit of Prairie Mountain.  I had the place to myself so took time to make sure I captured a perfect summit shot.  It was nice to see a new in tack Canadian Flag flying. Just the slightest of breezes and that little flag flew like there was no tomorrow.

I wandered down slope towards the turnoff to do the Loop. For a few seconds I contemplated going for that loop but being solo it was best to return the old fashion way, which was the way I came up.   I looked around for some creative photo opportunities and came upon a couple.

I turned around and hiked back up to the top and saw I was still solo here at the summit.  

I stopped to smell the roses and to remember to breathe.