A Short New Beginning

I was determined to start 2010 off on the right foot!  Well, in a way I did but it was the left foot that started first.  The forecast for Canmore was 10 degrees warmer than Calgary so I knew it could be a good day.  I was a little nervous about hiking by myself but was told the Grassi Lakes Trail would be a fine one to be on your own on.  I wasn't nervous about bears but scared of cougars.  They show up every now and then in the Canmore area.  I kept looking over my shoulder but a lot of good that would do if a cougar was stalking me.  It all turned out fine, in fact, it was a great day!  The Grassi Lakes are so pretty!  Who would have thought there would be lakes not frozen at this time of year in this neck of the woods.

Portions were frozen and that created quite the effect as you can see.  I'm really pleased with the quality of photos from my 9000.  I didn't play with macros or panoramas today but did lots of close ups.  

I picked this hike because of its shortness, about 4.5km round trip with minimum elevation. This is all I can handle right now.  What it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality.  I liked that it was lacking in people while I was there.  I met a herd of folks coming in as I was coming out.  The scenery was amazing too.  The mountains seemed so close.  I had many great views of Ha Ling Peak.  My friend Scrambled Legs is up there today!  No, not in the plane, he is bagging the Peak!

Portions of the so called "strenuous trail" were iced over so I had to maneuver around that.  I was thankful for my icers today.  At times I thought I was being stupid attempting some of the areas by myself but I took extra caution with foot placement and kept at a careful slow pace.  You can see how icy it was in areas.  I was expecting to see ice climbers but they must have had great New Years celebrations into the wee hours.

The hike only took two hours which was perfect for today.  I had my lunch with me so found a picnic table in the sunshine facing the Three Sisters and enjoyed my hot chocolate, sandwich, mandarin orange and chocolates.  This was my way of ringing in the New Year!