Kananaskis Lookout Lovely Looking Lookout

With such a positive concrete forecast in place, there was no doubt I would be hitting the playground west somewhere today.  A few places were put on the plate, finally we stuck our fork into hiking up to the Kananaskis Lookout with a decision to be made once there if we would return the way we came or complete the Loop. Like always lately, we arrived at the parking lot early.  I was surprised at how warm it felt already.  Feeling excited for our day we made our way!

It seemed like in no time, we arrived at the major junction where we would veer right to begin the gradual climb.  It was much easier to move along this trail without snow and snowshoes.  I was noticing the lack of clouds and the abundance of blue sky which for me was not ideal for picture snapping.

As we approached the Lookout, we were surprised to notice the windows were not boarded up which meant somebody was home and we would not be permitted to meandered beyond the fence.   See The Lookout Lady on the deck to the left.  It was lovely here today and it was surprising there was no snow.

"H" marks the helicopter pad

Do Not Enter

But we did enter, at the invitation from The Lookout Lady.  It is from her backyard where you get that optimal view of both the Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes which were totally ice free. We chatted with her for quite some time.  She arrived yesterday, which is the earliest this Lookout has ever opened.  She explained they did a helicopter tour the day before and were surprised at the lack of snow in the mountains, how dry it was and that they better get that Lookout up and running.  She is only filling in until the permanent residents arrive.  

taking time to enjoy the Lovely Looking Lookout property

my destination shot

when you are in a playground of course you have to play

The Lookout Lady invited us to dine at her table but we opted to sit at the table outside on the edge.  This was our lunch time view.  She was required to do a continued surveillance and we did not want to distract her any longer.  We were surprised at how dry it was and saw later the fire danger was rated as "high".  

We opted to go for the Loop instead of returning the way we came.  We were having a fun day plus the weather was glorious and we still had loads to talk about.  We carried on our way and took a glance back before heading down into the forest. 

We were surprised about lots of things today and another surprise was arriving at this bridgeless creek.   The creek was not wide nor was it deep yet wide and deep enough that we needed to go bare foot.  It took about 15 seconds to cross but my feet went frozen from the frigidness at about the 10 second mark.  Those last 5 seconds were painful!

We arrived at the Hydroline and the snowshoe trail. 

Surprise!  No snow! 

As we turned off the Hydroline, we had this view to admire as we began our steep descent.  At the bottom of the hill, we noticed a young mountain biking lady. We acknowledged each other and continued on.  Then I felt the need to ask her where she was going after seeing saddle bags on the back of her bike.  She was shortly passed us now and then I turned and shouted out "Where are you going?"  Her response was "Mexico!"  Short Stop and I were surprised!  I felt this demanded further conversation.   She was from Sedona, was riding solo and giving herself 38 days to reach Mexico.  We forgot to ask her where she started from but my thinking was that is was quite a bit west as she did say she passed through some passes that were challenging.  She had spent the night at the Spray Lake Campground and was planning to reach Elkford tonight.  That conversation was truly a WOW few moments.

We carried on along Fox Creek Trail, the veered onto Moraine Trail, bypassed the Boulton Creek Campground then arrived back at the car.  We were surprised at how long it took us.  Reviewing where the time went, we agreed that's what days like this should be all about, acknowleding every single surprise, just getting lost in the here and now, throwing time by the wayside and just plain and simple taking the time to "be all there".