Raspberry Ridge SunDay FunDay

Ever since hiking Hell's Ridge over a month ago and spying Raspberry Ridge across the way, I knew I was due to go back to that Lookout seeing as I had not been since 2010.  It is not one I would consider soloing, so I thought just be patient and  the time is right it will happen.  Then, voila, a friend put the idea out there and in a matter of seconds I hoped on board.  I wondered what conditions would be like in that neck of the woods given the amount of snow that fell recently. Arriving at the entrance to this area of Kananaskis and eyeing the hills, I already knew there would be hardly any snow to contend with.  There is something about this territory that I truly enjoy.  The landscape is so different and you tend not to get the hoards of folks.

making my way down the 940

After not being here for many years, the trail head was very recognizable. Speaking of recognizable, it is always nice to meet my loyal blog followers and that means you Clayton.  I remembered following his blog and albums and we even exchanged a few mails back in the day when I needed advice on my first adventure down into Utah canyon country.  His intentions for today were to hike Mount Burke with his troop but arrived at that trail head to view a mountain that got plummeted with snow and would probably not be summitable.  

We geared up and got on our way.

We had a clear view of the entire stretch of Raspberry Ridge. 

It was obvious the greater amounts of snow bypassed The Lookout.   

The Lookout is on the top of the bump on the far right in the photo below.

We opted for the scenic route up to the ridge which followed long switchbacks.  This would make for an easier ascent and also a longer day.  In the two times I have reached this ridge, it was always by way of the straight up assault section.  This scenic route was ideal, it offered grand views under blue sky and sunshine.

We veered off trail somewhat.  

Here we found loads of wild flowers.

odd angle needed to capture the entire stretch of my kind of cloud

We arrived at the backside of the ridge where we found a few millimeters of snow.  We spread out a bit here as we made our way up.  At this point I just needed to get to the top and devour my lunch.   I could finally see the Raspberry Ridge Lookout and went for it.

my destination shot

view of Plateau Mountain

Mount Burke fully dressed in lots of winter white

Hell's Ridge

that television is still here

Us and the TV!  Like I mentioned at the start, it is nice to come across my followers when I am out & about.  It was nice to meet you JP and Andree and thank you JP for snapping shots of me and my friends.  I am obviously not as experienced as you two are, I acknowledge a lesson was learned today.  

these words say it all

After dining and taking time to have a little fun at The Lookout, we then hit the trail to begin our descent which would be taking the same trail down that we came up on.  We still took time to admire the trees and flowers and clouds and rocks.  There was truly so much to be thankful for on this day. 

Patience pays off and once again it did this time around.  Between catching up with an old friend to making new friends, between experiencing perfect weather conditions to enjoying amazing scenery, between having a bunch of fun to feeling like it was a workout at times, patience rewarded abundantly.  Thank you for this day!