Lake Minniwanka Trail November 30, 2019

Today's destination was decided in a split second once the car was loaded at our rendezvous location.  I was the driver and I wanted easy smooth sailing with all green and no red.  The only option for that would be hitting the highway straight west with no veer offs until Banff.  That's where we veered off with a plan now in place of hiking as far as we felt like it along the Lake Minniwanka Trail.     

We had loads to catch up on lifes' happenings because it has been months since we shared the trails.  Besides sharing stories and admiring the scenery, we made sure to stay warm.  Who knows what the temperature was, but it warranted four layers, one being a down.  The heaviest of heavy mitts were necessary too along with a neck and face gator.  

This photo says it all! 

 Did they not get the boat out of the water in time?

It appears to now be there for the winter!

We hiked along the lake shore on the way to the main trail.  

As you can see not much of the lake is frozen yet.  

 our view along the way

We reached Stewart Canyon and made our way across the bridge.  Yes that's us down there with the unusual stance.  The sky was full on blue with not a cloud in sight.  For me that meant it would not be a most favourable day for photography.  I can give you this great shadow shot though!

We continued hiking along the trail for roughly six to seven kilometers when we decided this would be as far as we wanted to go.  We found a spot in the sunshine to dine.  It was so cold, we had to settle in the sun or else!  The sun shone on the shore of the lake plus the rocks looked inviting to see with the ice formations around them.

It was time to get back up onto the trail and make our way to the parking lot.  

The sun was higher now and on us for a large part of the return trip, thank goodness.  

We stopped at a picnic table in the sun to finish off our tea and snacks but once the sun went behind the trees we were out of there.  It was still very cold while we geared down so we accomplished it rather quickly.  I blasted the heat in the car and then we were on our way.

How our day transpired turned out to be an enjoyable way to say good-bye to November!