Prairie Mountain December 30, 2019

Reading all the reports and seeing photos of people being on mountain tops for sunrises has made me envious.  Over the past couple of weeks I ventured up onto Nose Hill twice for sunrise but that is as brave as I get for doing something like this solo.  I caught the sunrise scene this morning as I left my car to hike up Prairie Mountain.  There were loads of cars here already and I thought I bet any money they witnessed this beauty from up top.  

 the sky was on fire

The sun came up and loads of people were coming down.  Yes, they were on top when the sun came up and they expressed the awesomeness of it all.  I knew this meant that I would probably be the only one there when I reached the summit and I would own it.  I enjoyed the journey there!  It was festive like I have never seen it.  This tree was all decked out!

 lots of glittery decorations

 looking back as I continued to climb

This was my first visit here since that last gigantic snowfall.  

The drifted snow created a photographers dream. 

I got down on my knee and became one with it.  

 Even further up there was another decorated tree.  

 more snow sculptured by Mother Nature

The snow drifts were increible.  This one was big enough to build a quinzee inside.  Whoever did this put in tonnes of work.   It was quite something to see up here.  I have been in a quinzee before but did not go inside this one.  Being on my own up here with no one else around, it would not be a smart thing to do.

I made it to the summit and it was a nice surprise to see the summit had received a new flag.  Maybe it was a Christmas gift.  The red and white looked so pretty waving today.  It was windy and the flag was straight out constantly.  There was just enough snow on the ground here and just enough clouds in the sky to make this a fabulous visit.

 But...there would be no tea for me!

 a festive decoration on the flag pole

After taking care of all the photography tasks and remembering to breathe for a few minutes, I headed on down slope to find a sheltered spot where I could have some tea with my snacks.  I glanced back for one last look of the year of this place.

 I captured one last picture that left me with an uplifted cheerful feeling!