Six Ramblers braved the cold morning and were amply rewarded with a great ski day at West Bragg. It was a chilly start at -17C under cloudy skies, but the new snow had good coverage and Crystal Line had been trackset the day before and was in fine condition. We continued on to Moose Connector on skier tracks:
Barb & Anne climb the hill towards Moose Loop
Masked superhero and Philip on the uphill
We chose to do Moose Loop counterclockwise and were even able to observe a couple of moose on the distant far side of the large meadow. On this section we were passed by the tracksetting snowmobile so we had fresh grooves to follow thereafter. We took a break at the far end of the loop for a snack and a photo:
Bruce, Barb, Anne, Philip & Rosanne at the Tom Snow Trail picnic table
We continued and took the turn to Mountain View West trail where our wax worked well and lunch was at the high point. The temperature by this time had moderated to-8C. Those tracksetters at West Bragg are super diligent and a couple of them went by putting in a second track, Our run down Mountain Road was smooth and fast to the junction with Mountain View trail, where we headed up the hill and back to Crystal Line. At the junction with Loggers Loop we saw one of the hazards for the tracksetters; when you make a turn while towing a sled the snowmobile can flip over. No one was hurt and with the combined effort of passerby skiers it was soon righted. However getting it going again was a challenge:
Mechanical tribulations for the tracksetter at Loggers Loop junction
It was eventually remedied as it passed us on the trail sometime later. We did a bonus loop on East Crystal Line and ended up with 20.5 km total distance for a very satisfying day. We rewarded ourselves with a stop at the Cinnamon Spoon, before heading back to the snow flurry in Calgary.
Thanks to a fun group of participants: Barbara, Anne, Bruce, Rosanne & Philip.
Ron C/S/P
wildlife: a Northern Goshawk along Hwy 8 on the drive out, a grouse being chased by one of the many off-leash dogs on the trails and a coyote in a field beside Hwy 22 on the way home, it had its head buried in the snow, no doubt going after fieldmice.
