It was cool at the start but with the steep vertical on Heart Mountain we soon heated up - a good day to have brought lots of water. A steady pace took us up to increasing expansive views of the Bow Valley:

Getting up there

In the sunny areas it was quite warm and we made a rest break at the top of Heart after just under 2 hours of climbing:


Rest stop on top of Heart

Another 40 minutes took us to the top of Grant McEwan which was our lunch spot. Good views from there including clouds a-brewing to the west, at this point looking benign. We continued along the ridge where the meadows had the best alpine flowers- forgetmenots, white avens and others:


some of the flowers

Looking back to Grant McEwan Peak

The ridge descent in the sun was rather hot:


Heading down the east side of Heart Mtn horseshoe

Down in the forest there were still a few flowers:


Blue columbine

The valley bottom had lots of prickly roses alongside the trail. By this time it had clouded over and there was frequent rumblings of thunder from the north side of the Bow. We did get some sprinkling rain for the last kilometre which elicited rain gear from some, but it didn't get very heavy. It did cool things down a bit for the end of the trip.

Thanks for a good day to participants: Rosanne, Philip, Ron C/S/P, Bill, Corey, Jeannette, Inge, Clifton, John

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