It was a little cooler in the mountains and when we arrived at the trailhead on the Powderface road it was 9C. We made the short climb up to Three Trail Pass admiring the wildflowers on the way. We decided to go up to the summit of Powderface Ridge to start:

The trail up the north end of Powderface Ridge

There was much layering and de-layering as the sunny sheltered areas were quite warm but in the open areas the wind chill was decidedly chilly. The strong wind did make for very clear air and the views to the west were excellent:


Elbow peaks, Glasgow on right

We went past the peak and had a snack stop in the shelter of some trees before heading back to the wind-swept peak to take in the panorama. Looking towards Moose Mtn we speculated on how Ealaine's group might be coping with the wind. We descended and decided to climb the northwest outlier:


Near the top of the northwest outlier of Powderface Ridge

It was quite windy on top but a few metres below the cliff top it was pleasantly warm so that became our lunch stop. Then it was back to Three Trail Pass and we went north over the three hills covered by meadows. Time for a photo and to look at some flowers:


The gang: Margo, Laszlo, John (behind), Ginger, Madeleine & Christine

Parry's Townsendia (Townsendia parryi)

Then it was back to the cars, where the temperature was only 10C.

We managed to help out a group of young ladies who arrived at the trailhead just after us and realized this was not where they had left their car; it was 6 kilometres away at the south end of Powderface Ridge. We gave their driver a ride to the car.

On the drive back a moose was seen beside the road and a couple of feral horses were hiding among some cattle at the top of Rainy Pass. Most of us stopped at the Cinnamon Spoon for coffee or tea.

Thanks to a fine group for joining me for an enjoyable trip to the mountains, participants were Christine, Madeleine, Ginger, Margo, John & Laszlo. Ron, C/S/P. Stats: one GPS registered 12.4 km/505m elevation gain while another showed 11 km/503m elevation gain.

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