First the good news: We had a good 4 hour workout in glorious sunshine in the Sibbald Flats Area and we all made it back to the cars safely. The bad news is that while we walked parts of of the Eagle Hill trail and saw Deer Ridge, we never came close to either summit. Knee deep (30cms) soft snow had a lot to do with it.

The first major obstacle was menacing cows on highway 68

Cows on Highway 68

. We started off fine about 9.00am round the south end of Moose Pond following some horse? tracks.

Group starts off near Moose Pond

But since these did not lead up Deer Ridge, we branched uphill for a while before abandoning it and cutting cross country to the Eagle Hill Trail. Unfortunately in the broken snow we took several wrong turns and despite passing an official trail sign were somehow walking back to the cars rather than away from them. Still confused, we tried to rectify this by briefly taking a side trail (until it petered into nothing), when we gave up and took the correct trail back to the cars.


Group discusses options in the woods: NOT lost on Eagle Hill Trail

About 12 noon we enjoyed lunch in the sunshine looking at elusive Deer Ridge


Eagle Hill Trail lunch stop: view to Deer Ridge

From there it was a short hike back to the cars


Ramblers near Sibbald Lake Day Use Parking Lot

In retrospect, On seeing the snow depth, I think we should not have attempted Deer Ridge at all, but concentrated on hiking the more established Eagle Hill trail. The whole area was confused by various animal tracks including cows, horses, moose and maybe a few human footprints. This is the second time that I have been completely confused by snow to access Deer Ridge. I will have to visit the area in summer to figure out the proper route.

Thanks to the patience of everyone as all we basically accomplished was a bash around in the snow and woods. At least it was quite pretty in the sunshine and about +5c.

Participants: David,Laszlo,Ivan,Jeannette,Inge,Yoko,Zorica,Teresa photos,Jane,Harold gps.

---