Five of us left Calgary at 8:00 am. On Highway 40 we have seen one coyote and three deer. We stopped at the Pocaterra hut for the washroom break. The hut was deserted and the thermometer there showed -18℃. We arrived at the trail head shortly before 10:00 am. It was still cold, about -12℃, but the sun was shining, and the sky was blue. There were few cars parked on the side of the road. A group of about six ladies were just leaving, among them Elaine, whom I have hiked with a day before. They were wearing micro spikes, but we decided to wear snowshoes. The trail was in good condition with hard packed snow. It was well covered with snow, so it was easy to walk wearing snowshoes.

On the trail to Rummel Lake.

Ramblers admiring the views.

Tent Ridge behind.

We had the trail to ourselves all the way up to Rummel Lake. It took us less than two hours to snowshoe to the lake. Just before Rummel Lake we were startled by a single skier coming out of nowhere followed by a huge black dog, then there were two more skiers. The first skier neglected to mention the other skiers, or the dog coming. No accidents to report. We managed to share the trail without one. We arrived at the lake exactly at 12:00 pm. The sun was partially hidden behind the mountain. The group of ladies had just left the lake area. There were no other people there, so we had our lunch, took some pictures and had to go back due to the cold. The temperature at the lake was about -13℃.

Rummel Lake.

Getting ready to go back.

On the way back, we decided to take a little side tour exploring newly built High Rockies Trail. We had to break the trail, so it felt like real snowshoeing was happening. We were on it for about half an hour before we decided to turn around.

High Rockies Trail.

We were back at the car at about 3:00 pm, and back in Calgary about 4:30 pm. Thank you, Cristina, for the panorama picture and the High Rockies Trail picture. Thank you to all participants for joining me, scribe Teresa

Participants: Jim, Teresa, Jane, Cristina, Glenda