On only the second day in June without rain, and with the forecast predicting more flooding rain for the weekend, we decided to strike when we had the chance and grabbed a nice hike in the foothills at Powderface Ridge.

Moose Mountain from saddle

Trying to avoid the soggy valleys, we chose the south access to Powderface, which proved a good choice, with the first steep, south-facing section reasonably dry. Here at the saddle, with good view of a very snowy Moose Mountain, we took a short diversion off trail to the little south peak for a break.

Elbow Peaks

The Elbow Peaks are still pretty Himalayan in appearance, with very heavy snow up high. Our trail was pretty muddy, with rapid run-off coursing down the trail and slushy snow sections, in the subalpine forest on the east side of the ridge. It was cold and windy on the ridge, but we dropped off onto the steep east slope for a lovely lunch spot. The temperature went up 10 degrees in 10 feet, reading 19 in the sun (actually 7 in the wind above). The air was clear with a good view back to downtown Calgary.

Snowflurry west of Powderface

As promised by the weather forecast, it didn’t rain, but we did have a few snowflurries and a windy 2 degrees on the descent. As we dropped down it gradually warmed to 13 in the valley and 19 when we reached Calgary. The river was clean and blue at the trailhead, fairly cloudy at Elbow Falls, and still chocolate brown coming into the city, so the current flood waters are working their way through the watershed. Our wildlife sighting was a deer in Rainy Pass.

From the left: Joyce, Richard, Gin, Margaret and Peter. Back to the cars by 3, we had a look at Elbow Falls and stopped in Bragg Creek for coffee. Carl, coordinator and scribe.