We headed up Lesueur Creek in the Ghost River area intending to visit my "Secret Hill," which we first visited May 1, 2016. This is past our normal ridge and valley loop on Lesueur Ridge.
It was warm enough to start the hike in shorts and T-shirts, and the Aspen and grass were lush green, just like the last time although a month later in the season.
I decided to avoid a swamp on the first part of Gillean Daffern's loop by going counter-clockwise, but we ran into some bizarre piles of gravel and dirt the purpose of which we could not imagine, and followed a path which soon petered out into forest, then a large bog. We could see a large hill across the bog, and were able to find a major ATV track on a cutline, thanks to George's GPS. We followed this up a steep slope onto the summit, where we had lunch.
The flowers were impressive--lots of crocuses still, hillsides of bright yellow buffalo beans, delicate calypso orchids and bright violets.
I had promised a moderate amount of distance and elevation gain and a TL2 trip. In reality, it turned out to be OT3, and18 km with elevation gain of 579m, due to a tremendous amount of up and down on foothills slopes and valleys, but everybody loved it.
A shout out to the group for an admirable job on the physical distancing for the pandemic response. This was my first trip since the club resumed trips after a couple of months of lockdown, and I had some trepidation about it, but with excellent cooperation by everybody we had a safe and enjoyable outing. More than one participant noted one surprising benefit of the no car pooling rule--that without the distraction of fellow passengers, their eyes were awakened to the spectacular beauty of the drive out on Highway 40.
Participants:Sid,Dianna,Linda,Robert,Ginger,Margo,George,Donna,Darlene.and Carl, coordinator and scribe.