Sat, Jun 27 2020 - Stoney and Kananaskis Novice ride (View Original Event Details)
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Can we beat the weather?
I asked that question in the event description and the answer was... Why yes, we certainly can. Slight damp patches on the road driving down Hwy 40 indicated recent showers, but as we got underway it was blue skies and occasional clouds.
Less than a kilometre from the cars we were passing through an open meadow area and in the distance on a berm we saw a family of four bears. We were pretty sure Mama had seen us but we were far enough away and a safe distance that she didn't seem to care. In any case we didn't dawdle and moved along.
Although we saw more birds, and smaller critters, the bear family was the wildlife highlight for the morning. Other stars were the wildflowers. Although some got names, I appropriately identified them all. We had Pink Uns, Purple Uns, Red Uns, Yeller Uns, and White Uns. The river was quite visible at times and was flowing wide and fast. I don't think we came close to seeing any fish though. A tad dark and turgid for that, but impressive to behold.
Despite having a loose plan to do a couple out and back trails from the cars, with the fine weather, we opted to stray further up the Stoney Trail instead of turning back. We did eventually turn around at the top of a hill, so we didn't have to ride up it on the return. That got us back to the cars in about 2.5 hours despite a little looking for our bear friends on the return. Too bad we didn't get a double sighting.
Given the event had been billed as a 2-3 hour easy ride, my companions decided to call it a day so we ended the event there. I continued over to the Terrace/Kovach trails. So much "up". I reached a wide switchback with a log picnic table in the sun. I had a bite to eat then made a fun and fast return on so much "down".
Finally when I was halfway back to Calgary I found a few spots of rain. Barely enough to rinse the windshield and none of the concern the forecast had mislead us with. Days like that always seem like a steal of a day.
Thanks Lorrie and Jamie for the conversations and company and bringing great weather.