Snow-shoeing into May

Sun. 1 May:  Snow-shoeing into May

At this rate, I’ll be snow-shoeing all the way into summer!  

Even in the eastern foothills, the snow is still lying, often feet deep, in shaded areas and on the forested hillsides.  As I found out last weekend, it is many feet deep up on the higher slopes of the foothills.

Today I discovered a magical corner of the world.  And the entry to this secret world was just at the top of the hill from the kennels where, over many years we had taken our dogs when heading out of town. This is the Cross Conservation Area, a huge area of eastern foothills just south of Calgary, donated to the Province of Alberta by Ann and Sandy Cross, wealthy Albertans, back in 1987.  For some reason, this area, so close to town, had escaped my notice, up until now.

It was a perfect morning for a hike.  The sun was already climbing in a cloudless blue sky, and the mountain wall, under a deep snow cover, was spectacular along the western horizon.  It took me just a few minutes to head south on 37th Street then west on Highway 22X, then south up the hill to a small parking area.  There are no signs on the highway, so you have to know it’s here to find it.

I registered in a book, paid a two dollar fee, then simply strolled up the lane and onto the rolling, grassy hillside.  They have laid out a number of trails over the hills and down into the valleys, making several kilometers of trail.  My route took me about ten kilometers, first to the most westerly end of the park, where there is a spectacular viewpoint, then back down a pretty valley called Pine Creek, before climbing again to more viewpoints on my way back to the start.

It was quite cool when I started out, and I was glad of some gloves.  By the end, it was warm and sunny.  Heading west from the car park, I soon came to the first viewpoint, on an open grassy hill, where an inviting bench sat facing the mountain wall to the west.  From here I dropped down into a snow-covered valley.  I put on my snow shoes here, to cross the valley floor and to head up a long forested hillside, where someone had slogged up through the snow without the benefit of ‘shoes. 

At the top of the hillside I came out onto an open meadow with superb views down to the top end of the wide valley carrying the road south to Turner Valley.  Moose Mountain and all the Front Ranges were spread out to the west, and directly below me were the shining domes of the Rothney Observatory.  I was reluctant to leave this viewpoint.  It would make a great picnic stop in summer.  Today the trees were all bare.  The open hilltop was snow-free.  I thought this might be the best viewpoint of the day, but there were several more to come.

Turning east, I walked across the hilltop before putting my snow shoes back on for the descent southwards down into Pine Creek.  In some ways this slightly resembled Upper Marston Creek, the difficult route from last weekend.  But this was easy going, as I turned eastwards along the valley.  I could hear a woodpecker somewhere in the woods, saw a herd of deer bounding away over the hillside, and watched two birds – maybe hawks – as they circled over the trees.

Up to my left was an inviting gentle ridge.  I hoped the trail might find a way up there, and I was not disappointed.  I was soon up above Pine Creek, where the mountains once again came into view behind the valley.  Here was another perfect viewpoint complete with bench.  I saw my first humans of the day, a young couple strolling up the path.  This was Fescue Trail.  I followed it in a northerly direction before turning east down Rancher’s Trail, once more using my ‘shoes until the snow ran out halfway down into the valley below. 

Ranchers trail swung north and up the final open hillside to the start of my hike.  I passed two groups of hikers enjoying the perfect weather.  One group was curious to know if I had needed my ‘shoes and I told them I had indeed used them.  The most exciting thing about this final hillside was my discovery of the first sign of Spring - some purple crocuses starting to open up under the warm sunshine.  At last!

At the top of this final hill was a good view northwards down onto the prairie and across to the skyscrapers of downtown Calgary.

This had been a good workout.  I was already looking forward to returning to this magical place when the grass would be green, and the leaves would be out on the trees.  For it would then represent all that is best about the Alberta foothills.  By that time, I might also be able to leave my snow shoes behind!

Statistics
Cross Conservation Area
Sun. 1 May
Total Dist.	7.5 km (hike)  + 2.0 km (‘shoe) = 9.5 km
Height Gain	600 ft.
Max. Elev.	4,270 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 12 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       7.49 am West Side:       8.43 am Pine Ck view:10.01 am Ret. to car:    11.01 pm	Temp:  +1 to +8 deg.C Cloudless and clear, good visibility