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Sat. 3 December:  Cross Conservation Area

 

The winter gates had swung shut two days ago, once more isolating large areas of the foothills and mountains from vehicles until next May or June.  So I decided to stay close to home today.

I had visited the Cross Conservation Area, just south of town, earlier this year.  It is an ideal place to get out into the foothills without lots of people with bikes, dogs or (in winter) skis, and it’s less than twenty kilometers from home. 

This unspoiled area of country is full of wildlife.  Today I saw deer, and that was it, apart from the cattle which had been let loose on the open hillsides from an adjoining farm.  However, there was plenty of wild life hiding somewhere in the woods.  There was no section of trail which did not have the prints of animal paws on it – either deer or coyote or even possibly cougar.  My own footprints were the only ones made by humans and I saw nobody at all on my travels.

Today I hiked eleven kilometres around the northern and western edges of the Conservation Area, coming back up the middle to the high point in the trail system.  The Cross Conservation Area is ideally positioned for stunning views both of the foothills and mountains to the west, as well as northwards to the city of Calgary.  The trail runs through the woods, up to a high point in the western side, then swings south then east down into a valley.  Separate trails then turn northwards back to the start.

On the southern leg, a side trail climbs into an isolated wooded valley where there is a sturdy red barn, called the Stuart Barn, still in good shape.  The trail systems are well signposted, and in the more popular northern sections there are some interesting interpretive signs telling us of the main wildlife to be found here – which includes black bear and great horned owls.

There was only a thin layer of snow on the ground, making this an easy hike. There seemed to be a mistiness in the clouds to the north and east of Calgary.  Within a few hours the snow had started to fall, and by the following morning, I was shoveling six inches of fluffy snow.  How quickly things change around here.

Statistics
Cross Conservation Area
Sat. 3 December
Total Dist.	11.0 km (hike) =
Height Gain	600 ft.
Max. Elev.	4,270 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 2 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       8.19 am W. End:           9.05 am Barn:              9.47 am Ret. to car:    11.21 am	Temp: Cool, around freezing (-3 to +1 C) Mostly sunny, hazy skies, no breeze.