[bigsteve]

I'm not a TAY devotee, as mountainbiking fills the summertime void left after I hang up the boards sometime in May. A few recent hikes in the Alberta Rockies though, that somewhat by coincidence visited some of the better ski locations of the past season, had me thinking back to bygone turns. The first was Arethusa Cirque:

Brian making turns from about the same spot as above, in November 2004:

Don't normally give a rats ass about flowers of the cultivated kind, but the wild ones get me excited;

Despite Dani singing "the hills are alive", Julie Andrews did not come bounding over the hillside. Andrew doing some bounding of his own, November 2004:

At the top of our destination, "Little Arethusa", Mt. Rae in the background, this is from July 17, so don't get too excited about that snowfilled gully.

More Arethusa cirque flowers and skiers can be found here on a webpage I put together.
Next up was traversing Pocaterra Ridge, in the same Highwood Pass area.

Loads of flower filled glades:

Continuing along the ridge:

Descending the south end:

Flashback to November 2004, Phil on the same slope:

Looking back to Little Highwood pass, and a small but very skiable patch.

Andrew nearby, November 2004:

More on Pocaterra Ridge can be found here.
Burstall Pass was the latest hiking venue, strange how we had been there so many times in winter, but this was the first in summer. On the way in, the toe of the Robertson isn't looking all that skier friendly:

French-Haig-Robertson ski circuit here.
Meadows near the pass:

December 04 turns on the slopes just below the meadows:

Purple fleabanes, amongst other species, Mt. Sir Douglas in the distance:

Summer beauties of another kind, Lisa, Dani and Jo:

Lunchtime in the same spot as above, late April 2005:

Nap time for yours truly:

Don't usually get to do that in winter, but you do get this:

Dust on crust turns below Burstall Pass, from late April 05.
The days are getting shorter, and thoughts of skiing are creeping back in again. With some luck we could back skiing in these places,
all of them early season faves, in 3 months.
It's back to two-wheeled fun till then!

[telemikey]

Nice to see the difference in winter/ summer! Cool idea.
_________________
Still no mountains here... nope! Flat as a pancake

[Mahk]

Thanx .......one of the nicest things I've seen on the Internet in a long while. Luv'd it. I needed it.

Last weekend ......well, it was Day 7 in a row at work. Air conditioning shut off, droned away with sweat on my brow in front of that friggin' screen. Chowed down Cool Ranch Doritos and swilled Diet Pepsi (I accumulated 7 20 oz. empties on my desk after 2 days) and Monday I got to start another work week. On top of this, the Horseshoe Pub is closed on Sundays which rubbed it in even further. Sunday night, I enjoyed the highlight of the weekend - watching COPS on television WOW!.

Gee, ya' gotta' another one of these picture shows? ...please, pretty please with sugar on it.

I'm now getting ready to head out onto I-495 to get another hit of carcinogens/heavy metals/monoxides and start another day (11 in a row) of White Collar Droning ........

[herridge]

Very nice post. I just returned from a family vacation which included some time in your neck of the mountains. The wildflowers are mighty fine this time of year.

D

[Merlyn]

Excellent shots, Big Steve. I especially like the Arethusa Cirque and Pocaterra Ridge shots - Highwood Pass is my favourite part of Kananaskis Country.

I've skied with Phil and Dani a number of times, but I don't think we've crossed paths yet - though, truth be told, "Merlyn" is not my actual name ...

[gumby]

Great pics, bigsteve. Couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance between Mt Sir Douglas and Razorback in the Coast Mtns.

[funhog]

beautiful country, thanks for sharing regardless of the season.