60. Sulphur Springs

Distance: 11 km
Elevation gain: 250 m

May 21, 2017 we were ready to start out on number 60 hike, the final one in my goal. We chose one without snow, close to Calgary (we left after church) and not difficult as it was everyone's first hike for the season and there were several children. Sunday of the long weekend, we figured this lesser known one would be less busy and it proved to be a good choice.

We started at the parking lot for Ing's Mine, all 23 of us, (members of our multicultural small group, other Korean church friends and Lisa), hopped across a creek, and trudged up a long hill in the hot sun. We soon strung out.

At the top we rested and took some group pictures.

One of the creeks we crossed held the only remaining sign of winter, lots of ice.

Farther along, we stopped to admire a spruce grouse, parading nearby along the trail. Paul warned us it was a fierce bird but we didn't believe him until it started pecking at Stanley's leg. We quickly moved on since he was obviously protecting something.

We also saw various groupings of deer during the hike.

There was a lovely variety of wildflowers for this time of year, including shooting stars, calypso orchids and these bright forget-me-nots.

The lovely view across the valley energized us on our final descent.

We finished around 6:30, hungry and tired. Herm backed the truck up to a grassy edge of the parking lot and we had a hot dog supper together. It was a community way to finish the 60 hikes but I am eager to continue the search for variety and proceed to 70.