Blogs from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, North America - page 4

The storminess of the day held off long enough to give us a picturesque walk along the Bow River and into the Inglewood district. We met at Pearce Estate Park and immediately headed down to the Bow River. The delightful smell and sound of crunched leaves accompanied us through the wooded part of the path. The clear blue river was calm enough to act as a mirror for the trees and high rises in the distance. Bridges were geometric exclamations: Nose Creek (CPR) bridge, the Zoo bridge, the George C King bridge, and the memorial to the St George’s Island bridge. We paused at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, talking about the First Nation... read more

Our meet-up in Edworthy Park brought together 17 C hikers for a brisk day draped in vibrant fall colours. Following our leader, Dee, we warmed up in the sunshine as we walked through the park’s playground out to the pathway along the Bow River. The deep yellow grasses were punctuated with sparse, bright-red leaves on Saskatoon bushes, mostly stripped of their dark-blue berries by now. At a different life-stage, bunches of red berries adorned Elder bushes, still draped in pale green leaves. Suddenly our reveries were startled by the blaring horn of a freight train that roared and rattled close beside the walking path. At the bottom of the escarpment, we meandered through nameless woods. Golden leaf-litter led us into magical scenes of reds, oranges, and yellows affixed to dark branches and light popla... read more

In the bright sunshine of a glorious summer’s day, Skrastins C hikers gathered in Spruce Cliff at the parking lot by Pie Junkie (temptation for later). Following our leader, Jay, we walked a short distance on the street to Quarry Road Trail, and a short distance downhill on that trail to Douglas Fir Trail. Fall was just coming into its natural garb, with flickering yellow leaves, tall pale grasses and tiny ripening berries. A few hikers chose to take the infinity of stairs up the looped path on the escarpment. The rest of us meandered along an easier path to the top of the same stairs. From our height on the escarpment we could see the downtown towers over the pointy pine trees (no Douglas Fir). Far below was the river v... read more

On the last beautifully warm day of summer, a good number of C Hikers from the Skrastins club gathered on the eastern edge of Nose Hill Park. Ann led us round the gentler slope of the park, avoiding the unnecessarily aggressive stairs to the top. Grasses waved golden heads around the Scotch Thistles, which were fuzzily going to seed, as so many plants were at this time in the season. Most attractive were the orange-red rose hips, just beginning to ripen. One last Alberta Wild Rose shone in the sunlight. Deeper into the park, we walked through groves of Trembling Aspen, enjoying the cool air as a respite from the sun’s heat. The path dipped into ravines and small coolees. A few flowers still shone through the grasses, especially mauve Wild Geraniums and ... read more

The deluge of rain in the early morning gave way to a beautifully cool, sunny morning for the C Hikers as we strung out on the paths of Fish Creek Park along the sparkling diamonds in the rushing Bow River. Bounteous wildflowers greeted us again. New this week was Tansy, dotting marshy scenes with bright yellow blooms. Surprising us, the Sea Buckthorn was bulging with dark red-orange berries. The red bark and white berries of Gray Dogwood reminded us of British Columbia's floral emblem. Despite vehement advice from two posturing fishermen, a few persistent members of our group found the path from the verdant park up to the well-barriered walkway across the bridge on Stoney Trail over the Bow River. Vehicles pounded past us at high-speed as we trudged along in our boots and knapsacks. As ... read more