Long Shadows

 It's been way too nice out to sit around writing blogs, but I did rather like this picture that I took in Grasslands NP early in the day in mid-September.  It was so good to see those huge skies.  The pronghorn, bison, prairie dogs, and mule deer were plentiful.  Alas, for me, I think I need a little more colour in the landscape to truly love this place so I would like to revisit when the spring flowers are blooming.  The shapes and sky do make the place; I still love our prairie. 

Conquering Carlyle Col

Yesterday I finally managed to get up to Carlyle Col, an objective I've had for quite awhile.  We can see Mt. Carlyle every time we come up the hill from Kaslo towards home.  I knew this was a peak that I probably wouldn't climb because it has lots of big blocky rocks at the top and I'm not very sure-footed.  We took the Subarau through the old mining towns of Sandon and Cody and managed to drive another 4 km up the road.  We then hiked for a good hour up the Carpenter Creek FS Road.  From there, the trail enters the woods and it's a lovely subalpine stroll and not too steep.  The rocky bit arrives and it's a trail over an old mining road and is very easy.  The view at the top is tremendous and would be even better from the summit.  The alpine flowers were still pretty good considering it was the last day of August.  A very worthwhile hike and thanks to Dave for getting me up there.