June 16, 2019 - Mount Lipsett, Highwood River Valley, Kananaskis

MMHC is cancelled tomorrow so Amanda and I headed out for a non-sanctioned event today.  We decided to walk up to Mount Lipsett, one of our favourite Kananaskis hikes (this is the fourth time we've done it).  With the winter gate opening yesterday, and nothing on the schedule at home today we had no excuse not to!  We left the house around 9:30, and were on the trail at 10:38.
It doesn't take long to get your heart rate up on the Mount Lipsett trail - today it only took me about three minutes.  It was already warm at mid-morning so we only lasted another five minutes after that before we layered down.

The mount Lipsett trail is a 6.5 km out and 6.5 km back hike, with an approximate 700 m elevation gain.  The first kilometer or two usually has a few muddy sections, but nothing that you can't get around.  About half way up the views start to become more frequent, and the last couple of kilometers is fantastic.

We saw many wild flowers in bloom, though I know very few of them by name.  I also found it difficult to catch them on camera in a way that really represents how beautiful they are.

There are actually thousands of bright pink flowers in the foreground, but you can't really see them in this picture...

It had been a little breezy on the way up, but when we reached the summit it was still, sunny, and warm.  We really love this spot, and the view north towards Highwood Pass.  We spent about 30 minutes by ourselves, snacking and making a quick FaceTime call to the other two Co-CEOs to report on trail conditions, and to let them know that they were being missed.

Word must have gotten out on how ideal the conditions were, because we passed at least ten other hikers coming up on our way down.  I can't blame them, but I'm glad we got there first, and had the summit to ourselves.  We were back at the trailhead by about 2:30, and back home after a great walk around 3:40!