We had some first-time guests join us for the MMHC. Today the ladies were not able to make it so Sam came along for the second week in a row, as well as two first-timers: Ken's friend Other-Ken from High River, and Other-Ken's daughter Cinnamon Rose, who arrived last week from New Zealand for a six-month visit. We all met at Ken's at 8:00, and piled into his car for the ride out to Forgetmenot Ridge.
We were on our way at about 9:30, and it did not take long for the excitement to start. We had to cross a few arms of the Elbow River right off the hop. The first one was easy, and we were all able to go solo. The main arm looked a little more challenging. Ken instructed us on the best way to cross. We formed a ring holding each other by backpacks and shoulders, and slowly walked across in a group. This worked great, and is a new skill I will remember for the future. Cedric did not like this technique at all. Once he realized we were leaving him behind he quickly caught up and put himself in the center of the ring where most of the flow was being blocked by our legs. It worked well for him, and made it only slightly awkward for us. No matter though, we all got across safely, and dry from mid-thigh up. The third arm was a solo crossing again, and then we were changing out our river-crossers for hiking boots so we could get down to business.
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| Interesting vegetation on the river bed. |
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| Cinnamon Rose post-crossings, changing into hikers. |
The Forgetmenot Ridge trail is a well-defined trail. I would say it is best left for warm, dry conditions such as today as the steep nature, and loose rocks would make it rather challenging in muddy or icy conditions. Other than that it is easy to follow, and offers many great views and interesting features.
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| The second of three Holey Rock trees that we saw. |
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| Sam and Ken beside the third Holey Rock tree. |
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| Sam taking a break part way up to the ridge. |
When we got to the lower ridge we decided to stop for an early lunch (PB and J was a popular choice today). After a little rest and a quick photo-shoot we got on our way with the north summit in view.
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| Post-lunch group shot. (Everybody looks happy again!) |
It didn't take long before we made it up to the north summit. We took our packs off and some shenanigans got started...
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| Ken and Sam shenanigans. |
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| Arrow shot shenanigans. |
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| "I'm gonna pump (clap hands) you up!" shenanigans. |
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| Sam at the north summit cairn (no shenanigans). |
The descent seemed long at parts, but in reality it was much faster than the ascent. We did the same river crossings in reverse with no major incidents. We were back at the car by about 2:30, ready for a warm ride home.
It was a great day, with some great scenery. I really enjoyed some new discussions with Other-Ken and Cinnamon Rose, and am very glad they could join us. As always, CEO-Ken did a great job guiding us, teaching us, and keeping us entertained. I was also very happy to have one of the future MMHC CEOs with us for a second week in a row!
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