Sat, Apr 20 2019 - Mount Minos (View Original Event Details)
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There are those days that exceed your expectations so much. This was one of those days. On our drive out there we were greeted by fresh snow along the Forestry Trunk Road, but also sunshine that defied some of the forecast - we had a bluebird day. We saw a bull with huge horns, several groups of wild horses, as well as hawks and other birds of prey. And this was all before we had even stepped on the trail.
We began by crossing the Red Deer River. It was about calf deep, so nothing too onerous. This was followed by rather large wolf tracks, and the whitest snow on the trees against a perfect blue sky. The initial burned timber forest slowed us down as we took photo after photo. It was magical. Snow thereafter slowed us down some more, but was also pretty. Eventually we ascended up the southeast slopes on open grass (snow-covered), with views past Ya-Ha Tinda to the west and numerous ranges to the south. A few bumps that appears as almost false summits later, we arrived at the top some 4.5 hours after we set out. The snow had been tiring and we were starving.
The summit is so vast that we had a hard time deciding where to sit for our late lunch. Initially we went for the view, then went for the warm bothy bag. Thanks to everyone for being game to try it out. We comfortably fit all four of us and warmed up very quickly.
The descent down was quick, and we added a little detour to check out the lake, which resulted in walking through a swamp. It all adds to the adventure. The rest of the walk back was quick, we donned our water crossing gear again, crossed the river underneath the cable car station, and arrived back at the car fulfilled and depleted. What a rewarding day!
Special thanks to Gil for driving, and to Wil for breaking trail all day in the deep snow that had us hiking uphill both ways ;-).