Sun, Apr 27 2008 - Prairie View and Barrier Lake Lookout Slowpoke Hike G2 (View Original Event Details)
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What a beautiful day in the Kananaskis ! Thank you Ben for allowing me at such a short notice to bring a second group which in the end was combined with yours - 18 very lively & jolly hikers who spent a great day in the mountains... After the group picture and the police fashion (Bryan won with his shorts & gaiters:-), we began the gradual ascent. The trail was clear of snow initially prior to us encountering some snow in the upper parts. Some sections were more tricky & muddy than others but it was half of the fun. Really !
Leisurely lunch at the top where we had beautiful views of the mountains under a gorgeous sun & blue sky. The majority of the group made it to the Barrier Lake lookout - the last section proved more difficult on the way down as there were some wet bums... According to my count, four of them - well captured on one photo :-). The first part of the descent, everyone had to be careful not to slip which translated into lots of tree hugging and the occasional muddy bum ride down. Thank you to everyone for helping each other out. It was slushy in the afternoon as the temperatures reached 13 degrees.
A COC event is as good as the people who join... Today we had lots of laughter, great discussions and excellent camaderie while being busy at comparing the most muddy outfits. Some good snowball fights went on (Alvin started honest - apologies to anyone who got caught in the crossfire - one snowball = free refreshment on the house! After the 5.5 hour event (we spent at least one hour at the top), we made our way back and 13 of us decided to go to Kilkenny where we spent a couple of hours for drinks & dinner. It was great to have Voula visiting from Toronto.
THANK YOU all for being such wonderful company and we hope to see many of you again on the trails. Until then, keep smiling ! Veronique