The last overnight trip of the season to Forgetmenot Ridge (2240 m) was organized by Yanek Wójcik (the ridge is visible behind his back). This 9.2 km hike, with 625 m of altitude gain, is described as "strenuous."
Yanek quickly established that it will be closer to our objective from Calgary than from Canmore and arranged for simple, but satisfactory accommodation in Calgary International Hostel.
We left Calgary at sun rise and in about 1 hour reached the area of Little Elbow Recreation Area, south-west from Calgary.
There were some works going on around the campground; the road was closed, which added about 1 km to our hike. The lucky participants of the hike were: Yanek, Andrzej Jędrych, Danuta Rajska, Gaetanne and Sean Murphy, and (missing in the picture) this writer.
It took us some time to find the beginning of the trail.
First, we had to cross this suspension bridge over the Little Elbow River.
Through the forest (in excellent humors) and ...
... dried up river beds we eventually got to the terrain requiring ... some effort.
Here I had to do what I forgot to do in the comfort of the hostel ... take care of my "tennis elbow!"
The terrain quickly became quite steep ...
... however, with every gained meter, we were rewarded with more and more spectacular views.
There were also other attractions, like this "stone tree:"
Closer to the summit the terrain became more "civilized:"
We finally saw the (north) summit:
However, with the open terrain came ... wind! We had to bundle up.
We reached the summit around 12:30 - three and half hours after we hit the trail. It can probably be done much faster; we were taking our time.
I put my backpack protector, which I bought in the Alps (for euros!), and I almost lost it 5 minutes later to the wind.
Luckily, Andrzej filmed the panorama from the summit, so we could revisit this beautiful place.
Pity we didn't have much sun that day ...
... though in the afternoon, at lower elevation, it became warm enough for a short rest.
All through the return to Calgary we discussed where to celebrate our so enjoyable experience, and the choice happened to be ... Brewster's.
With Andrzej we were happy to discover that they serve our favorite Czech Pilzner beer ... in pitchers!
We all ordered, what else, burgers ...
... as Gaetanne having doubts if we can actually consume what we had ordered. Nevertheless, the same way wind and cold didn't stop us from summitting Forgetmenot Ridge, nothing could stop as from consuming our foods.
Even if somewhat barbaric, with juices flowing down our fingers, these burgers were a worthy conclusion to our trip!
(Thanks for my companions - Yanek, Andrzej, Gaetanne, - for the possibility of using their photos and films. Clicking on the photos allows to see them in bigger size.)
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