Wind Ridge or powiedz "yes."

Wind Ridge, 2164 m, distance 13.8 km return, height gain 740 m.

Jacek, Dusia, Ewa, Tomek, Ludmila and Bozena against the background of Mt. Lougheed.

In spite of warm hospitalities of the Alpine Club of Canada, in Canmore, the previous night, ...

... fully disciplined we woke up at 6 am, to hit the trail in the first light of the day.

We were welcome at the beginning of the trail by some strange individuals ...

... not surprisingly - Halloween was just a day before. 

All quite excited - not every day you have an opportunity to hike with ...

... the conqueror of the Crown of the Earth (the highest peaks on all continents), off we went.

There was a bit of snow in the forest, not too much. 

While we were gaining height, some snow could be found on the trail. Everywhere else it was taken care by the wind. 

Wind Ridge is a lovely trail, to which Mt. Lougheed, 3107 m, creates an impressive background. 

Shortly after leaving the forest we split. 

With the Lady Wife we opted for an easier objective - Wind Point - 

... with impressive view toward Exshaw ... 

and Mt. Allan (Centennial Trail). 

The main group continued toward the Wind Ridge (in spite of strong winds). 

Shortly, they encountered the crux of the trail, described in the guidebook as "one pitch of easy scrambling." This triggered some emotions, especially in Ewa. The previous night Ewa was troubled by distressing dreams. I overheard her saying things such as: "Nie chcę!" (I don't want to) and, interestingly, though not unusual for Polish Canadians, the bilingual "Powiedz yes!" (say yes).

She wondered what it meant (besides obvious Freudian interpretation). With a little help from the friends, she eventually made it through!

Soon they celebrated on the summit ...

... and found a bit of shelter from the relentless wind for their lunch. By the time they were going down, Ewa seemed ready to ... say yes! 

We reconnected in the parking lot, around 2 pm. (Wind Ridge visible left of my head), and after a nice lunch in Canmore, off we went to Banff for the famous ...

... Mountain Film and Book Festival.

Great thanks to all the participants for such a nice hiking experience late in the season.

Great thanks for Jacek and Bo for the permission to use their photos.

(PR)