Home»All Photographs»2022 Hikes»LOTH - HOTF 10-15-22

Given the lengthy approach, unbridged river crossing and proximity of the two objectives, I paired Lake of the Horns (LOTH) and Hill of the Flowers (HOTF) together into one big day.
To tackle the lengthy approach, I rode my bike to cover more ground quickly. After walking my bike across the Highwood River, I re-mounted and rode west up the trail until reaching a beaver pond. The trail narrows and gets rougher after this point, so it's best to hike.
The trail up to the headwall of LOTH was scenic, and ascending the rocky headwall was very enjoyable. Upon topping out, I was in one moment gifted a most beautiful view of an azure lake surrounded by vertical cliffs. I poked around a bit and hiked to the back of the lake for an interesting perspective, before hunger took over. I picked a sunny spot out of the wind amongst the lakeside shrubbery for lunch. Sun is fleeting in the short October days though, and soon, shade enveloped my lunch spot, so I moved on. The next objective was HOTF.
I descended the headwall carefully and hiked back along the trail. Within an hour, I was back at the junction of HOTF. This hill has over 590 metres of elevation gain, so it's no slouch! I was back in the sun since I was further from the High Rock Range by now, so that was good. I hiked to the summit of HOTF and plopped down again for another lunch.
By the time I was done eating, the dipping sun cast a long shadow that urged me on my way. I descended and hiked back to my waiting bike, by which time I had lost any remaining direct sun. Here's where having a bike really paid off, as there was still 9 km to cover back to the trailhead.
I was ripping along, enjoying the ride out, when unfortunately, a golfball sized rock got flicked up by my front tire and whacked straight into my bony shinbone. Ouch! The surge of pain and adrenaline hit, but I minded myself to feather the brakes and come to a controlled stop - no need for more injuries. After taking a break for a minute or two, I continued on my way. Shortly, I was back at the Highwood River. The cold water was a blessing and soothed my throbbing shin.
A few minutes beyond the river, I was back at the tarilhead - just as the light of day was fading. All in all, this was an incredible day in the mountains - and an area I'll be back to in the future.