Home»All Photographs»2020 Hikes»Okotoks Mountain 05-29-20

After getting permission yesterday from the rancher to cross this privately leased land, David and I drove the convoluted route to the 'trailhead' of Okotoks Mountain. The gravel road was in great shape, and the scenery was very picturesque the whole way. It's nice when the journey to the trailhead is almost as enjoyable as the hike!
After 11 km, we parked at the side of the road and hopped the fence by a locked gate.
The hike first took us through a mix of open meadows and aspen woods. In one particular meadow, I thought I saw two small grizzly bears a couple of hundred metres away (the rancher gave us the heads-up that three yearling grizzlies were spotted in the area several times - most recently five days ago). After excitedly pointing out the wildlife to David, I got my binoculars out for a better look, since they were essentially black blobs moving around in the grass. It turns out they were two large wild turkeys with their tails fanned out in courtship ritual! Oh well - still pretty cool.
Wildflowers abound in the sunny meadows as we began our ascent. It was warm at this point, and the grunt up to the ridge was a sweaty affair with soft ground, lots of deadfall and no trail. Travel was made pleasant with lovely scenery and good company, however.
Once on the ridge, we hiked south to the high point of Okotoks Mountain, where we had lunch on a rocky bench overlooking the sunny foothills.
The return was quick and pleasant - this hike was a great way to kick off the upcoming weekend.