We’ve made it a part of our late spring rituals to share in a wild flower walk out at Many Springs Trail in the Bow Valley Parkway. My dear Ya Yas and I shared a delicious pot-luck picnic after enjoying the beautiful blooms along the trail. The water wasn’t as high along the boardwalk as I had expected and it was a day of extraordinary beauty. Summer is here.
The hiking Ya-Yas and two wee sprouts headed for the Bow Valley Provincial Park Trail System today for our annual spring wildflower hike on the Many Springs Trail.
“The ‘Many Springs’ trail head is located about 2 km west following the paved road that goes through the park. This is a 2.4 km loop around a spring fed lake. This trail is known for its abundance in spectacular flowers.”
“This is also an area known for its diversity of birds. At Waypoint #1, a spectacular view opens toward the north, revealing Mount Yamnuska, Loder Peak and Door Jamb Mountain.”
Anenome canadensis ‘Canada Anenome’, Buttercup Family
“At various points, the trail is going directly over the lake allowing for close study of life in the water below.”
Aster
It was an exceptional day for snapping photographs.
Wild Columbine
The weather co-operated nicely and things seemed to be well into bloom, particularly the wild tiger lilies!
Wild Tiger Lily
We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the trail head and celebrated the tradition of flower-gazing as a group. It has been such a blessing!
I like the brief quote that appears on the last sign on the trail. “Not many are as lucky…to break from the round of daily chores to come and discover this place called Many Springs.”
I am not including here, my photos of Indian Paintbrush, Wild Flax and other common flowers from the area. It was such a joy to find some unusual things and to have the time to try to capture a decent record of them.
Given that I am a hiker, I have always enjoyed my early spring hikes with the Hiking YA-YAs. We have one sister-friend who is particularly good at spotting and identifying a myriad of wild flowers. The Many Springs hike is usually our first every year and out on the trail, we have seen wild columbine growing. That’s what got me hooked into planting one bed exclusively with columbine, all varieties and sizes. This is a fairly new notion and I’ve only had two seasons sorting this one out, but so far, I’m happy with the result. Maturity comes with much patience…whether you are a person or a flower!
Many Springs Trail Map
I have to apologize that my photos are not very professional looking. ;0)
There have been summer thunder storms each evening for three nights and besides setting my pooch to shivering, they created quite a drama about things. I’ve finally finished with my intense clean-up in my six-by-six foot storage space that floated in an inch of water…and for who knows how long? It was a bit of a bee in my bonnet as I wanted to be doing other things to get ready for family visits and summer vacation. I’ve now resigned myself to ease off on the pressure.
The plumber who was called in to do repairs ended up being quite the ‘card’ and I took notes as he put a new faucet on our ensuite sink so that I will be able to do the same repair in the house any time. I was quite the assistant and ended up under the sink as much as above as I learned about various supply tubes, nuts and such. Shocking to learn about the drain too…and to find what gathers there! YIKES! I believe I’ll only have to get myself a larger crescent wrench…some dope…and I’ll be set.
I went on a morning wild flower hike with my Ya Yas and ‘the little guy’ on Saturday morning. It was just so awesome to get away from everything and to get out to the mountains with friends. I’ve still not been into my flower identification book to locate the names of the flowers that we discovered. It was certainly a successful adventure, apart from the fact that we couldn’t complete the loop either direction because of high run-off and the water levels around the lake. We had fun trying to take photos at several locations.
Right now we are completing the provincial exam schedule, hosting an awards assembly in the afternoon…School wide Mass tomorrow and a Track and Field day in the afternoon…all that sort of thing. I’m writing like a crazy lady because I want to get a letter and photo off into the mail for each of my language arts students. Am I being completely unreasonable? Laughing here….have a ‘brilliant’ day….last week until vacation! Celebrate with me. Oh yes…and sign my guest book!!! It’s easy schmeazy!