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Calgary
198 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2012 : 4:54 PM
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Last Saturday (May 26) we hiked to Grass Pass and up to the 1st hill of the Bull Creek Hills.
Of note, from the meadows approaching Grass Pass and higher there was snow - and the ascent from the pass to Bull Creek Hills had about a foot of heavy wet snow the entire way. In the forest between the pass and the hill top there were patches where the snow had not melted from winter storms yet, and in places we found ourselves sinking up to our waist! On the plus side, we weren't too concerned with ticks, which I gather can be a concern in this area. My guess would be that most of this snow will be gone by this weekend, but that really is a guess.
Also of note was the track in the picture below. It was within about 10 minutes of the highway and quite fresh - perhaps only a few hours old. My question for clubtreaders is whether it is a cougar or young bear track? My field guide isn't much use on this one, the size and characteristics of both are nearly identical. Normally I'd expect claws for a bear, but perhaps they just didn't show up for this track. For size reference, my boot is 10 cm wide at the end lace.
 Cougar or young bear?
 Bull Creek Hills from Boundary Pine Lookout
 Looking down fir creek as we ascend Bull Creek Hills
For more info and a bunch more pictures, see http://mattclay.zenfolio.com/grass_pass. |
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High River, (just south of Calgary eh!), Alberta
Canada
1697 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2012 : 06:00 AM
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That's a great loop up past the Boundary Pine, across the hills and out via Marston creek.
On the track - I would vote bear but there are definitely cougar in the area and last fall we saw a lot of wolf tracks.
A friend of mine was riding/camping up there on the weekend, I was surprised when he told me there was a foot of snow. Spring in the mountains! |
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Grass Pass and Bull Creek Hills
