Hiking Carrot Mountain

This morning when Shirley suggested we go for a walk before breakfast, I asked her if she would like to join me in a hike up Carrot Mountain.  This is the season of the year when we can see some waterfalls.

Compared to last summer when Marvyn and I did this hike, this waterfall, at best, had just a little damp moss back then.

Now the water was running so strong, in some places it had overflowed it's normal course and was also running down the path.

Shirley is telling us here how much she likes the feel of the ice cold water on her feet.  I was amazed at how she had no fear of just walking thru the water... and there was more ahead if we were going to the summit.

Part way across she sent me an urgent request to come and get her.  To which I gave her an urgent reply to just make a run for it!  The spray from the falls was very refreshing, but I didn't see any way I could save her from it.

Even though this picture shows only a small stream... the symphony of music that it produced was quite majestic.  While most of our local brothers and sisters were in church trying to stay awake in a sermon, we were in God's other church... with no droopy eyelids.

I only brought my iPhone... but Shirley had her Nikon and got into capturing these fresh shoots.  She also got excited about the birch bark today.

This is not her photo... but this is one of the many we stopped to shoot.

Closer to the summit I caught this photo of some Ponderosa bark... which always makes me think of jig saw puzzle pieces.

There were a couple of fungus buddies on this tree that begged for a little attention.

There were more fresh flowers along the trail than I could capture with my iPhone.  Shirley got more of them than I did... which is one reason our hike took us almost four hours round trip.  Memory tells me this flower is from the onion family.

Shirley was so delighted to pose for me at the summit.  It was her Everest experience!

We were surprised to see so much snow at the summit.  As we started down, our path was snowed in... but we found a way around it and soon were back on track.

Near the top of Carrot Mountain we saw lots of evidence of elk.

When I asked Shirley to stop for a picture between the cairns, she gave me this grateful pose and said it was for her Buddhist husband.

It was a good thing she paused for prayers here, as shortly after she got going too fast and missed a corner, resulting in a spill with a slide upside down head first on her back.  I came to rescue her, finding her hanging on to a branch for dear life with one hand and the other on her Nikon.  She got up on her own steam... luckily with only a few scratches on her back.

There is really only one great viewpoint to get a shot of the Okanagan Lake Bridge... I call it the Bridge Viewpoint.  The bridge is between 1/3rd and 1/4th from the left... really.

This was one more time I wish I had brought my Nikon so I could use the telephoto to pull that new bridge up closer.  But in general I am always amazed at how good the pictures come out with the iPhone camera.

Looking west from the Bridge Viewpoint we knew we had to hurry back down the trail, as clouds were moving in and we didn't want to get wet.

We are almost back down and the Saskatoon's are blooming quite profusely.

 With all the rain so far the Saskatoon's have a jump start on a good season.

There is a lot happening in this photo.  To the left of the Fairway Three Condos is a sports field with lots of action under way.  The Shannon Lake Golf Course is running at full capacity.  Many home owners in Shannon Woods are busy doing spring yard clean-up.

We dragged our tail feathers down the final stretch to our car.  It took us about 90 minutes to come from the summit back off the mountain.  Everest it is not... but we got some good exercise and had a very interesting hike.  We met only one guy hiking on the trail... and I saw a couple more hikers trucks parked near mine when I got back.

The trail was in really good shape in general and several places I could see evidence that someone has been trimming branches to keep the trail open.  The path appears to be well travelled... so people are using it... and maintaining it.

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing."  ~Aldous Huxley