Canada Day Long Weekend

This week has been the start of discovering of what the "the flood" has done to our communities and our landscape. Calling it a flood doesn't seem to suit the situation. There needs to be another term. Flooding conjures up images of high, but still, water in places it doesn't belong. The volunteering going on where needed in our communities is about the overland flooding, the stuff you envision when you think of a flood. When it receded, it left property soaked, belongings destroyed, and a thick layer of sludge everywhere.

That flooding captured the nation's attention. There were images of water in the streets, water in the Saddledome, brown water spilling into communities far from the river banks. But the other astonishing images are of the landscape literally carved out, in short order, by what often couldn't be seen. You saw some of it with homes in Canmore and Bragg Creek teetering on disappearing banks. The work that water did under the surface is revealed now. I can't get my head around how hard and how fast the rain fell to create that power -- you can only imagine it suddenly raging down the sides of mountains above Canmore and through Kananaskis Country. It started as rain. Just rain. Yeah, I realize the Grand Canyon was carved out by water ... but, over centuries. You never think of the mountains changing shape or a river changing its location in a matter of hours or days. But that's exactly what you see when you take a look.

I've been out on the bike this weekend. Though our usual access is restricted by the changed landscape. Bridges are gone. Rivers and creeks are relocated. Highways are missing. Most of Kananaskis country is closed to the public due to all of these things. Hiking and mountain biking trails are washed out and or inaccessible. Campgrounds too. Parts of the park that are open, are not accessible due to roads and bridges being washed out.

It's going to take some time for things to get back to normal. But there's riding to do still. Saturday I went to West Bragg with Michele and rode the Southern Flow loop and a little bit of Braggin' Rights. It felt great to be out there. Not a lot in that area is unrideable but you can see where the water was... pine needles left on the trail in wave patterns, washouts in places, some bridges moved or missing. We rode though and didn't see many others.

Sunday we returned with Cindy and Anna and ran into more people, including some trail builders already out there doing great work repairing trails. We climbed in reverse this time, up Boundary and Snagmore then down the other side where we tried to find a route to Station Flats ... the river is now far wide of where it was, which would be why the bridge on 66 is out, restricting access to Station Flats by car. We bush whacked but didn't end up crossing Ranger Creek to get over to the road. Steve and Gerry reported later that they'd simply gone out Moose Mountain Road from the Bragg parking lot and got to Tom Snow and up to the trails in that area. I'd heard Tom Snow wasn't an option but sounds like it's doable. Yay!

Today I drove out to Canmore to ride with Martha and Kate. It was my third day of hot hot long riding. Though not quite as long today, with only 2 hours on trail. We did Highline trail and that was a first for me. Great trail! Lots of bike handling and rocky trail. The climbing took the snot out of me but it was fun. Check out this fella we met on the trail ... on his fully rigid 1996 Giant Iguana. He was fresh as a daisy in his jean shorts, cotton shirt, hiking boots, and ball cap. No water ... just a hunting knife, a camera, and a can of bear spray on his belt. Now THAT's hard core!

I'm grateful to have had some time in the mountains this weekend. I always am. But this weekend was bitter sweet ... so much has changed. Mother Nature; she's the boss. For now, we play where we can.

Happy Canada day everyone! I hope you played outside!

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