Nine people came out to Devon to hike the trails above and along the North Saskatchewan River. The weather warmed as the day went on. We did have to walk carefully to avoid some ice-covered paths.
We began the hike with the Battery Creek Trail, including the stairs down to the bottom of the ravine.
Climbing back out again was a great way to “get the cardio in” for the rest of the day.
We moved on to the Lion’s Campground, had our lunch, and then walked a loop through the golf course.
What started out as a drizzly day for a hike ended up to be glorious day, with the 11 hikers stopping many times to strip off rain layers and then warm layers.
Along the way we talked about the river lot system and gazed at the old railway ties that are still standing more than 100 years after they carried trains across the Battle River. We checked out cactus on the hills and looked at dried up creeks and old beaver lodges no longer under water.
At lunch we stopped at Rest and Be Thankful hill and were very thankful for Brad’s use of the weed whacker. Thanks to Brad’s diligence we had a nicely mowed area to eat our lunch. After lunch some of us hiked down the coulee and up the other side to the end of the trail section, just to see what was there.
Mary climbed up a tree stand and took pictures of the group from above.
Then it was back through the coulee where we met up with the rest of the group and walked back to our cars together.
It really was a beautiful end of the year hike for our last weekly hike.
Thanks to everyone who came out, to Trail Maintenance for their fine work, and to the landowners for their continuing permission. You can see all the photos on Flickr.
