On Wednesday, Rolf and I drove to Bow Valley Provincial Park and hiked the Many Springs Trail. Well, it wasn’t exactly a hike. It’s more of a walk. The Many Springs Trail is flat and well-groomed and quite short. Only 1.6 km. (That’s about a mile.) It’s also famous for its wildflowers.
Here’s the map of the trail, which is a loop.
At the junction, there’s a sign pointing you to the right. You follow along and reach the boardwalk. The actual loop is only about 1.3 km.
Most of the Bow Valley is dry, grassy meadows with stands of aspen and evergreen. But the Many Springs Trail is a lush wetland fed by, you guessed it, many springs.
At this time of year, lots of people come looking for the Yellow Lady Slipper Orchid.
Yellow Lady Slipper Orchid
The first time you see one, you get all excited and take about a million pictures. And then you realize it is everywhere along the trail.
The Wood Lily is here too.
Wood Lily
And, of course, there’s the Prickly Rose.
Prickly Rose aka the floral emblem of Alberta
Prickly Rose aka the floral emblem of Alberta
Where the trail opens up, there are some peaceful views of the mountains.
Creeping Juniper with berries
Limber Honeysuckle
boardwalk
Meadow Zizia
Red-osier Dogwood
Mount Yamnuska
Purple Clematis
And everywhere there is Silverberry.
Silverberry
It was a morning walk with lots of time for pictures. We drove on the 1A instead of the busier TransCanada, which meant that we went through Cochrane. So, on the way back, we stopped in Cochrane at McKay’s Ice Cream.
Always a good way to end a trip!