Raven's End

Raven's End is a book by Ben Gadd (who I happened to meet today), and it's also the name of the very, very popular hiking route to the east end of Yamnuska. "Very, very popular" means we ran into two large groups of 25 and 15, and about 60 others on the hike. This happens in part because this is also one of the best early season hikes, being snow free early in the season, and also because there are people who like to climb the backside to the top of Yamnuska. We saw at least 30 people doing just that.

It's a challenging walk, steep in sections, with some very nice views as you crest one sandstone ridge after another. These views are mostly of the Morely Flats and the front ranges.





It takes about 2 hours to see behind the ridge into CMC Valley, which was interesting to me because I have never seen it before.




There was one very cheeky golden mantled ground squirrel at the top. He got so close his nose almost touched my camera lens. He seemed to want to get into my backpack. My guess is he has been fed before...







He, too, seemed to enjoy the view of the CMC Valley...




It was a nice hike, not a great one, and possibly the best part was seeing a bald eagle on our way down.