Grey clouds and a cool breeze welcomed five hikers for today's adventure. Our destination was easy enough - just hike up to the top of the cliffs overlooking the golf course - an upward climb going in and an 'easy' downhill coming back, right? Well, Fate had other plans! Giving in to a few aches, pains and limitations, the leader opted for the easier climb to be found across the flats to a 'gentler' uphill climb on the far side. All was going well until the established track all but disappearred under the blown snow in the open area. We could have doubled back after reaching higher ground and seeing where the well-travelled track had veered off below BUT the forward route seemed like it could be a shorter way to go and all voted to push on and upwards through virgin snow cover ... after all, there was the women's gold-medal hockey game at 1:00 to consider! Long story short, the snow was deep, it was a good (in hindsight) workout, and we did get to the trail we were looking for, thanks to Louise's dogged determination! The rest was a piece of cake ... except for the strong winds at the lookouts on the edge of the cliff ... the trail seeming dangerously close to the precipice at points ... No matter! - all agreed it was a great way to spend the morning. We did see lots of fresh tracks in the snow - squirrel, partridge, rabbit, and even bobcat paw prints, centred around the rabbit tracks of course The sun even came out to reward us for our efforts as we headed home. Sadly, the women's hockey team did not fare so well!
