Old or Lazy?

I decided to continue this year's hiking by going to Bob Creek this past weekend, with the hope that I can finally go up Thrift Peak. It seemed easy but I didn't succeed, again! That was my forth attempt! before getting to the story, I have to say that I asked this question from myself, on my way back: Am I getting lazy or old?! 

Then I answered myself by saying:

1) I had not hiked in a remote area for such a long time. So for that reason my confidence level was low. If anything happens to someone in the area, while hiking, the chances that he survives is very slim because:

    a) There's no cellphone coverage.

    b) There are not many hikers in the area

    c) The closest clinic is probably the one in Diamond Valley which is 01:30 hours away

2) I put my safety boots(!) on which felt comfortable and nice at the beginning but after more than an hour I felt its weight! It's a little big for me which means it's okay to wear them at work but not for a +07:00 hours hike!

3) I am always organized and make a list a few days before my hike. I forgot my sunglasses on the day and it happened to be a very sunny and beautiful day.

With that said, I work up at 04:30 and headed out drove slowly to south. I had rented an SUV the night before, considering my own vehicle is not in a shape to be driven that long. Driving a new vehicle in early morning cold and dark day for someone with low self-steam means driving around 80 Km per hour! I stopped at a McDonald's for a coffee in Okotoks and that was the second problem! Why, you might ask. Because coffee helps to go to bathroom, particularly for someone who had some Eggplant (Aubergine as the British would say) dish the night before! I was about to explode until I finally pulled over into Chain Lakes Provincial Park! 

This pair of paws print look really real. I just don't understand why a bear would walk on a trail on such a low elevation!

By the time I reached the parking lot of the hiking area, it was almost 08:30, I think. It took me one hour extra! There was only a truck there and later was joined by another who happen to be a group of three hunters who took a different trail than I did. 

I had taken the trail more than a year ago with Stout accompanying me which lead to its own story so I knew where I was going. However, in order to be sure and not get lost again(!) I had my GPS handy and had bought a pack of four rechargeable batteries for it, the night before. The weather was not, only a little windy and there was no one but one I finish my way north and started heading west to get top the point that I would reach the trail marked on the GPS map, I realized something like a Bear's footprint! Why did I say it looked like a paw print because out of 10 or more that I saw only a couple looked real. One might ask what that means?! It means that I suspect someone wanted to joke with people and made fake paw prints because bear usually do not appear at such a low elevation and certainly not on a trail! I kept going with the hope that it was a silly joke but kept my eyes open. By then I had waked for nearly an hour and half and crossed the creek once but then I realized that I had to cross again and this time it was not easy! The water was deep and I had become tired! My boots were bothering me and my backpack felt heavy. My eyes was hurt because of the sun and my skin started burning! I wasted nearly half and hour wandering around the creek to find a spot to be able to cross it and eventually went back to the first spot and here is the interesting part: I tripped over a branch and took a dive head first but contained myself and only injured my knee a little bit! Then after crossing the creek I decided to go back!  

There's not much to say about the hike back to the parking lot rather than the fact that I hated the safety boots more! The entire hike took about  03:52 hours and there I promised myself to get back next week.

(Photo, top: This looks like a beaver-made dam on the creek)