An afternoon on Nose Hill

I often walk in Nose Hill Park and if I remember,  bring my camera along!     The grass is just starting to turn green, and if you look closely you will see it starting to poke up through the cover of last years stems.

There are many large rocks in the park called  erratics,  left behind by retreating glaciers.  I took a picture of this small one to show the lichens,  green and gold that almost completely cover the rock surface.

Lichen covered rock on Nose Hill, Calgary

The park is a  huge grassland hill, with a flat top, but there are plenty of trees in the gullies.  Here are two small poplars  forming a gateway out in the middle of nowhere. The leaves are just about to open.  Last years long grass will soon give way to fresh new grass.

Gateway on Nose Hill 

The view to the southwest is breathtaking. You look right over the rest of the city and can see the Rocky Mountains in the not too far distance. It seams like you could just walk to them, although the trip would take a while, since it is about 100 kms.

Rocky Mountains view from Nose Hill park

The best part of a spring walk in the grasslands is finding a patch of Crocuses.  I was well rewarded for climbing up the hill, as the East facing slopes were covered in the fuzzy little purple flowers.  Ever since I was a child, the three signs of spring were:  The first Robin, a Red Winged Blackbird, and the Prairie Crocus.  ( I still have to search for the Red Winged Blackbird)

Prairie Crocus - Nose Hill Calgary