Hike on Erik Butters' beautiful land

Two days ago, on 26 June 2016, a fair-sized group of people (those in this photo and others who were exploring the hillside) spent the morning walking on the property belonging to Erik Butters, out past Cochrane, NW of Calgary. This photo shows what Erik's land is like - rolling, open hills and areas of woodland, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. This event was the 8th Annual Flora & Fauna Fundraising for Ghost River Watershed Outing.

Fortunately, I knew how to drive to this distant location, so I was able to pick up friend Dorothy and off we went together. We allowed plenty of time to get there, just in case of heavy traffic or else we saw something interesting en route. This meant that there was time for me to stop and take a few photos of a Llama in someone's field, a couple of beautiful Longhorn cattle lying down and a small herd of maybe half a dozen Elk that we saw way off in the distance.

I think everyone was more than ready for lunch by the time our hike was over! Going to our destination was all uphill, which I normally avoid at all cost. Coming down used less energy, but painful knees felt every step on the way down : )

Around 1:00 pm, Erik and his partner provided a great BBQ for those of us from Calgary and for the people who had joined us from elsewhere. As always, the food was delicious! Thank you so much, both of you! Amazingly, the sun shone and there was no rain, despite the weather forecast.