View of the mountains from QEII, north of Calgary
We leave Edmonton at 12:20 pm to dry roads, winter blue skis and the sun warming us through the front windshield. The drive to Calgary is uneventful and swift. The further south we go the less snow is by the roadside and in the fields. A quick stop at Mountain Equipment Co-op in Calgary and we are off south again.
We had decided to stay on Hwy 2 until Nanton and then turn west towards Hwy 22, then south again. It is 4:30 pm when we reach Nanton so we decide to stop for supper as we are not sure if there will be places to eat once we head further.
We stop at the Sweet Queen Family Restaurant (403-646-2289). It is left off the highway on 19 Street right in Nanton. It is a pizza and burger bar with an eclectic country/ice cream parlour decor. The owner/cook is welcoming and efficient. The food arrives quickly and is hot hot hot.
A single bacon burger, with lettuce, tomatoes and mayo, including a pile of steak fries and a can of pop (the # 2 special) is $6.50. A mushroom burger with real mushrooms and a peppery sauce plus cheese is $4.00. A chocolate milkshake is $3.25. The food is much needed sustenance and tastes delightful. We would stop there again.
Countryside west of Nanton
We turn west toward the sunset. The landscape is open, sandy coloured grazing country with the sporadic herds of cows spotting the low hills. Two octets of deer are sharing the grazing land. A lone coyote is hunting a terrified gopher in its hole. It feels like we are in the African veld and not really heading to the snow.
Getting closer to Castle Mountain Ski Resort
As we approach the ski resort, there is more and more snow and the road is a first dry, then snowy and then slushy/icy .Murray muses about his last post adage “the worse the driving, the better the snow” and that today we have had perfect driving, so hopefully the adage isn’t “the better the driving, the worse the skiing”. We arrive to falling snow, a chilly wind and hopes that the cat skiing and cross country skiing will be great tomorrow.