August 13, 2018, Tent Ridge
On Monday, August 13, Fred, Nic and I drove to Kananaskis for a hike. Our goal was to trek Tent Ridge, which is a wonderful long ridge walk with stunning views all around. The air quality was poor due to the BC forest fires and so we thought a 10 km hike where all the elevation is done at the front end would be okay.
As soon as we started the drive on Highway 40, we could see the sheer amount of smoke in the air. If air quality can be an issue even when there is a slight haze, I was wondering if a hike would be possible this day.
Once on the Smith Dorien, we saw what we thought was a healthy coyote casually moving along the side of the road.
Even though the smell of smoke was quite strong, the three of us still decided to give the hike a go. In the forest it wasn't too, too bad but once we came into the meadow before the climb up on the ridge, our pace slowed significantly and the coughing started.
We made it up to the weather station on the ridge before deciding to head back down the way we came up. I was feeling some nausea and all three of us had headaches coming on.
Unfortunately, I got extremely sick with a cold and cough starting the day after this hike. It hung on for over a week.
Still, it is always a great day if I am spending it in the mountains with family.
