A nice spring hike turned very cold in Grotto Canyon.

The weather was great as we started our hike and were making our way to see some ancient rock paintings. People were taking their sweaters off enjoying the sun. But then, we went around a corner and out of a narrow part of the canyon and were hit by a wintery blast of wind. We didn’t know it, but we had gone right past the paintings without noticing the faint markings on the rock, so we pressed on to find them. It was getting really cold with a strong wind chill in the canyon, and many of us were not really dressed for it, so we had to turn around. Ethan was a trooper, hiking hard. He is perhaps a bit more resilient in the cold than our slight girls. On the return I had to carry the girls at various stages just to keep moving! We found the paintings on the way back, and then went for a BBQ of burgers by the river in Canmore.

On a cold day, our family now talks about if it is Grotto cold or not.