Editor:
I go up and I go down.
I love this mountain. Sitting at 1,692 meters, she certainly isn’t our biggest mountain. Compared to Cascade, she is about half the height. However she seems to create a bit of gumption in all of us.
The month of May gets me going. I aim to say hello to all that I pass. I notice all the regulars. From the fitness gurus that seem to glide up and down, to those like me, just as tuckered on their 20th trip as they were on their first.
I see mothers and fathers carrying their youngsters and children making their first accent. I have seen visitors on business trips completing it in shinny shoes.
I see friends sharing stories. I hear young men making evening plans. I see tried and tested couples hiking together and what appears as romantic first dates.
I met a guy once who was hiking up and down the mountain for 24 hours straight. Another day out allowed me to be introduced to a gentleman who was seeing impaired and loved to hike. Impressing me even more, I once met a group of four assisting their father who was in a wheelchair reach the top.
I have seen rock climbers walking down with big ropes in their bags. I have seen karate lessons run past me in their white uniforms. I met a biologist one day checking out the Douglas firs.
I have met many happy dogs out with their owners. I have passed wilderness first- aid classes, forest therapy sessions, girl-guide groups, and rugby teams. I have heard of those going up to watch the sunrise, and meteor showers at night. Someone commented to me on a Sunday that this is their church.
She may be smaller than the others that surround her but I believe Sacred Buffalo Guardian Mountain has been watching over this community long before the railway folks thought they should put a Tunnel through her.
She continues to bring me a tremendous amount of achievement and a strong sense of community every time that I go up and I go down.
Rose Maunder,
Banff
