Our world, hills on our horizon

We live in a small town on the western border of the city of Medicine Hat in southeastern Alberta. For reference, the elevation at the Medicine Hat airport is 2,352 feet (717m).

I've often shown photos of the terrain in our neighborhood: the flat prairie with coulees carved into it by the river long ago, but I've seldom, if ever, mentioned that an hour and a half east, on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border,  is a small mountain range called the Cypress Hills.

Wikimedia Commons photos

According to Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, "The Cypress Hills rise gently, climbing 600 metres above the surrounding prairies. The Hills have a unique climate and mix of forests, wetlands and grasslands. This high plateau is home to an astonishing diversity of plants and animals."

Recreation in the Cypress Hills includes skiing in the winter, fishing, and frolicking on the beach in the summer, as well as educational tours, hiking, and geocaching.

This past weekend, my husband visited the Cypress Hills with the Grasslands Naturalists group and, of course, he took some photos.

In the Cypress Hills, there is a small community called Elkwater, Alberta, where the elevation is 4,049 feet (1234m), and the highest point in the hills is called Head of the Mountain, at 4,816 feet (1468m).

In comparison, the well-known tourist destination of Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, is 4,800 feet (1463m), and the base elevation of Canada's highest community, Lake Louise, is 5,400 feet (1646m).

Posted for Our World Tuesday
hosted by Lady Fi, who lives in Sweden

Richard Schear photo

Richard Schear photo

Richard Schear photo