On the Road: Cold, wintry — and magnificent - Canada News Beep

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Sometimes you just have to work with the conditions you have, like snow squalls — but that doesn’t mean it can’t lead to a good time

Published Apr 10, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 7 minute read

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Snow sweeps in from passing squalls along the Kananaskis River by Fortress Junction, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/PostmediaArticle content

Got up. looked out the window, saw snow falling.

Flopped on the couch, looked at the forecast on the phone, rolled over and snoozed. An hour or so later, an alert came in. Heavy snowfall warning.

By noon, thick, wet snow in the yard and on the truck but at least it was backing off. With the sun setting later and later, maybe there was time for a quick roll through the foothills. The snow was still falling lightly and the roads were slushy but today, this was what I had to work with. It wasn’t pretty but if you’re going out, you are pretty much obligated to dance with the one what brung ya.

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The snow wasn’t really sticking south of Cochrane. It was building up on the ice of the frozen ponds but the grass and cattails around them shrugged it off. The cattle, imperturbable as always, just crunched and munched their way through it. And, gotta admit, it looked kinda nice sifting down like that.

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Just like it has for the past six months.

Snow falls on cattle south of Cochrane, Ab., on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Mike Drew/PostmediaCattle forage in falling snow south of Cochrane, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

Visibility wasn’t great but over in the Jumpingpound Creek valley I could see trumpeter swans feeding on an ice-free pond through the falling snow and over the hill from there, a fleeting glimpse of a bluebird.

It had been breezy and snowy but at a big, shallow slough right beside the road, the wind died, the snow backed off and a bit of sunshine broke through. The sky to the south was still a swirl of grey and blue but here, it was actually pretty nice.

Snow falls on swans swimming in a slough west of Cochrane, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/PostmediaA pair of coots have a territorial dispute on a slough west of Cochrane, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

A quick snow squall moved through as the families of trumpeter swans paddled across the water. There were lots of other birds there, too, wigeons and tiny teal. Coots, too, the first ones I’ve seen this year. Goofy little birds, always on the move. A couple of territorial disputes broke out as I watched them. They can be pretty aggressive.

The swans were preening in the cold sun and a muskrat swam by, casually looking around. But something didn’t look quite right. Blowing up the picture on the back of the camera I could see it had a messed-up lip. A fight, maybe, or a run-in with a predator. Either way, it looked nasty.

A muskrat with an injury to its lip swims in a slough west of Cochrane, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

OK, the day wasn’t looking quite as grim as it had an hour and a half ago. But where to go now? Sibbald Flats was just down the road, might as well go there.

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The paved part of the road was a bit slushy but the sun was melting it quickly. Not so much so when the pavement ran out. The slush on the gravel was thick and it tried to pull me around as I drove.

The further west I went, the thicker the slush became but at least the sun was shining and the vibrant colours of the willow in a big beaver meadow just glowed. I never get tired of seeing them. Across the road, it was a different story.

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Full-on winter in the Jumpingpound Creek valley west of Calgary, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

There was blue sky and ragged clouds, a thick blanket of snow on everything. Look one way, bright colour, look the other, almost no colour at all. I wouldn’t say the willows looked springlike because those colours are always with them. But the ragged sky and snow cover the other direction looked like full-on winter.

The snow started falling again up by Sibbald Pond and the trees were heavy with it. The road up and over the summit was all snow and slush with just one other set of tracks through. Coming down the steep slope on the Kananaskis side, corners were slippery and back near the pavement, it was slimy enough to engage the antilock brakes.

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Snowed-in trees near Sibbald Meadows Pond west of Calgary, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

I was in the mountain corridor now, headed south, and ya know, it actually looked pretty good. There was less snow over here and walking out onto the bridge over the Kananaskis River by Nakiska, I could see the gravel along the river was bare. Did that morning’s storm even reach this far?

The water in the river below me was crystal clear and I could see the colours of the rocks moving and swirling as the water flowed over. Mt. Lorette looked magnificent at the head of the valley.

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Mt. Lorette above the Kananaskis River by Kananaskis Village, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

The last time I was out this way I went down toward Fortress Junction so, since the snow had quit and the road was dry, I headed that way again. Some whitetail deer were foraging beside the road a little ways down and one of them gave me a bit of a scowl as I aimed the camera.

I’m sure she didn’t mean it, though. A second later she went right back to nibbling.

A scowling whitetail by Kananaskis Village, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/PostmediaWhitetail deer nibbling on the scant tree by Kananaskis Village, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

There wasn’t much wind down in the valley but up high it was roaring along. Mt. Kidd was in and out of sunshine as the clouds whipped by and long sweeps of snow occasionally made it down to the valley floor. The river flowed along among the bands of willows and spruce while lichens glowed winter-green on the shady sides of trees.

I pulled in by the Fortress bridge just as a vehicle was coming across and a young lady stepped out to lock the gate behind her. The last time I had been here there had been filming going on up in the high valley, so I asked her if that was still the case.

Green lichens and red willow along the Kananaskis River by Fortress Junction, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/PostmediaBright willows and spruce trees in the Jumpingpound Creek valley west of Calgary, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

It was, so I mentioned they must be liking the snowy weather to keep continuity and she replied, yes they did but she, herself, was getting pretty tired of it. Yeah, I know that feeling.

I hung around for a bit after she drove on to photograph the profusion of willow catkins and other things — and as I was doing that, I saw a tiny bird flit into view.

A bouquet of catkins along the Kananaskis River by Fortress Junction, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

At first I thought it was a chickadee but it was more brightly feathered and much smaller. The only other bird it could be was a kinglet, either ruby or golden-crowned. Either way, it was tiny. And it was fast.

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It flitted among the willow branches, barely pausing for more than a couple of seconds, and those pauses were mostly deep among the twigs where I could barely see it. It was fun to watch it work the catkins and leaf buds, though, and I finally did get a couple of pictures.

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A ruby-crowned kinglet flirts between willow branches along the Kananaskis River by Fortress Junction, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

But then somebody threw a switch and a gust of wind and pebbly snow blasted down the valley and it was winter again.

No point driving on into it so I rolled back down the valley.

Blowing snow sifted across the road and the tops of all the mountains were obscured. I had planned to stop at a few places as I drove along but most of them were socked in. Except O’Shaughnessy Falls. This little cascade of warmish spring water never fully freezes and it always looks good even in the blowing snow.

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Th ever-flowing waters of O’Shaughnessy Creek west of Calgary, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

But just over the hill from there, things got ugly.

Snow seemed to be blowing from every direction, coming down off the slopes and ripping along. I stopped at Barrier Lake with the foolish idea that I could maybe make a picture out of it but it became obvious pretty quickly that it was just a grey, swirling mess.

I continued on now, passing the turn to Sibbald Meadows — wasn’t going to try that road again — and continued on toward the big highway. Out in the open the sky above was clear but the wind was roaring, sending snow that was falling 10 kilometres further up the valley across the road and the open flats.

I was about done now and, in fact, not entirely unsatisfied with the day. The saucy deer, the kinglet, the swans and the muskrat, given how the day had started, it had turned out not too bad.

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So I was about to turn onto the highway and head back when I saw Yamnuska and the peaks around it shrouded in cloud and blowing snow.

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Wind-blown snow comes off Yamnuska and the peaks east of Exshaw, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

I had hit the road far later than I usually do, something that even today I would normally regret. But being here in this blowing snow and wind meant the late afternoon sun was at just the right angle to illuminate it. So I crossed the Bow River for a closer look.

Further to the west the snow threw white flags over the peaks and formed bright lines where the sun caught it on the ridge but above me, the valley between Yamnuska and the neighbouring peaks was like a slow-motion avalanche.

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Wind-blown snow catches the sun below Yamnuska east of Exshaw, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

The wind was pulling snow not just from that falling further west but from the ridges unseen behind the peaks. It came swirling in, rising and falling and then slipping down the slopes and into the trees. It caught the light as it eased down the steep slopes and showed tendrils of loose snow commandeered from the snowy forest it was roiling through.

It looked nothing like April, nothing like springtime. In fact, it looked cold and wintry.

But it also looked magnificent.

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Wind-blown snow tumbles through the trees below Yamnuska east of Exshaw, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

So yeah, sometimes you just have to work with the conditions you have, ya know, dance with the one what brung you.

But that doesn’t mean it can’t lead to a good time.

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Wind-blown snow rolls off the shoulder of Yamnuska east of Exshaw, Ab., on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Mike Drew/Postmedia

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On the Road: Cold, wintry — and magnificent

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