Fittingly, a couple of moose appear near the Moose Loop trail.
	Zosia and Ali leave the groomed trail and head up a reclaimed road.
	The reclaimed road is initially very pleasant to ski.
	Climbing such a moderate slope without skins is challenging.
	Ali and Zosia reach an open area with views of Moose Mountain in the distance.

Although we were only about three kilometres west of the busy West Bragg Creek ski area, there was a palpable sense of isolation in this neck of the woods as we saw virtually no signs of human passage.  I was also growing somewhat concerned about the lateness of the day and felt some urgency to start heading back eastward.  However, the prospect of returning the way we came seemed unappealing at this point, and we continued forward with our intended loop.

	Sonny and Ali struggle uphill through bushes and unconsolidated snow. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	After passing the high point of the loop, Zosia and Ali continue to break trail on the reclaimed road.

We eventually arrived at an old gas well site which is supposedly the start of Daffern's "delectable hill", but the continuation of the road was not readily apparent to us.  Checking Daffern's route description and my GPS unit, we took our best guess and headed toward the edge of the trees in a northeast direction.  We found what appeared to be the continuation of the road, but it was so choked with trees that it was almost unrecognizable and virtually unskiable.  We ended up descending through the forest to skier's right of the road, but with lots of deadfall and bushes to dodge, this was no easy task on light touring skis.

Partway on this descent, my skis slipped out from under me, and I fell onto my back.  Normally, this would not have been a big deal, but on this occasion, I was speared in my left rib cage by a small tree stump sticking out of the snow.  The pain was excruciating, and lying on the ground, I screamed in agony for what seemed like an eternity.  By the time I finally got over the initial shock, Ali and Zosia had come to assist me, and I needed their help to kick off my skis so that I could get up.  I have experienced cracked ribs before, but because I was able to get up on my own, this felt more like just a very bad bruise.  In any case, I convinced Ali and Zosia that I was okay to continue, but we all agreed that it was not worth trying to ski down through the forest on our light touring gear.

	Ali and Sonny approach an old gas well site. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia and Ali stop for a breather at the old gas well site.
	The old road (left) described by Gillean Daffern has been completely reclaimed.  Zosia is forced to descend through the more open forest at right.

Taking off our skis, we post-holed and bushwhacked the rest of the way down the slope to a creek bottom.  Here, we put our skis back on and managed to muddle our way out of the valley and into the aforementioned cut blocks we saw earlier in the day.  Following Daffern's "shortcut" route, we followed successive cut blocks all the way back to the Moose Loop trail and emerged about 800 metres north of where we initially started on the reclaimed exploration road.  Relieved to be back on a groomed trail, we made short work of the remaining ski back to the trailhead.

	Ali and Zosia ski out the creek at the bottom of Daffern's "delectable hill".
	Sonny carries his skis up a slight hill en route back to civilization. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance: 19.3 kilometres Total Time: 8 hours 33 minutes Total Elevation Gain: 534 metres GPX Data
	The aftermath of Sonny's spill manifests itself a few days later.