We hiked on the trails on the north end of the Batchelor Hills in Lac du Bois Protected Area on a greyish morning at the end of March.   In recent years, the biking community has secured a trail development and management agreement for the Batchelor Hills Trails and they have renamed the trails.    We hiked the Bighorn Loop (with a section through Batchelor Pass), a 6.7 km route in the sagebrush grasslands that we once called the Barren Hills.    We got an early start and avoided later-starting bikers and hikers.    We hiked steadily for 1.75 hours.

Much of the route is on old double tracks that wind through the glaciated open hills.

To the west, Mara Mountain was shrouded in cloud, but the weather was slowly improving as we continued a steady pace on the trails.

We were pleased to spot sagebrush buttercups (Ranunculus glaberrimus) and yellow bells (Fritillaria pudica) in bloom along the trails.

We mostly hike the trails in the Batchelor Hills in the shoulder season. The “barren hills” have no shade in the heat, they are busy trails in spring and fall, and there are better places to hike in winter. We will be back to hike the trails in late fall.