The gentle roar of water I heard from the road had me curious. Where was it coming from? I trekked up the slope of the mountain, following the sound of the stream. 

I came upon this large, likely man-made gully full of beautiful grey, black, and white rocks. I looked further and there it was! The loudly babbling stream that I was looking for. 

Flowing cold and crystal clear, it was running down from some spring in the mountains down to the man-made lake that was Lake Abraham. 

I had to be careful where I stepped because the rocks were slippery. But I couldn’t help but sit by and watch as the stream flowed on from down the mountain. 

That’s when I spotted that black stone with the white stripe down the middle. Such a lovely stone! I was tempted to pack it back with me to the truck, but thought better of it; I’ll leave it behind for someone else to find. 

And yes, the water did taste very good!

Taken on July 6, 2019, with my iPhone XR. Location is somewhere along Highway 11 between Banff National Park and Nordegg.