After the Rain

Sat. 8 October:  After the Rain

It rained in Calgary this week.  The clouds came down, blotted out the mountains, and soaked the city for two days.  The forecast, however, showed a beautiful sunny day for Saturday, and so I ignored the weather and headed out to Kananaskis Country on Friday morning.  It was raining even harder out in the mountains, and the mist hid all but the lowest slopes.  Picking the best campsite at the Interlakes campground – the one all on its own on a point of land beside the lake – I settled into the Boler and hoped that the change in weather might come earlier than forecast so I could do some hiking today.

It was a little alarming when, mid-afternoon, the rain started to turn to heavy sleet.  But then it turned back to rain.  Taking a short drive to the Upper Lake, all I could see was water and cloud.  But I knew what was going on up there above the visible world.  Later that evening, as light was fading, the clouds started to lift, revealing snowy mountainsides still mostly hidden in the cloud.  Overnight the skies cleared, and the morning revealed lines of mountains plastered with snow, a new covering which was likely to be the first permanent snow cover of the coming winter.  It was a cold morning, around freezing.  But it was also the perfect day for a stroll around the Upper Kananaskis Lake, under blue skies.

Today I hiked right from my own campsite doorstep in an anti-clockwise loop around the Upper Lake, taking in Hidden Lake and other scenic corners of the Upper Lake. There were only a handful of other campers despite this being the start of the Thanksgiving Holiday, and the traditional final camping weekend of the season.  More campers would arrive today, but the place would still only be less than half full by tonight (that night I counted 19 occupied sites out of a total of 48 at Interlakes).

The seasons have all been late this year.  So today the Fall colors were about as good as they get in the mountains, while in other years the leaves might all have blown away by now.  There were some colorful views across the lake to islands covered in yellow trees.  There were several feet of new snow on the mountains, and cloud and mist was swirling around the summits.  Across on the southern side of the lake, mist was rising off the water, and kept doing so all day – a sign that the water in the shady areas was cooling off and would freeze any day now.

My camera was kept busy snapping away at the spectacular scenery which surrounds this lake. Right at the start, I came across a man running down the trail towards me, and I wondered for a second whether he was looking for assistance, but he jogged by without a word. Later I could see his footprints on the damp, muddy trail all the way around the lake.  He was on a very early run.  The 16 kilometre circuit might be a popular running route as I later saw three other people also running around the lakeside trails.

At Point campsite I heard the sound of an axe, indicating that there were some campers there – I still plan to spend a day or two there one day, in one of the perfect campsites whose only downside is their popularity with bears.  Soon I was at the Lower Falls, where the water was noisily dropping down the series of low waterfalls to the lake.  There was a light covering of snow and ice on the path.  We had been lucky. There might have been a foot of snow if the temperatures had been one or two degrees lower.  The mountainsides were all snow-covered.

As on my previous trip around the lake I detoured up to Hidden Lake.  There was no longer any sign but I knew the junction and there was red blazing on a tree.  It’s a bit of an obstacle course to get to Hidden Lake, which presents a sorry scene at this time of year, when most of the water had drained away, leaving a large hole in the ground.  The setting is intimidating, with the mountain walls all around.  Beside the lake lie layers of ankle-twisting tree trunks, greasy when wet, as they were today.  Four broken, burned tree stumps stood in a row as if warning of dire events of the past and maybe to come.  Leaving that gloomy setting behind, I was glad to return to the beauty of the Upper Lake and its exquisite setting beneath the Continental Divide.

The section of trail along the south shore was in the shade, even in late morning, and this is where the mist was rising from the lake in the cold air.  Passing across two major avalanche paths, I was glad I had turned back last year on a winter snow shoe trip along this trail.  I met the first hikers on this trail, two guys busily chatting away to each other.  There was a handful of others enjoying the sudden perfect weather.  A large number of ducks was floating around just offshore.  At the eastern end of the lake, families were out enjoying a stroll and a picnic in the cool air.  A couple of small outboard boats were in the water, and two canoes were being readied for a trip.

Once across the dam, I left the trail and headed out to the point which sticks out furthest into the lake.  There was an overgrown trail in the trees which I followed for a few hundred metres before coming out at an old chimney.  This is all that remains of a log home which once sat on this most spectacular of viewpoints.  The water was sparkling in the sun, and just out of reach the mist continued to rise from the lake along the south shoreline.  The two canoeists paddled quietly by on their way out into the wide lake.

The final section of trail followed the shoreline as it twisted and turned, passing two islands and offering the best views to Mt. Putnik and Mt. Lyautey at the far western end of the lake. All too soon I was back at the Interlakes trailhead, with just a short walk back down to the campsite to complete my circuit.

Since it was still only mid-afternoon, I drove the ten or so kilometres back up the road to the Peter Lougheed Park Visitor Centre.  This large, attractive wooden building has an information desk, bookstore, museum, theatre and a comfy lounge beneath tall glass windows.  I stopped to watch an interesting film on bears and how to handle encounters, bought a couple of guide books, and then returned to my campsite.

The sun gradually dropped below the mountains and the temperature fell rapidly.  Luckily the Boler has a heater, so I was warm enough.  Darkness came soon after 7 pm.  During the night I could hear gusts of wind blowing across the lake, and I was glad of my luxurious accommodation – although it was by far the least luxurious of the vehicles at Interlakes campsite!   The next morning I was up early and heading home up a colorful Kananaskis Valley.

In Canada, after the rain, you can often expect the snow, and so it was this weekend.  Luckily, after the snow came the sun!  And of all the corners of the Rocky Mountains I could have chosen, the Upper Kananaskis Lake was the most beautiful and spectacular place to experience the first snowfall of what is predicted to be a long winter season.    

Statistics
Upper Kananaskis Lake
Sat. 8 October
Total Dist.	20.8 km (hike)
Height Gain	400 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,800 ft.
Time	5 hrs. 46 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       8.26 am Lower K Falls: 9.53 am Hidden Lake: 10.25 am Rawson L Jn:11.55 am Chimney:      12.51 pm Ret. to camp:  2.12 pm	Temp: Cool, around freezing, rising to a few degrees above zero. Mostly sunny.  Mist rising from lake and mountains.