Elbow Lake - Kananaskis
Sarah and I found ourselves with time on our hands on a beautiful sunny day courtesy of a bank holiday so we opted to make a circular drive south of Calgary and around into Kananaskis, stopping off at Elbow lake along the way. The drive into the foothills was made through stunning valleys of green, brown and grey.
I thought that by the time we reached the car park it would be full as Elbow Lake is a very popular destination, fortunately for us it was not too bad at all, its fair to say there were more ground squirrels in the car park than cars.
I had seen Elbow Lake from Pocaterra Ridge when hiking there a few weeks ago and knew we would have a good path but I was still pleasantly surprised at just how good the path was.
looking back along the path on one of our frequent stops there is a glimpse of Pocaterra ridge in the far left of the photo. It is quite a steep path in places but it's punctuated with more level sections to give you a chance to get your breath back
the trail occasionally opens out into wide meadows in the forest giving a great view along the rocky walls of the valley
we soon reach the top of the incline and can see the lake in the distance and the incredible colour of the water against the dark green forest and grey mountains
The path continues around the lake in both directions making a 5km circuit possible though Sarah didn't fancy that today so we just took a little stroll along the west bank
this would have made a great snowshoe destination in winter time but the road to the car park is closed to allow wildlife some peace during hibernation, an excellent idea that (when combined with other closures) makes a huge area of undisturbed wilderness from December to May.
we stopped to talk to a man teaching his two daughters to fish, though they had little success the girls were having a great time and I'm sure their dad was enjoying it too......in between untying all those knotted lines and disgorging hooked dresses.
the mountains opposite are stunning and hide the Rae Glacier (in there somewhere) which I hope to find at some point in the future
further along the west bank a huge rockfall slope reaches down into the clear water but a well trodden path makes the traverse easy
we sat a while in the glorious sunshine along the lakeside watching the fish cruise by occasionally snaffling anything that landed on top of the water
a small protrusion in the bank allows me to get out and shoot back across the rockfall slope and toward the southern end of the lake and our approach route
we had left our drink bottle in the water to cool and collected it before heading to a seat set back from the lake where we enjoyed the freezing water and another relaxing 1/2 hour before heading back toward the car park
walking back down the trail we saw some beautiful birds, ground squirrels and the occasional eagle, from one point we got a great view of Pocaterra Ridge and I realised why I felt so tired after hiking it....it's bloody massive!!
this little chipmunk joined us for a short time, he dashed along on the rocks beside the trail constantly stopping to look at us as if he was a pet out for a walk, I confess I have a real soft spot for these little things.
but the greatest wildlife sighting of the day was our very first Kananaskis bear busy chomping his way through anything that got close enough, particularly the fresh long grass
you would think we would be accustomed to seeing bears now after last week in Jasper when we saw 6, but there is nothing quite like seeing one of these magnificent creatures in the wild, the excitement and adrenalin rush returns every time.
this is another Kananaskis location earmarked for returning to with family and friends when they visit, and perhaps for me in search of Rae Glacier before the summer ends.