Weekend Photos: Kananaskis Country

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I'm off again to get more trail time and, with luck, some great photos of one of my special places, the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, you can enjoy these initial shots from my September trip to the Canadian Rockies.

We started our trip (the real stuff, not the long drive from Seattle) in the Kananaskis Country, a collection of Provincial Parks east of Banff, but still hanging out in some spectacular mountains. Here are a few highlights from the first few days.

For those who like logistics, I was traveling with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They rented a camper, which gave us a warm place to sit and eat on often chilly (and once or twice wet) days, and provided suitable sleeping accommodations when we were at Lake Louise hard-sided campground later, where tents are not permitted. My little car gave us mobility.

On first arriving, I did a quick hike up King Creek Ridge, an excessively steep hike that reminded me that I was no longer at sea level.

View SW from the ridge

Kananaskis Lakes--we will be camping down there.


The next morning we drove 20 minutes to hike a short way to Elbow Lake for morning reflections.





We followed that up with another short walk at Upper Kananaskis Lake.


By the third day we were ready for a more challenging outing, the 9-mile hike to Frozen Lake via Elk Pass.

Approaching Mt. Fox. Frozen Lake lies at the base of the cirque.

Frozen Lake

On this hike, we also got reassurance that we were going to find what we'd come for: larches turning color. Larches are the only deciduous conifer, and grow in relatively northern areas where it behooves them to ditch their needles (leaves) ahead of the cold winter.

The next morning we started with a sunrise hike to nearby Marl Lake, where a short walk was amply rewarded with fantastic reflections.




We followed that up with a somewhat longer hike to the Ptarmigan Basin.

Larches again!

Anemone bloom very early, but their dried flower heads remain all season.

Territory recently occupied by an entirely vanished glacier.

The waterfall pouring from the middle of the moraine makes me think ice does remain under the rubble.


Our hikes were done by lunchtime, or soon after, so we decided to take a little road trip into Canmore, via the unpaved but scenic route 742. I spotted a lot of hikes along there that need doing.


Even before we left the pavement, we also spotted some bighorn sheep.

More reflections in Spillway Lake.

That's it for this segment--and it'll be a few weeks before I'm back with the stunning larches and peaks from Banff National Park. Meanwhile, enjoy a few short stories I've taken from the archives to repost over the next couple of weeks.



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