CR2015: Elk Pass and Fox Lake

There was no question whether today, August 6th, was going to be a rainy day; the only question was, how much. The prediction was for afternoon thunderstorms.

For us it was a transit day between Mount Engadine Lodge and the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis. This is a modest drive down the Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail and back up Route 40, so there was time for a hike. We chose to explore the Elk Lake trail, near the southern end of the Kananaskis Lakes.

Given the weather forecast and cloudy skies, Joan and I put on our rain pants and rain jackets at the trailhead before we set off. The Google Maps screenshot above shows that the route begins as a gravel road, used by TransAlta to access its electrical transmission lines.

That's Mount Indefatigable across the lake.

After leaving the gravel road and powerline cut, the way narrows. There's lots of evidence of flooding from the June 2013 deluge, and in places the road has been rerouted.

There was a light drizzle that came and went, so I kept my camera under my rain jacket, and didn't take a lot of photos today.

Elk Pass is wide and long, more akin to a gentle valley than a gap in the mountains. To reach Fox Lake, Joan and I were looking for a trail that would depart to the right within the pass. When we reached this point,

we debated which way to go. Joan felt that we hadn't gone far enough, and should continue on the Elk Pass trail. I fixated on the text in our guidebook, which said to always take the right-hand choice when there was a split. I persuaded Joan, and we took off to the right. Which was wrong. This was a spur trail to the Blueberry Hill lookout.

It took me close to a kilometer to decide that we'd made a mistake, based on the lack of any lake, and the curve the trail was taking. At least on the way back to the junction we had a chance to observe some spruce grouse, including including a baby, in and about a tree. They always ducked when I raised my camera.

Not much further from our false junction we came to the true trail.

After a while the trail becomes foot-traffic only; bicycles are prohibited.  We encountered a group of young folks and their chaperones returning from backpacking at Elk Lakes Provincial Park, which is remote. To access its trailheads from British Columbia, it's a good two-hour drive from the town of Sparwood on a rugged road. From the Kananaskis side, by the time hikers arrive at the Elk Lakes, they've signed up for overnight camping. Only a very strong hiker could make it a day trip, and a long one at that.

Joan and I arrived at another junction,

which included a signboard/map.

One of the features of this area is the old provincial boundary markers. This one is a modern replacement.

We came to where the trail to Frozen Lake separated from ours.

Officially the trail was closed ...

but we needed only a kilometer to reach Fox Lake, and the worst of the damage was likely further on. As it turned out, reaching Fox Lake was easy.

Joan and I had lunch here. sitting comfortable on a log. Up in the bowl of the mountains facing us was Frozen Lake,

but time and weather dissuaded us from trying to reach it today. Some other time!

On the way back we encountered both sunshine and drizzle, and, on the lower sections, a total of three mountain bikes. Overall it was a good day, better than expected, but nothing like tomorrow's hike, the challenging and unofficial route at King Creek Ridge.