The trailhead for the hike to Rawson Lake is at the far SE corner of Upper Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. There is a large paved parking area next to the trailhead and a picnic ground there next to the Upper Kananaskis Lake. Elevation gain to reach Rawson Lake is approximately 918 feet or 279 meters.
After a very long and wonderful day hike from Upper Kananaskis Lake to the Turbine Campground along the Maude-Lawson Trail the previous day, Lupe and SPHP got off to a very slow start this morning. The wind was gusting across Upper Kananaskis Lake creating whitecaps, and it was much cooler than the previous day. There were occasional rain showers. The air was clear of the smoky haze that had been present the day before. It was Saturday and throngs of people were arriving despite the wet weather.
Lupe and SPHP had a very late breakfast. SPHP repacked and rearranged the gear in the G6. The wind and rains continued. Lots of people in rain gear came and went. SPHP was kind of spent after the long trek to Turbine Campground and felt lethargic. Lupe was fine with a lazy day too. Lupe and SPHP dozed in the G6 for hours. It was late afternoon by the time SPHP woke up again. The parking lot had been full earlier, but was now emptying out fast. The rain had stopped, although it was still quite breezy by Upper Kananaskis Lake.
Finally SPHP was ready for action again. There was plenty of time for Lupe to take the trail to Rawson Lake! Lupe and SPHP started heading W on the circuit trail around Upper Kananaskis Lake from the SE corner of the lake. Two days before, when Lupe had first arrived at Upper Kananaskis Lake, Lupe and SPHP had gone as far as the waterfall on Sarrail Creek on this same trail. This time Lupe and SPHP carefully crossed the wet three log “bridge” across the creek and went onward.
Soon after crossing Sarrail Creek, Lupe reached the junction with the Rawson Lake trail, which was 1.4 km from the parking lot. The trail along Upper Kananaskis Lake had been very easy with little elevation change. The 2.7 km Rawson Lake trail, however, climbed steadily nearly all the way to Rawson Lake. Until Lupe was halfway up the Rawson Lake trail, there was a steady stream of hikers coming back down from Rawson Lake. After halfway though, Lupe met no one.
One group of hikers told SPHP that there had been over 100 people up at Rawson Lake when they’d first arrived there. Many people had been fishing. Nearly all of them reported catching cutthroat trout. It was all catch and release, and the fish were pretty small. The most interesting report was from three guys who said they had seen two grizzly bears at Rawson Lake. One of the grizzlies got within 20 feet of them before passing on by. One of the guys said it was the first time he had ever released the safety latch on his bear spray.
When Lupe arrived at Rawson Lake no one was there. SPHP couldn’t help but smile at the thought of all the people who had come earlier in the day when the weather was worse and had to contend with crowds. SPHP sat on a log by the shore of Rawson Lake. Lupe rested next to the log and sometimes got up on the log with SPHP. Lupe and SPHP watched fish jumping in the lake and listened to birds singing. No grizzly bears were in sight. The lake was calm, protected from the wind by Mount Sarrail (10,413 ft.). SPHP shared a Cliff bar with Lupe.
After 30+ peaceful minutes of unbroken solitude at tranquil Rawson Lake, Lupe and SPHP left and headed back down the trail. The were-puppy attacked SPHP a couple of times not far from Rawson Lake, and nearly knocked SPHP down once. Lupe was having a great time! Lupe and SPHP saw no one until nearly back to the parking lot. Upon reaching the parking lot, SPHP ditched the backpack in the G6 and got a drink. Then Lupe and SPHP went back to a bench along the trail not far from the parking lot which had a view of Upper Kananaskis Lake.
Together Lupe and SPHP sat on the bench, listened to the waves on the shore, and watched the sun disappear behind the clouds and mountains. A cool breeze was blowing from off the lake. SPHP wrote and drank the drink. The hoped for colorful sunset never materialized. Instead everything just faded to gray. SPHP stayed there talking to and petting an appreciative Lupe until the growing darkness indicated it was time to head back to the G6.
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