Two days prior to this adventure Lupe had a fabulous day going from Upper Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park to the Turbine Campground along the Maude-Lawson Lakes Trail. Although Lupe never made it as far as Maude Lake or North Kananaskis Pass, SPHP still had plans to for Lupe to make an attempt at reaching South Kananaskis Pass via Three Isle Lake. Lupe set out for South Kananaskis Pass at 7:30 AM this morning from the same North Interlakes Day Use trailhead at the NE corner of Upper Kananaskis Lake.
The wind had died down to just a little breeze overnight, and the skies were finally clear of all of the smoky haze that had been around since before Lupe got to the Rockies. By leaving so early in the morning, Lupe and SPHP seemed to have gotten the jump on everyone else. There was no activity at the trailhead and no one on the trail. Lupe again started out on the Upper Kananaskis Lake trail heading W above the N shore of the lake. At 2.1 km, she took the Three Isle Lake trail to the Forks Campground. She was having a great time sniffing around and exploring.
Lupe started seeing people after reaching the bridge over the Upper Kananaskis River. By then she was already getting close to the Forks Campground about 7.1 km from the trailhead. This time, instead of taking the Maude-Lawson Lakes trail at Forks, Lupe stayed on the Three Isle Lake trail.
Beyond Forks Campground, at first the Three Isle Lake trail continued to be nearly level. Soon that changed, however, and the trail gradually started climbing more and more steeply. Pretty soon Lupe and SPHP were starting a steep climb up a headwall blocking the way to the W. At its steepest part there was a stairway on the trail with a big chain anchored in the ground next to it for something to hang on to. Lupe didn’t need it, but SPHP was happy it was there.
After the stairway was a steep section with loose rock on the trail. A cliff was close by just below, so it was important not to slip and slide too far. Gradually the trail started leveling out again. After reaching the top of the headwall, Lupe followed the trail W down to Three Isle Lake.
Three Isle Lake is a beautiful alpine lake, although it wasn’t as pretty as it might have been when Lupe arrived since the water level was well below full. The N side of the lake was mostly forested. The S side was more barren. There were gorgeous snow-capped mountains all around. Although it had been a bright morning, it was cool and mostly cloudy at Three Isle Lake.
Lupe and SPHP went and sat on a rock above the SE shore of the lake to admire the view. Soon an interpretive guide employed by British Columbia came along and hailed SPHP. The interpretive guide said he was on the Alberta side of the border just familiarizing himself with the trails, and offered to answer any questions, etc. Lupe had none, but SPHP was interested in taking a peek at his very nice detailed map of the region.
The interpretive guide’s map confirmed that it wasn’t too far from Three Isle Lake to South Kananaskis Pass. The Three Isle Lake trail Lupe had been following continued through the forest on the N side of the lake. It gradually turned NW and headed on up to the pass, which was only a couple of km from the E end of Three Isle Lake. A much smaller lake, Beatty Lake, was another couple of km farther beyond the pass.
Once the interpretive guide had moved on, Lupe and SPHP went back to the Three Isle Lake trail. Lupe turned W making for South Kananaskis Pass. Although SPHP lost the trail briefly at Three Isle Lake Campground, Lupe soon found it again. Before long, Lupe was at South Kananaskis Pass. A sign there indicated Lupe had reached British Columbia. From the pass was a view to the NW of a wonderfully green open valley with high mountains beyond.
After 10 minutes at the pass, Lupe went on into British Columbia. SPHP intended to go all the way to Beatty Lake, but had already foolishly forgotten exactly how far away it was from the pass. SPHP hiked 1.5 km, but didn’t come to it. Lupe was more interested in marmots and offered little help. Of course, coming from the pass, Lupe was losing elevation steadily. When SPHP came over a little ridge and saw another elevation drop, but no lake ahead, SPHP decided Lupe had gone far enough.
At the turnaround point Lupe must have been pretty close to Beatty Lake. SPHP could hear a big stream ahead that probably fed or came from the lake. Nevertheless, SPHP led Lupe back up to South Kananaskis Pass. She visited Three Isle Lake again. The trek down the headwall E of Three Isle Lake was easier, but scarier, than going up it.
Below the headwall and just starting up the steep part of the trail, was a young man who was running up the trail. He turned out to be on a trail running race known as the “Death Run”. He was part of a relay team and had to run 38 km. Death Runner seemed glad to stop for a breather. He patted Lupe and chatted with SPHP. The name of the race he was running told SPHP pretty much all SPHP really needed to know about it.
At Forks Campground, Lupe met a woman from Canmore, who was there with her son, Tristan, who might have been 8 or 9 years old. She had made more rice than she needed to and was going to burn it, just to get rid of it. Instead she fed it to Lupe and SPHP.
SPHP stayed chatting with her so long that Death Runner came by after having gone to Three Isle Lake and turned around. Apparently Rice Lady had previously talked to Death Runner, and they started up a conversation again. Stuffed with rice, Lupe and SPHP left Forks Campground shortly after Death Runner jogged off again.
Lupe and SPHP got back to the G6 a bit before 9:00 PM. It was a short drive over to the picnic ground at the SE corner of Upper Kananaskis Lake to watch the sun set. The sunset lacked the bright colors Lupe and SPHP were hoping for. Instead, everything just faded to gray. Lupe and SPHP sat together listening to the peaceful sound of the waves lapping up on the shore of the beautiful lake.
Another glorious day spent together in the Canadian Rockies was done. Happily, more were on the way!
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