courtesy JInnes
Entering Peter Lougheed
Under clear but very hazy skies, we crossed over Highwood Pass and down into the lakes section of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. We stopped at the park visitor center for a bit of information on the conditions of the route into our backpack destination for the next day, then headed off to find a first-come, first-serve campsite at one of the parks many campgrounds.
At the park's Lower Lake Campground, we easily found a spot (in fact, there were many tens of sites still available). Since it was only mid-afternoon, we had plenty of time to prepare for our upcoming two-day backpacking trip. After a thorough re-sort of all of our gear and after putting aside everything we'd need for an overnight trip, we had the rest of the afternoon and evening free of any specific task.
Jenn, Upper Kananaskis Lake
We explored some of the main park roads (which are very nicely manicured and paved, by the way), making our way to Upper Kananaskis Lake, where we examined our starting trailhead for the next day, and took a short walk along the lake's northeastern shoreline. In addition to wanting to see some of the park's scenery, we also wanted to get a glimpse of the peaks we intended to try and climb as part of our backpack. We were able to catch a distant glimpse of them, but the extremely hazy air meant we only got the faintest sense of them.
The park seems to have a very "bear-aware" mentality, with lots of signs and reminders about behaviors, actions, and prevention. One park ranger even reminded us to bring our bear spray for our 15 minute walk along the lakeshore!
After a stop to the park's Bolton Creek campground store - where a tasty ice cream can be bought - we returned to our campground for dinner and an early to-bed time. We had a fairly private campsite here, so the likelihood of noisy neighbours was low.
courtesy JInnes
