I went on a hike today in Kananaskis Country with the Meanderthals, the Canmore Seniors Association hiking club. This week’s hike was a fourteen kilometre loop along the Prairie View Trail to the Barrier Lake Fire Lookout, returning to Barrier Lake via the Jewell Pass Trail. Along the way we were exposed to great views in all directions, some of which I will share in today’s post.
The first picture was taken from the Prairie View Trail, looking eastward across the Kananaskis Valley. That’s Mount Baldy to the right and Barrier Lake, our departure point at the bottom of the picture. The clear cut area across the valley was the site of an earlier hike, two weeks ago.
Further along, I took this next picture looking southward down the Kananaskis Valley. You can see Highway 40 threading its way down the valley. The scene is bounded on the left by Barrier Lake and Mount Lorette on the right.
Our first stop was the Barrier Lake Fire Lookout, one of a chain of lookouts along the Rockies in Alberta. Each lookout is staffed by a single warden who spends the summer months watching for signs of forest fires. Talk about a solitary existence! This lookout is perched atop McConnell Ridge at an elevation of 6545 ft (1,995 m), the high point of our hike.
Before moving on, I enjoyed the 360 degree views including the one captured in this next picture, looking north across the Bow Valley. Below you can see the Trans Canada Highway and of course, the Bow River. That’s Door Jamb Mountain on the right side of the frame and Mount Fable in the very centre.
From the lookout, we descended to the Prairie View Viewpoint where we stopped for a lunch break. As promised, there is a view of the prairie from this location. I took this next picture, looking northeast in the general direction of Calgary, not visible from this particular vantage point (we did get a glimpse of the Calgary skyline from the fire lookout, earlier). You can see the Trans Canada Highway, emerging from the mountains, below and the Stoney Indian Reserve along the right side of the frame.
That was it for the photographs. After lunch, the trail through Jewell Pass and back to the Barrier Lake Day Use Area (our starting point) was through a heavily wooded area until we reached the shore of Barrier Lake. By this time, I was very much focused on finishing the hike and didn’t really see any great photo opportunities once we emerged from the trees. I enjoyed a great day, in a splendid place with great company. What more could you want?