Picklejar Lakes

Took my fishing rod for another really nice hike into the mountains, this time up to the Picklejar Lakes in the Highwood Range of Kananaskis. Apparently I missed the memo as these lakes had already grown a significant layer of ice so the fishing rod didn't even leave my pack! Here again is another area I haven't spent a whole bunch of time and there are some great gems up there to see and explore. Relatively close to home via highway 40, it's about a 140 km drive from our doorstep to just beyond the Highwood Pass, a 2206 m (7,238') pass on the southern boundary of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in K-Country. The road remains closed for much of the year, Dec. 01st thru Jun. 15th so you really have to make an effort to get out there during the summer and fall months if you want to explore the area. So this morning the sub-conscience of my mind was jogged about a hike Kärolin had suggested we check out this fall but never got a chance to. Hence the Blog post following a scurried start to get out the door this morning to go check it out!

The snow finally subsided the night before so I had a slightly challenging drive as I entered highway 40 in Kananaskis with the bald summer tires on the RAV. Thankfully the sunshine and the open stretches of road had already started to come into shape thanks to the sun so it didn't hinder me for long before I was back up to the posted speed limit of 90 kilometers per hour. My eyes were peeled as always for any wildlife sightings and especially bear since I had noted a number of recent closures to some day use areas during my last couple of trips in, because of an increase from the bear activity in the area. Unfortunately the bears eluded me again despite my exhaustive efforts to spot them however I did see my standard deer and bighorn sheep sightings. You know you're spending a lot of time in the mountains when you don't even slow down let a lone STOP to snap a photo of the wildlife unless it's something exotic you haven't seen in awhile!! I did however encounter a couple of nice bighorns licking recent road salts as I approached the Highwood Pass so I definitely stopped for the photo ops there. Oh, and I did start the trail to Picklejar Lakes following a young black bear track but otherwise it was a pretty dry day for wildlife sightings. Thankfully in the case of the black bear!

Timothy-grass (Phleum pretense)

This fella looked pretty content!

Bighorns in the mirror

I really like this shot. I ended up laying down on the highway for this one. Neat perspective

Just through the Highwood Pass and headed south

Neat folk lore about a couple of gold miners from the 1800's that claim to have found gold here.
Check out this link for the story. http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/alberta/lost-lemon-mine/

Black bear track I encountered early on along the trail. It was coming down so I knew I wouldn't meet it but it was eerie none the less. Needless to say
I refreshed myself on the use of my bear spray and I had my air horn ready by my side as well. I always yodel periodically too as I hike
to make sure there are no surprises especially when approaching blind corners etc.

Nice trail through beautiful mixed forests

Trail opened up quite often as it traversed these grassy slopes

Looking up at the pass that must be attained before dropping down into the Picklejar Lakes

Final black coal scree slope before reaching the pass

Nice big landing at the pass, a great place to take a break or have lunch

Looking back down the treed valley that the approach trail just threaded

Interesting rock feature to the east

Initial view of the first Picklejar Lake

The crux of this hike would be this small rock wall that must be surmounted. Not too difficult in summer conditions and only slightly more challenging with the snow

The snow was actually boot high to knee deep in some wind loaded sections

The lakes are stocked with Westslope Cutthroat Trout. With the unsuspected ice covering the lakes my rod didn't even leave my back pack!

The second Picklejar Lake. Now they call these lakes Paternoster Lakes. I won't attempt to describe that but here is a link that will.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster_lake

I only went as far as this second lake as I was breaking trail through unstable snow covered limestone boulders and scree and didn't want to risk an injury
being 4.5 km's into the backcountry solo. Apparently the 3rd Picklejar Lake is the most beautiful so I'll save it for a summer trip with the girls

My turn around point. Looking back down on the first Picklejar Lake

Saw some hiking trails in the saddle between these 2 peaks. This valley is an alternate approach to the lakes following Picklejar Creek although it's about 1 km further

The rockwall above the trails crux notch. It was actually the lone yellow Crustose lichen (Caloplaca marina) in the center of this wall that caught my eye for this photo

Looking back down the trail from the crux notch to the first Picklejar Lake

Note how deep the snow was for this gully crossing!

Coming back through the pass looking down the valley towards the highway

Boy, wouldn't be without these lightweight XTR Yaktrax. They sure gave me solid footing coming back down the slippery scree slope from the col/saddle