Rawson Lake

On Saturday we went on a +- 6 miles hike in Kananakis, our son didn’t go with. This is where Mr. Tokeloshe went snow shoeing. It is the Rawson Lake hike; it starts with a hike along the Kananaskis Lake, which is about ¾ hour drive from Calgary. One cannot get to the lake by car. We had backpacks with warm and weatherproof clothes, lunch, water, camera etc. We walked with walking sticks, which is great. Mr. T has attached a fitting to he’s which you can use as a camera monopod. The weather started out lovely, a bit cloudy, but warm, so we were soon perspiring, while wearing shorts and T-shirt. It is a steep climb of about 45 degrees to the lake; I had to take a few rests. On the way we took photos, at the Rawson's waterfall, which is small, but partially frozen, with the ice clinging to the underside of a wooden bridge. We also took photos of the approximately 1km. wooden walkway, which Mr.T. didn’t even know of as it was covered with snow, when they went. As we got higher it got cooler and we came across more than a foot deep snow. I didn’t wear waterproof hiking boots, so my boots and even my socks got wet. Lesson learn't.

The lake +- 2000’ was partly frozen, with the large Sarail mountain +- 3,000’ and glazier behind. It was worth it. We had light drizzle, so we changed into warmer and waterproof clothes and had a lovely lunch. Downhill went much easier, but was hard on the knees. It took us about 3 1/2 – 4 hours. We have had the photos developed and are happy. We encountered a few friendly other hikers, one guy from J.H.B recognized Afrikaans, but couldn’t understand a word. We saw one squirrel on the hike and heard a few birds. On the road we saw a few buck. There were a lot of moss and old trees on the trail.

Later we were sitting in a lodge having beer, then Smirnoff Vodka coolers with lots of ice in and Earl Grey with a few other wet golfers and hikers, by now it was raining.