SteveR
Member
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2016
- Messages
- 902
In a month of great camping, hiking and biking, thanks to dry and hot weather in southern Alberta, a highpoint was last week's day hike to the Headwall Lakes in Kananaskis Country west of Calgary. After a dusty gravel road drive and an easy walk on xc ski and snowshoe trails, a winding forest trail took us into the Headwall Creek valley.
Views opening up in avalanche paths falling off Mount Chester, with our destination around the corner of the low ridge up-valley.
Next- a steep but fairly short grunt up a "goat trail" in the trees and slide path at right.
These Columbine were a surprise, after all the hot weather that has brought flower season to an end in many places.
Well watered pocket meadows on benches along the headwall ascent were still crammed with arnica- here with fleabane as a centrepiece.
Swarms of fast moving, hard to capture butterflies and bees were taking full advantage of the late summer bounty. Thankfully- the mosquitos are done, and horseflies nearly absent.
One final stretch of talus to go before the first lake, on this unofficial trail/route.
Lower Headwall Lake, set in a saucer of rock. After a late lunch (more like afternoon tea!) we are going up the headwall between the two lakes, in the vicinity of the cascades at the far end that emanate from a spring draining the upper lake.
Not a bad spot to refuel!
On the way to upper Headwall Lake after lunch.
Although it hasn't been that long since our first break, an afternoon siesta is called for. By this time we have the place to ourselves, thanks to a tardy start to the day, and only 7 other hikers in the area who are on their way out by now.
The Fortress at valley head, looking much less imposing from here, compared to it's commanding presence that earns it the name as seen from the opposite aspect. It's an easy walk up from this side. Not today though- it's already late afternoon and there is a lot of clambering over blocky terrain to get to the scree slopes leading up to the summit block, which is circumvented by an out-of-sight break in the cliffs.
An austere yet beautiful setting. The snow fed waterfall that typically tumbles down the cliffs opposite into the lake, has dried up in the August heat.
While the others nap, Piper the dog and I wander around with the camera. 150 m below- Lower Headwall Lake sparkles in the breeze.
Time to get moving! A ramp of tundra leads easily down between lakes.
Up close to the cascades springing from the rocks above.
From the ridge cradling the lower lake- views west to skyline peaks on the glaciated divide between Alberta and BC.
A last look back at lower Headwall.
A stark contrast on the descent, between flowery glades and the seemingly barren limestone landscape. The adjacent talus slopes are a Pika hotspot- too elusive to photograph though.
An easy shaded finish to the day along the old xc ski trails with Mount Chester above. The ski trails/old logging roads in this area that are often used to access several other hikes as well, can sometimes feature a bounty of wild strawberries that slow progress to a crawl (literally!). Not today however- they are done for the season.
It had been at least 10 years since we had last visited these gems of lakes- I'm glad we did, on what turned out to be a perfect day with friends in the mountains.
Views opening up in avalanche paths falling off Mount Chester, with our destination around the corner of the low ridge up-valley.
Next- a steep but fairly short grunt up a "goat trail" in the trees and slide path at right.
These Columbine were a surprise, after all the hot weather that has brought flower season to an end in many places.
Well watered pocket meadows on benches along the headwall ascent were still crammed with arnica- here with fleabane as a centrepiece.
Swarms of fast moving, hard to capture butterflies and bees were taking full advantage of the late summer bounty. Thankfully- the mosquitos are done, and horseflies nearly absent.
One final stretch of talus to go before the first lake, on this unofficial trail/route.
Lower Headwall Lake, set in a saucer of rock. After a late lunch (more like afternoon tea!) we are going up the headwall between the two lakes, in the vicinity of the cascades at the far end that emanate from a spring draining the upper lake.
Not a bad spot to refuel!
On the way to upper Headwall Lake after lunch.
Although it hasn't been that long since our first break, an afternoon siesta is called for. By this time we have the place to ourselves, thanks to a tardy start to the day, and only 7 other hikers in the area who are on their way out by now.
The Fortress at valley head, looking much less imposing from here, compared to it's commanding presence that earns it the name as seen from the opposite aspect. It's an easy walk up from this side. Not today though- it's already late afternoon and there is a lot of clambering over blocky terrain to get to the scree slopes leading up to the summit block, which is circumvented by an out-of-sight break in the cliffs.
An austere yet beautiful setting. The snow fed waterfall that typically tumbles down the cliffs opposite into the lake, has dried up in the August heat.
While the others nap, Piper the dog and I wander around with the camera. 150 m below- Lower Headwall Lake sparkles in the breeze.
Time to get moving! A ramp of tundra leads easily down between lakes.
Up close to the cascades springing from the rocks above.
From the ridge cradling the lower lake- views west to skyline peaks on the glaciated divide between Alberta and BC.
A last look back at lower Headwall.
A stark contrast on the descent, between flowery glades and the seemingly barren limestone landscape. The adjacent talus slopes are a Pika hotspot- too elusive to photograph though.
An easy shaded finish to the day along the old xc ski trails with Mount Chester above. The ski trails/old logging roads in this area that are often used to access several other hikes as well, can sometimes feature a bounty of wild strawberries that slow progress to a crawl (literally!). Not today however- they are done for the season.
It had been at least 10 years since we had last visited these gems of lakes- I'm glad we did, on what turned out to be a perfect day with friends in the mountains.
