Elk Lakes can be accessed from either the Alberta side as an easy backpacking trip or the British Columbia side as a nice day hike. We planned to make it a two night backpacking trip but ended up returning after one night due to some less than pleasant weather.In 2008 the province was undertaking some major construction work in the Kananaskis Lakes area. Paving some parking lots that were formerly gravel and heavily rutted and filled with large potholes. Resurfacing some of the roads in the area.
We arrived early in the morning and found the parking lot we wanted to use half under construction but geared up and left anyway. About a kilometer in I started to feel really nervous about leaving my car in that lot if construction crews were going to be working there so I dropped my pack, left Jenn and decided to go back and move my car to the next closest lot.
Unfortunately the next closest lot was getting repaved and was covered in fresh oil so I had to go all the way to the lot for the Mount Everest interpretive trail. I left the car and jogged back to the car. Jogging in heavy hiking boots actually isn't all that much fun. It probably took me the better part of 45 minutes to return to Jenn but I was nicely warmed up having tacked an extra 4km on to the start of my hike.The trail starts on utilities service road from the Elk Pass parking lot. It climbs a short hill before returning to the power line cut. The trail follows the cut line for a couple kilometers before turning off into the forest and dropping down to run parallel to a small creek through a nice little valley.
After crossing the border into British Columbia the trail will gradually work it's way downward until reaching Upper Elk Lake. The most strenuous part of the hike is probably traversing the shore of the lake to the far side.All our maps had indicated that the camp site would be at the far end of Upper Elk Lake but upon reaching the far end we found a BC Parks sign indicated the campground was still another 2km down the trail. From here the trail passes through a mixture of rocky gravel flats from the meandering creek and dense and damp forest that I love.
We arrived at the campground early enough to set up the tent and still have plenty of time to explore before dinner so we decided to head up to Petain Falls. I had actually chosen the trip for the falls. It was Jenn's first backpacking trip and I knew she loved waterfalls and I wanted it to be a hike with something special for her.We set up camp, made some tea and headed up to check out the falls. Petain falls have the second highest vertical drop in Canada and are some very impressive looking falls. We took a bunch of pictures and headed back to camp for dinner.
The next morning we woke to some light snow which quickly turned to rain. I had planned for the second day to be a short day hike to the falls but since we'd already done that we decided to pack up camp and head out rather than hang out in the rain.
The hike out wasn't the most fun I'd ever had. It's never fun hiking in full rain gear. Fortunately the rain stopped shortly before we reached the Alberta - British Columbia border and we were able to take a layer off.Despite the inclement weather we had a great time and Jenn has caught the bug. This will be the first of many trips together.
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