Highwood Pass, Kananaskis Country, Alberta

July 25, 2011

Kananaskis is located west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the front range of the Rockies.
It takes about an hour from the south end of Calgary to get there.  Our trip today took us five hours, including many stops and a picnic lunch.
We left our home in Bragg Creek and travelled to Turner Valley, Black Diamond and on to Longview.  On the north side of Longview you head south-west on Highway 541 toward the foothills and then loop back to the north thru the Rockies on Highway 40. 

The Highway 40 going thru the Highwood Pass is only open from about the end of June to December.  Winters find the pass closed as it is goes thru a classic arctic tundra.  The Highwood Pass is the highest navigable pass in Canada.  Highway 40 climbs to an elevation of 7,200ft at the top.  The summit is about at the tree line, and the alpine areas are accessible here with interpretive trails thru the Highwood Meadows.

We turned off on the Smith-Dorren Spray Trail to go to the Kananaskis Lakes to check out the campsites for future visits.  The Lower Kananaskis Lake is a natural lake that was turned into a reservoir.  It is in the Peter Loughheed Provincial Park, along with the Upper Kananaskis Lake. 
These lakes are part of a series of natural and man made reservoirs in the Kananaskis and Bow Valleys used for hydro electric power, flood control and water reserves for the City of Calgary.

Upper Kananaskis Lake

These lakes are also used for many recreational activities.  Several campgrounds are found here.  It seems that there are only a few sites that actually are close to or back onto the lakes edge.  There are several paved bike trails connecting the campgrounds. 

Upper Kananaskis Lake

Canoeing and kayaking are great on these lakes as it is smooth and shallow at some of the shores.  The water is a peaceful emerald green with beautiful shades of blues and there are majestic mountains as a backdrop.  It is a beautiful setting.  If you are going to go boating down the Kananaskis River watch out for rapids, such as the "Widow Maker".  You can only guess the reason why it is named this. 

There is also a golf course nearby, along with fishing and hiking.  In the winter there is skiing and cross country skiing.
If you are going to hike here remember this is Bear Country so travel in groups, make noise, and carry bear spray.  Often trails where bears have been sighted will be closed or will have warnings posted.

Also, think twice about drinking from the icy cold clear mountain streams that can look so tempting.  You can get giardiasis, parasites and bacteria by drinking this untreated water and the results are not good.

It is Monday today and the highway is not busy, so we see alot of wildlife along the way today.  There were many mangy looking mountain sheep right on the road licking up salt and minerals from the asphalt. 

Along with a long-legged young moose who was drinking from a small stream that was trickling down the ditch.

There were many white tail deer and even a smaller black bear that ran out of the bush and turned around to run right back in it.  The ground squirrels were very active today, too.  The wild flowers are in full bloom right now and the hillsides are covered in purples and the ditches have alot of red flowers in them.

It was a nice day trip!