Kananaskis Country - Rocky Mountains Part 3

In which Moominmama despairs of getting a good photo of the Canadian Rockies due to smoky haze and rain...

Smoke from the west continues to drift east, leaving me with mountain shots that look woefully overexposed.

With the forecast calling for rain, Moominmama hoped the precipitation would clear the air. Instead it brought in low clouds, obscuring the peaks entirely.

But no one in their right mind complains about rain when so many places in Canada and the northwestern U.S. are burning.  And the rain did let up at various times, inviting Moominmama to do some nice hikes up to some glacial lakes.

I saw several bears (from my car), bighorn sheep (in the middle of the road), ptarmigan (including a mama and chicks) and pika, (see below) adorable members of the rabbit family, who live among the rocks at high altitude.

Kananaskis, the area on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, is lesser known compared with the national parks in Banff and Jasper to the north. Rather than national parks, this area is full of Alberta provincial parks.

Aside from some adventurous German hikers, most of the people I met were Albertans. And the parks have been designed with local families in mind. 

I saw entire Alberta families loaded up with backpacking gear; children wearing smaller versions. One roughly 5-year-old girl had a threadbare stuffed bunny peaking out of the top of her pack, oriented so the bunny could see the scenery as she made her way up the trail! 

The "backcountry" campsite where they were headed was less than two kilometers from the trailhead, equipped with bear boxes, tent platforms and a communal cooking area. 

It must have seemed like a major expedition to the kids, but manageable for an entire family - a great way to get kids excited about camping without asking the youngest to carry gear until they get cranky. 

When I attempted more ambitious hikes, I was often surprised to see 9- and 10-year-olds fully able to keep up the pace, clearly confident and experienced hikers.

The opportunity to get to one of the glaciers in Kananaskis inspired me to take the trail to Rae Glacier. In addition to the elevation, the rocky terrain made it a challenge. 

Once past the trees, there is nothing but rocks and scree left behind by the grinding force of the ice, a moraine that can slide and tumble freely if you're not careful with your footing. Going down in a rockslide is not how Moominmama wants to exit the world.

But I have a passion for the strange crevasses and piercing blue of mountain glaciers, and the Rockies are one of the few places to find them. It's just getting much harder. 

Below is Rae Glacier, when I finally made it to the top lip of the scree. The two hikers in the lower right corner provide a sense of scale.

Which is to say, there's not much left. No blue; no sliding blocks of glacial ice. There may some ice left under the snow, but it's melting and rushing out as water over the rocks. 

I may need to be a far more determined hiker to get up to elevations where the glaciers really do still exist. 

That said, there were magnificent views in the other direction, and the air had cleared enough that good photos were possible!

Moominmama is now outside of Kananaskis, near Calgary, dealing with the minutiae of life, like getting a much-needed haircut and restocking the larder. 

I've had time to review some of the photos I took at toward the end of my stay, and I think I did ok! 

I head back tomorrow to stay at a park near Canmore, at the northern end of Kananaskis Country.

But I leave you with a photo of Upper Kananaskis Lake reflecting Mount Indefatigable. The week in photography wasn't a complete waste!