Nature Journal Entry #6: Elbow Lake Trail
Where: Elbow Lake Trail in Kananaskis
When: September 29th 2024 (Late Morning - Early Afternoon)
Highlight: The majesty of our dear Rocky Mountains. And also the rain!
I want to start with some context for today's short entry. Taylor and I are adamant urbanites. As we live downtown and do not drive, we rarely get into the countryside. For that reason, we do not get the opportunity to go hiking out in back country. As an additional note, despite reading Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future by Gloria Dickie (it is a fantastic read), I have an odd anxiety about bear encounters. I have full knowledge that my concern about them is likely an overreaction, but nonetheless, going into the Rockies for a hike did make me nervous.
Krystal, Alexis, Taylor, and I started our morning by driving along Kananaskis Trail to scout out the Golden Larch trees we've heard about over the years. As you drive into the mountains, it becomes quickly apparent how truly immense the Rockies are. You can see the Golden Larch from the highway and they form a bright band across the jagged and towering peaks. As we drove further south, the weather got worse with heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts. Eventually, we reached the other side of the storm only to be met with excessively packed parking lots. Rather than try to secure a spot, we drove back north to the less crowded Elbow Lake Trail parking lot.
Though we were all unfamiliar with it, I found Elbow Lake Trail to a fairly short and steep. Along the way, there was a lot to take in, but I payed attention to a few key things. The trail is surrounded by Rocky Mountain fir trees, mossy rocks, and pelt lichens. The pelt lichen was abnormally large, at least in comparison to lichen I've seen in the city. According to Wikipedia, pelt lichen (or peltigera) often grow on soil and is foliose, which refers to the lichen's "flat, leaf-life lobes". In any case, they looked really cool. Here is some more information about pelt lichen in Kananaskis. The forest was quiet, but not as quiet as I anticipated. With the shifting weather, massive gusts of wind howled through the valley and shook the conifer forest's canopy. Despite how remote it seemed to me, there was still an occasional airplane flying overhead (likely departing to and arriving from Vancouver or Victoria). Upon our descent, the clear skies greyed out with rainfall. The trails got muddier as we made our way down, but most of us were prepared, so it worked out quite fine. By the time we got back to the parking lot, I was already excited to return on a nicer day (and perhaps with better gear). No bear sightings!
