Anna's Next Adventure: Pickle Jar Lakes ...

On the drive there ... Highway 40 through Kananaskis, beautiful!

Finally, we were able to get out for a hike. The weather has been perfect here lately - mid 20s, blue, sunny sky - so, I was itching to get out into the mountains this weekend. A group of us headed into Kananaskis to hike to the Pickle Jar Lakes (cool name, hey?), a moderately rated hike, perfect for the first hike of the summer. Luckily for us, the group members who had hiked the trail before were confused about where to turn off for the trailhead. I say luckily, because the confusion enabled us to get up close and personal with several herds of big horned sheep and ... a bear! We spent about 10 minutes by the side of the road watching the teenage (maybe) bear (which, after some research at the end of the day has led me to believe that it was a cinnamon coloured black bear and not a grizzly) wander around, digging under logs for food. The sighting made my day.

Big horn sheep and wildflowers

Oh my! What big horns you have!

Once we got onto the trail though, I was super happy to be walking. The hike was a nice mix of walking through forest, meadow and mountain. My favourite part was the meadow because all the wildflowers are in bloom at the moment and look stunning. The reward at the top of the hike was a series of four lakes, known as the Pickle Jar Lakes. Apparently, the lakes received their names because there are so many fish (trout) in them that you can put a pickle jar into the lake and fill it with fish. We wandered about a bit and had lunch at the second lake, where one of our group decided that it was warm enough for a swim. Needless to say, he didn't last long and had to endure wet undies for the rest of the day! The walk back down was pleasant enough and by the time we got back to Calgary, we were all ready to flop. It was great to finally get out into the mountains and can't wait to read up in the hiking books for more summer time adventures!