CR2013: Rummel Lake, Rummel Pass, Rain

The next day, August 30th, opened with the morning sun illuminating the clouds and painting bands of pink and gold on the mountains.

Outside our window was a male red crossbill, a bird Joan and I rarely see in Ohio, although it is supposed to winter here.

Today our destination was Rummel Lake, named after Baroness Elizabeth "Lizzie" Rummel. We had visited this lake only once before, in 2004, in an intermittent drizzle.

First we checked out the nearby bridge on the Mount Shark road, looking at flood damage and repairs.

The first stretch of the Rummel Lake trail, which is just opposite the lodge, is boring. Old logging roads wind and switchback through the forest, climbing without offering any vistas. Gradually they narrow and become more of a trail.

Occasionally some deadfall offers a tantalizing but frustrating peek across the valley. You must go further, and then the trail finally becomes an honest walk in the woods.

After about an hour and a half into the hike we heard some noises. A male spruce grouse, in full display, caught up to us on the trail.

He was fearless. Well, I'm not a mind-reader nor a grouse-whisperer, but he acted fearless. Or was it stupid? He came up to us and walked on by, clucking. Look at those eyebrows!

As you might suspect, he was defending and supervising his harem of five or six spruce grouse hens.

We stood transfixed, frequently using our binoculars. The group slowly worked its way through the woods, parallel to the trail, foraging. Eventually we had to tear ourselves away and continue on.

There are two routes for the final approach to the lake, the "snowshoe" route, not scenic but free of avalanche danger, and the summer route (the original). We went up on the summer route, which included some beating through willow thickets and cairn spotting to make our way along one or two rerouted sections of trail. The summer route, in general, hews closely to the creek; to follow it confidently we highly recommend Gillean Daffern's book, Kananaskis Country Trail Guide, Volume 1.

Arriving at Rummel Lake, I walked close to the shore and took its portrait.

To continue on to Rummel Pass follow the trail along the left (north) side of the lake, which eventually cuts into the trees and after a brief climb takes you to the approach to the pass. The trees thin out and then disappear as you keep going.

It being late summer, the tarns had dried out.

This spot was as far as we went. Looking back, you can see why we decided it was time to drop back down.

The peaks on the far side of the valley were disappearing into blue-grey mist. We opened our day packs and pulled out our rain jackets, which were almost ripped from our hands by the strong wind out here in the open.

It didn't start to rain until we reached the lake, where the wind was much gentler. We chose the broad, easier, and quicker "winter" route, accompanied by varying degrees of precipitation. Sometimes there was a steady shower, sometimes it almost stopped, but in the end it rained during the entire long slog back down to the lodge. By the time we finished with the logging road and its unvarying surface our feet were aching.

But we were back in time for afternoon tea and cleanup before dinner. Tomorrow we would move on, so Rummel Pass must wait for another year, when our desire to see the pass overcomes our aversion to the logging road.