Window Mountain Lake

Window Mountain Lake sits on the Alberta side of the provincial border with British Columbia.  Looking at Google maps this morning, it appears that the ridge line we were looking at, complete with one solo alpine climber at the top, is the border.  I had no idea as I sat on the east end of the small mountain lake looking up.

It was a 10 kilometre hike, or over 17,000 steps, in and out.  By the end, my legs were ready to rest.  They were feeling heavy.

Being a long weekend, we saw lots and lots of people, both the the random camping areas along the road leading to the trail head, and on the trail itself.  There were people swimming and fishing at various spots at the lake.  I would imagine that on a weekday, this particular trail would be much quieter.

The heat wave we seem to be in makes these kind of hike inherently more taxing.  “We need to bring at least 2 litres of water for each of us when the days are hot like this,” said Heather.  She is right.  We easily went through the 3 litres we had and were still feeling thirsty.  Live and learn.

The list of the hikes we have done is growing.  Heather’s list is even longer as she also goes out with friends and with a hiking group.  There are some that we would definitely like to do again.  There are others that will be one timers.  The hike up to Window Mountain Lake is one that we would happily do again, as the payoff of the lake at the top is pretty sweet.

There are also some magnificent views of Crowsnest Mountain and the Seven Sisters on the drive back.  I keep marvelling at the epic quality of Crownest Mountain.  Heather looked up the trail details - 7 kilometres and over 1000 metre elevation gain.  They say you don’t need to be an expert to do it, but I am hesitant nonetheless.  The idea of being above the tree line on wind exposed ridges make me queasy.