Rawson Lake

It was a day for wildlife on the road. We saw 6 separate deer, 5 separate ospreys, 2 bighorn sheep, 2 Three Toed Woodpeckers, 1 bald eagle, a bunch of Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels, a Northern Rockies Junco, 2 Gray Jays, a Least Chipmunk -- the list is endless.

Rawson Lake lies at the end of the Kananaskis Valley, above Upper Kananaskis Lake. It's one of those trails where all 300 m of height gain occurs in one 2 km stretch of trail. It starts at the Upper Lakes with great views of Mt. Indefatigable (Mount Fatty to us locals).



The trails hugs the shore of the upper lake, crossing Sarrail Creek & Falls.




It turns uphill, and winds steeply up through a moist forest.



It was in here (but on the way down) that we saw the woodpeckers and gray jays.




The lake itself is a pretty tarn in the shadows of Mt. Sarrail, and the lake still has ice on it, plus lots of snow (and mud) on the trail.





The view back takes in Gap Mountain and The Opals.



The Junco we seemed perfectly happy to pose for me, as did one of the ground squirrels.




We got no photos of the 4 deer crossing the road, or of the sheep on the road, or of the huge eagle near Kan Village. Tragic, that.