Pickle Jar Lakes and a Ferocious Squirrel
When you live in a country where winter reigns seven or more months a year, you tend to jump at the chance to soak up the summer. Determined to enjoy the mountains while they're big rocks instead of big snow piles, a couple of friends and I piled in the car and headed out for a day of hiking at Pickle Jar Lakes in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.
Or maybe Elbow-Sheep Wildland Park or Sheep River Provincial Park or Lantern Creek Provincial Recreation area or the Highwood and Cataract River Valleys, which all may be part of Kananaskis. The map boundaries are unclear, but here's a good reference map either way.
Pickle Jar day use area is about a 90 minute drive south of Calgary that takes you through fun and quaint rural towns like Millarville, Black Diamond and Longview. You'll drive through farm towns before reaching the rolling foothills and popping out at the base of the mountains on highway 40 to enter the park.
To find the very nondescript trailhead, park in the Lantern Creek Day Use parking lot. There's a washroom and garbage bin and giant map here.
Of course we missed the giant map and stromped off unprepared across the highway to what we hoped was the trailhead. It's not marked with a sign, trail name, markers or anything. We were fortunate to get to ask another group of hikers who had done the trail before if we were headed the right way.
[caption id="attachment_2677" align="aligncenter" width="238"]
Hello nondescript path to adventure. And hopefully not a harrowing experience lost in the woods.[/caption]
It is a gorgeous and moderately difficult 10.5 km hike up to the lake. The elevation gain is 500 m (the lake is at 2200 m) and round trip with a lunch stop and side trip to the second lake took about 5.5 hours. I recommend hiking poles due to a couple sections of switchbacks, a steep burst and a stretch over a scree slope. No scrambling or climbing required though.
Fishing is permitted at Pickle Jar. It is catch and release and you need a provincial license.
The first few kilometres take you up through forest trees above Lantern Creek. You'll cross a handful of cleared slopes full of wildflowers and grasses that I suspect were cleared by avalanches.
[gallery ids="2642,2641,2644,2665,2674,2676" type="square"]
Keep an eye on the path as you'll likely see some mud and muck as the trail crosses a couple boggy and soggy areas. Waterproof hiking boots and even a change of socks are a good idea for this trail.
[gallery ids="2643,2640" type="square" columns="2"]
Around the 3.5-4 km mark, you'll start hitting the switchbacks that take you up the mountain slope. Remember that steep burst I mentioned? It pops up right at the end of your incline. So take a deep breath, swear like a swarthy sailor and make that trail your bitch! Then stop for a moment to hate your life and take in beautiful, sweeping views of south Kananaskis.
[gallery ids="2645,2651,2648" type="square"]
You'll emerge on the mountain ridge to even more incredible views looking north and west further into Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. This was my favourite vista by far!
[gallery ids="2654,2655" type="square" columns="2"]
Now it's time to take your time ambling over the scree slope. The path is well maintained but the rocks are loose, so proceed carefully.
This is the first peek of the first Pickle Jar lake!
[gallery ids="2658,2659" type="square" columns="2"]
Okay, I have no idea why it is called Pickle Jar Lake. It's sort of emerald coloured? It is not shaped like a jar. We saw very few pickles. But it's a stunning little lake nonetheless.
[gallery ids="2660,2662" type="square" columns="2"]
We stopped and sat on a rock for lunch. An intrepid Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel cautiously approached us while we were chowing down. They seem to have become habituated to humans around the lake, so he enjoyed snatching a few snacks from my fingers.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lMYLsaWM_o?ecver=1&w=560&h=315]
And then he got a bit too bold... ouch!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw2qTLXCcHE&w=560&h=315]
We also saw quite a few Pikas harvesting grass and storing them in hidey holes in the scree. Unfortunately, they are rock shaped and rock coloured and do not sit still. So I did not get a good photo of the otherwise adorable rodents - they look like hamsters with big rounded ears.
After getting mauled by a squirrel, we decided to pop up to the second lake in the chain of four. If you walk to the east end of the lake, you can cross another avalanche rock fall and climb over a small ridge, past a gurgling waterfall, to reach the second lake. It is a very shallow lake and somewhat slimy. Not as pretty as the first lake in the chain.
[gallery ids="2666,2669,2670" type="square"]
You can keep going past this lake to two others - the fourth lake is supposed to be the most beautiful. We didn't have an accurate map of the area though, so without a trail map or any idea how much farther the lakes could be, we decided turning back was the safer course of action. Just saving something for next time!
Heading back up over the scree and down the steep switchbacks, I was grateful to have my hiking poles for added stabilization. They make a big difference in my opinion!
[gallery ids="2672,2673" type="square" columns="2"]
We made brisk time back to the car, despite my stopping to take photos of all the flora and fauna, managing to enjoy mild weather and escape before afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. What luck!
[gallery ids="2653,2646,2675" type="square"]
Oh, except for the nail I got in my tire... but the puncture was luckily well sealed and we made it back to Cowtown without a flat or tire explosion. This is why I usually bring both my tire repair kit and car safety kit with me to the mountains. Murphy's Law dictates this is where things go wrong because there is no cell reception for hours. And also dictates this is the one time I forgot to pack the tire repair kit.
Learning to change a tire was (thankfully) not part of this adventure.
Hello nondescript path to adventure. And hopefully not a harrowing experience lost in the woods.[/caption]
It is a gorgeous and moderately difficult 10.5 km hike up to the lake. The elevation gain is 500 m (the lake is at 2200 m) and round trip with a lunch stop and side trip to the second lake took about 5.5 hours. I recommend hiking poles due to a couple sections of switchbacks, a steep burst and a stretch over a scree slope. No scrambling or climbing required though.
Fishing is permitted at Pickle Jar. It is catch and release and you need a provincial license.
The first few kilometres take you up through forest trees above Lantern Creek. You'll cross a handful of cleared slopes full of wildflowers and grasses that I suspect were cleared by avalanches.
[gallery ids="2642,2641,2644,2665,2674,2676" type="square"]
Keep an eye on the path as you'll likely see some mud and muck as the trail crosses a couple boggy and soggy areas. Waterproof hiking boots and even a change of socks are a good idea for this trail.
[gallery ids="2643,2640" type="square" columns="2"]
Around the 3.5-4 km mark, you'll start hitting the switchbacks that take you up the mountain slope. Remember that steep burst I mentioned? It pops up right at the end of your incline. So take a deep breath, swear like a swarthy sailor and make that trail your bitch! Then stop for a moment to hate your life and take in beautiful, sweeping views of south Kananaskis.
[gallery ids="2645,2651,2648" type="square"]
You'll emerge on the mountain ridge to even more incredible views looking north and west further into Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. This was my favourite vista by far!
[gallery ids="2654,2655" type="square" columns="2"]
Now it's time to take your time ambling over the scree slope. The path is well maintained but the rocks are loose, so proceed carefully.
This is the first peek of the first Pickle Jar lake!
[gallery ids="2658,2659" type="square" columns="2"]
Okay, I have no idea why it is called Pickle Jar Lake. It's sort of emerald coloured? It is not shaped like a jar. We saw very few pickles. But it's a stunning little lake nonetheless.
[gallery ids="2660,2662" type="square" columns="2"]
We stopped and sat on a rock for lunch. An intrepid Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel cautiously approached us while we were chowing down. They seem to have become habituated to humans around the lake, so he enjoyed snatching a few snacks from my fingers.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lMYLsaWM_o?ecver=1&w=560&h=315]
And then he got a bit too bold... ouch!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw2qTLXCcHE&w=560&h=315]
We also saw quite a few Pikas harvesting grass and storing them in hidey holes in the scree. Unfortunately, they are rock shaped and rock coloured and do not sit still. So I did not get a good photo of the otherwise adorable rodents - they look like hamsters with big rounded ears.
After getting mauled by a squirrel, we decided to pop up to the second lake in the chain of four. If you walk to the east end of the lake, you can cross another avalanche rock fall and climb over a small ridge, past a gurgling waterfall, to reach the second lake. It is a very shallow lake and somewhat slimy. Not as pretty as the first lake in the chain.
[gallery ids="2666,2669,2670" type="square"]
You can keep going past this lake to two others - the fourth lake is supposed to be the most beautiful. We didn't have an accurate map of the area though, so without a trail map or any idea how much farther the lakes could be, we decided turning back was the safer course of action. Just saving something for next time!
Heading back up over the scree and down the steep switchbacks, I was grateful to have my hiking poles for added stabilization. They make a big difference in my opinion!
[gallery ids="2672,2673" type="square" columns="2"]
We made brisk time back to the car, despite my stopping to take photos of all the flora and fauna, managing to enjoy mild weather and escape before afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. What luck!
[gallery ids="2653,2646,2675" type="square"]
Oh, except for the nail I got in my tire... but the puncture was luckily well sealed and we made it back to Cowtown without a flat or tire explosion. This is why I usually bring both my tire repair kit and car safety kit with me to the mountains. Murphy's Law dictates this is where things go wrong because there is no cell reception for hours. And also dictates this is the one time I forgot to pack the tire repair kit.
Learning to change a tire was (thankfully) not part of this adventure.
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