"O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road"
Yesterday I made a post about walking around Canmore, that was the low road. The Highland trail along the slopes of Mount Lawrence Grassi would be the high road.
We started the hike by the Rundle Forebay Reservoir which is across from the Nordic Centre. There is free parking at the Reservoir for anyone with a Kananaskis pass. Many people would start this hike at Quarry Lake, but they charge an additional fee to park there. The photo above is looking over Canmore, across the valley towards Grotto Mountain.
Here is quarry lake, it's a popular spot for swimming on a hot day. Most lakes in the area are freezing because they are fed by glacial streams, this one is more of a shallow pit. It wasn't time for a dip, we were headed up the slopes.
As one ascends the heights, it's nice to look back. A series of gulley's or avalanche paths make for easy viewing back across the Bow Valley.
The forest looks new and could have been replanted. It wouldn't be clear cutting in such a visible spot next to town in a park. Likely one of many frequent fires too out this patch.
The path is easy to follow and has been eroded by mountain bikers. When descending the mountain be careful when walking on their trails. The occasional sign reminds you which trail is for whom.
Looking further up the mountain towards one of the many peaks. It's a long way up even from the highline trail. We decided to do an easier hike since a friend was in town and it was in the afternoon.
The main peak of Mount Lawrence Grassi towers 2682m above the town. There's a popular hike I'll share soon up to Ha Ling Peak which is a mere 2400m and is part of the same mountain.
We keep looking back across the valley every chance we get. The hike started to the left of the field in the middle of the picture above. This photo is only taken 1/5th of the way up the mountain.
The East End of Mount Rundle, on this side is Canmore on the other side is Banff. The Smith-Dorrien Trail, a seasonal road goes up from Canmore, deep into Kananaskis park and is a great drive. One can often see goats and sheep up there and it's a fast way to get up to the start of many great hikes above town.
It was time to begin our descent back down to the reservoir where the hike began. That's Princess Margaret Mountain overlooking the gates to Banff.
The Reservoir is clearly manmade. To get here you have to cross a few dikes and a powerline. There are trails going everywhere but this was the quickest way back to the our starting spot.
We were in a rush because I wanted to drive around Banff a little looking for wildlife who are best to see at dawn and dusk. The overall hike was about 7.5 kilometers and involved just over three hundred feet of vertical.
All said, this was a pretty good hike. We love walking around Canmore and this is just a fraction of the 1000s of kilometers of trails in the area. Thank you for reading.
All photos taken with an s22 phone
