Peter Lougheed PP Family Hike 2024 – Day 3

Soggy walk to sunshine.

Laura and Margaux with Laswson Lake in the distance and unsettle sky above.

Day 3 Turbine Canyon CG to Interlakes Parking Lot, 16 km, 147 m elevation gain, 631 m elevation loss, 5 hrs 20 min.

Margaux in her sleeping jacket. She is not looking too impressed but at least she was warm.

We were up and out of the tent by 6:30 am. I was awake and it was not raining yet so while it was early I figured it was time to get up. We packed up the inside of the tent but went to make breakfast before before stuffing everything into the packs.

Coffee water boiling. I guarantee Margaux has had her breakfast.

I had the coffee on by 7:00 am. Unlike dinner the night before the eating area was a hive of activity. We talked to a few of the campers getting ready for the day including a father and son duo who were heading over North Kananaskis Pass aiming for Palliser Pass for another two nights in the backcountry. Unfortunately the weather forecast was calling for a couple of days of rain and the father looked way more enthusiastic than the son. I said in a cheerful voice to “enjoy the trip” but I was afraid it could turn into a bit of a soggy slog. As we were finishing up our oatmeal the sky opened and it started to drizzle on us. Luckily the tent was in a bit of a protected area so we were able to pack up and stay mostly dry.

Just after 8 am. We are already to go. I have my poncho on. It works great except for a little moisture around the sleeves. I love the poncho, almost. I just wish it came with proper sleeves. Over the winter I plan on trying to close off the sleeves.

It was still drizzling lightly in camp as we left. The initial walk took us past Lawson Lake. The clouds started to lift making for a moody and interesting skyscape.

Looking across Lawson Lake. The official names of the mountains on the ridge have to do with sunken British battleships for WWI. A minor peak just off centre is unofficially named Hermione Peak (2860 m).

In the picture above the peaks with official names are all World War I era battleships of the Royal Navy. Hermione Peak is an unofficial name but I believe it would have been named for the HMS Hermione. By the outbreak of WWI the ship was already consider outdated and served in minor back up roles in remote and relative safe locations of the British Empire. After the war the ship was renamed as a training ship. Interesting the name was changed to TS Warspite. I found this interesting because one of the peaks is named Warspite in honour of the battleship that bore the name during the war. I found the name Warspite to be unusual and was curious to origins of the name. After searching the internet I discovered that the name had been in use for British navel ships since 1596. The origin of the name appears to be Old English spelling of spite, speight. Speight was a green woodpecker suggesting the original ship was named because it was going to “peak” holes in the enemy ships. The name Warspite is still in use today for a nuclear ballistic missile submarine.

Panaroma of Lawson Lake. The clouded peak is Mount Black Prince (2932 m) the double peak at centre is Hermione Peak, the lump three quarters the way to right is Mount Warspite (2800 m) and the triangular peak at the end of the ridge is Forks Peak (2862 m).

Margaux hard charging without looking at the lovely alpine flowers.

I refuse to look at the camera says Margaux. Appears that the rain has let up.

The clouds make for some interesting photos but I am sure glad we were on our way home.

Margaux hard charging down the trail. The colours were pretty but it was close to the end of the alpine flower season and the flowers were all looking a little beat up.

There are two little climbs that partition the valley I don’t know if they are old rockfalls or faults but the little up and downs made for enjoyable hiking.

We are headed up the green rise at centre. There is a small unnamed pond at the base of the climb.

Laura cresting the last climb on the trip. The ridge in the background separates the meadow we have been hiking in from the main valley. The little pond is another example of a karst lake. The pond has no outlet and is the lowest point in the area. The water drains from the pond through cracks in the limestone under the lake. The source of the lake is a glacier on Mt Beatty.

Cloudy look down the valley to Mt Lakeview Station (2930 m) on the left and Mt Lyautey (2920 m) hidden in the clouds on the right. Laura is not wearing her hood so it must not be raining at this time.

Laura leading down the trail. Can just see that she has her hood on indicating it must have started to rain.

This is the new trail that Alberta Parks built taking hikers around Forks Campground replacing the original trail that passed through the campground.

The trail as it bypasses Forks campground is quite rocky which was unusual for the Turbine Canyon Trail.

I love this mossy little cliff. Laura’s hood is shiny indicating that it is still raining.

It was drizzling as we passed by Forks Campground so we decided against stopping for a break and to keep hiking. The time was 10:35 am. We had a little over 2.5 hours of easy hiking to get back to the car. A little while after leaving the campground we were passed by the two young women we saw on the evening of Day 1 arriving at Three Isle Lake Campground after hiking Northover Ridge. They had also hiked to Turbine Canyon CG but took the more challenging route over South and North Kananaskis Pass. They were moving pretty quickly as they passed us and we soon lost sight of them down the trail. We kept moving at our steady pace down the trail and before we knew it we arrived at Nomad Creek. The sky had brightened up so we decided to take a break on the logs and enjoy the little rays of sunshine that were making their way through the clouds.

Lunch time. Laura looking pretty happy with her wrap. Margaux has probably already eaten and is relaxing on her Chuck It mat. Looking at the two of them it is very obviously not raining. 11:45 am.

During our lunch the sky brightened up so I took the opportunity to put my poncho into my pack and took a moment to remove Margaux’s rain jacket. We spent about 30 minutest relaxing before packing up and setting off down the trail. Next stop was the car which was just a little under 4 km away.

Margaux hard charging down the trail.

Margaux taking a long look across the lake from the dam. That is Mt Lakeview Station (2930 m) on the right. The valley we are looking at in the distance is not the valley we walked up but the way to Hidden and Aster Lakes and Northover Ridge. We had to walk around Mt Lakeview Station counter clockwise to access Three Isle Lake Campground.

The view to the parking lot. 1:20 pm and we are almost finished.

We arrived back at the car at about 1:25 pm. It had taken us 5 hrs and 20 minutes to hike back to the car. It had been a good if uneventful walk out. After getting in the car our first stop was the Fortress Mt Gas Station to pick up a refreshing coke to share on the ride home. It was the end of another very successful family backpacking trip. The trip served as a very good second option when our initial plan was rained out. We all got to see areas of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park that we had not seen before and the weather had stayed pretty good for most of the trip. Now time to plan next year’s trip.

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