Mountains viewed from Kananaskis Lookout
We hiked today to the fire lookout. The trail is wide (a road to the tower for the last couple of kilometres), but definitely uphill all the way. From our campsite at about 1790 m we climbed steadily all the way up to 2130 m. At the top is a picnic table, an observation point, and an outhouse, as well as the private area fenced off for the fire lookout.
The lookout operator asked us if we had ever been there before, and when I said “No” he invited us to come up onto the platform. You get a much better view out over the entire Kananaskis Valley from this vantage point than from the public viewpoint. I talked to him a bit about the role he plays in looking for fires, and Enid talked to his wife, who is also a lookout operator. They also had their granddaughter staying there with them. He indicated that they don’t like to invite everyone up, as sometimes there are many people there and it gets pretty crowded, and some people behave irresponsibly.
We ate our lunch at the picnic table, then started down. There were hardly any flowers along the trail, but on the way back I spotted a few small purple orchids. They were tiny, less than an inch in size. It had looked like there might be thunderstorms building when we were at the top, but they dissipated during the afternoon. We washed some clothes, and since the sun came back out, they dried rapidly.