Three Isle Lake - Backpacking

3 Isle Lake: July 17-18

The hike in to 3 Isle Lake totaled about 12 km. We packed our tent and all our gear and planned for a two night trip. Two nights at 3 Isle Lake with a day hike on the second day.

We started at Upper Kananaskis Lake and from there the path goes around the north side of the lake. At the far end it branches off and heads into the pine woods.

From there the path was fairly level and eventually reached the Kananaskis River where it followed along westward to The Forks. The Forks is a picnic/rest/overnight camping spot with several picnic tables and bear bins for the food.

Just beyond The Forks there was a young grizzly standing upright on the trail. To which (I was told on the way home) I exclaimed "Oh S#*$ !". We started making some noise and he walked slowly away.

I was ready to head home right then and there but the bear gave us the trail and went from where we just came. Head back and he would think we were stalking him. So we carried on our way.

From here to 3 Isle Lake it was only about 2.5 km but it has an elevation rise of close to 2000 ft. On the way up there was a waterfall, a good place to rest before tackling the switchbacks and final climb.

The rest of the hike was all uphill and even required some climbing in spots. Once at the top it was downhill thru the forest again until you reach the lake and the campsites.

There was a lot of evidence of bears in the area. Trees with the bark scratched off, fresh bear dung, fresh prints in the mud, and fresh prints on the bear boxes where the food is store. After one rather sleepless night on my part (Peter slept like a baby) we came back to civilization.

Eating oatmeal and dried blueberries for breakfast. So Yum.

There was plenty of evidence that bears were in the area.
The tree above is only one of many trees
where the bottom 12ft of bark has been stripped away.
Used for sharpening claws, rubbing backs,
and finding bugs to eat under the bark.