Window Lake and Tent Mountain.

Moving on from Revelstoke and beginning the journey south to meet up with some lovely people we met on the road on our first trip west, the first stop on the way there was in Cochrane.

Cochrane is not only close to the youngest (💗) but also a stop to visit with Ontario friends who had traveled out for Calgary Stampede. Always good to visit with good people.

The route south to Blairmore gave us the chance to go home briefly to chop down the now waist high grass and pull some of the jungle of weeds. (not kidding…!!)

Then back on the road headed for Lost Lemon Campground in Blairmore (a favourite)

It would be a few days before our friends, Jordy and Tanya, were going to arrive….so …the search for an interesting hike that we had not done before turned up Tent Mountain to Window Lake…..

Sounds intriguing ……..thought we…..!!!

The trailhead is waaaaaay up a logging road……..a long, beautiful drive into the middle of nowhere…..and then a little bit further…..!!

We parked in the best shady spot we could find and set off up the first part of the gravel road….

The first part, as many of these hikes can be……was a bit of a trudge…..

The first part is often in trees where the shade is welcome….but the view is obscured

After a couple of kms…the gravel road gave way to a stony road….!!!

…..and then the path really started to go up….

…….a few devilish switchbacks later there is a section which a bit of a scramble across the rock face. On these parts I have learned to look for the worn patches where the only real clue to the best path to proceed is the more worn surface of the rock……(most often it does not really look like a path …..!!)

Ironically as I searched for the pictures of this rock face….and did not find any I realised that the photography guy following me had to put his camera away to traverse this bit…LOL…

Abruptly at the top of this rock tho’…the path completely levels out to a flat, lovely, shaded forest trail…

…….and another kilometer on through the trees it opens out into a truly spectacular mountain lake view…….

There were quite a few people up here already….lots of them fishing…..the ones we chatted to were not catching any….but you could see the fish jumping….

It was breathtaking……..!!!…Unfortunately the smoke that day made it a little hazy so the photo is a little dull compared to reality.

I could not resist…..I found myself a little ledge…..boots off…feet in the water…..heavenly….. 😁

Scott carried on around the lake as I indulged in my spa moment….

We did go a little further…and there is a path up that scree face to a window crevice that gives the mountain its name…….but it was a hot day and there were already many people headed up there…..

We lingered for a while….it was just such a beautiful spot……

….before beginning the trip back down…

………with a few pauses to stop and stare….

Sometimes you just have to….but you can’t look and move your feet at the same time……that’s the fast way to the bottom of the mountain……

As we made our way down there were many many groups of people on their way up…..from teens with fishing poles…to families with teens who were clearly unimpressed at what their parents had them doing on vacation….LOL…. and many other people just happy to be there….!!!

It always surprises me how much easier the tricky rock face bits are on the way down. It’s easier to see the footholds when you are looking down…!!!

The actual walking down the path is harder tho’……in these dry conditions the dusty path can be treacherously slippery.

At the bottom of the trudge part the view down into that little meadow was quite lovely. The change in perspective as you go down is almost like a whole new path………but maybe it was seeing the truck and knowing there was a thermos of coffee waiting……!!!

These logging roads off the Crowsnest path have great spots for wild camping…..if you peek through the trees there are many, many trailers tucked into some lovely spots. Some of them in groups and some in private little glades. Very tempting….!!!!

Extra Pix