Day 15: Kananaskis Pit Stop

NOTE: With the short day, and half of it on an alternate, there is no elevation chart today. 

I’ve fallen behind with longer posts and correspondence to catch up on. Sorry if you’ve emailed and I haven’t responded! I’ll get a zero in 5 days and hope to play catch up then. Today’s entry won’t be too long for sake of time. We hiked a nice 8mi/13km to Kananaskis Village and a stay in a hostel. The first half of the morning was still on the Coral Pass Alternate. Great clouds in the morning. We had a nice relaxing hike along Upper Elk Lake. Love the reflection of the calm water.

We had a crossing to do at the outflow of the lake where the alt connected to the GDT. We heard this section has been closed in passed years due to flooding. We were impatient and crossed at the intersection where the two trails join rather than taking the time to search downstream. It was a high and swift crossing and afterward we saw a much safer way across downstream a bend a hundred yards away. I recommend that for future hikes and you can avoid this. 

Later, we found out this section IS still closed and apparently the part we missed while on the alt had a sign that the trail was closed and to take a parallel trail. I know a pair of hikers that did try to continue on the official that came to an impassible stream and had to go back last week. We got lucky. The hike into Kananaskis was calm and nice compared to yesterday. I told E I was really sore and tired and that I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. That Coral Pass kicked my butt, ha! E felt great, so that was good. 

When we got to the Elk Pass Trailhead, we quickly got two hitches that took us the ~20mi/30km to Kananaskis Village. A spread out, quiet, and remote resort area that is less busy in the summer than the winter. We went to the main center and got wifi and decided to hang there for the day since we couldn’t check into to hostel until 5pm. Most hikers don’t come on this far and choose to camp out closer to trail and get a packs age from the Trading Post out there, but I wanted wifi and we enjoy the stay, shower, and laundry somewhere. As a super bonus, we were both really hungry and there was a fancy all you can eat brunch of amazingness in the village! E’s mom gave her a bday gift to splurge on a nice meal that we only partially used last town. THIS was the real celebration. We both ate a ton and it was really fun! They even had fancy bite sized desserts galore! I am finding it amazing that I can eat so much. My stomach and ability to eat is directly related to my happiness and stress level. If I’m uncomfortable or stressed, I can’t eat. Being able to eat this much means I must be really happy and comfortable out here. I really am loving this trail! THANK YOU to E’s mom!!!

We found a spot to sit and do wifi for a couple hours and I still felt smashed and worn out. Then it hit me to check the calendar…yep, I started my period and somehow completely had lost track of the days! Completely explains my feeling like a truck hit me and I’m sore all over. Good to have an explanation and hope to rest good today. Tomorrow and the next will be sluggish for me, but at least I know why now. 

In the evening, we walked the mile to the hostel. It is nice and quiet with few here. More came late at night. Sadly, no wifi and little service, so I got less done. A great stop other than that though! 

We are headed out tomorrow on what should be one of the most spectacular sections heading into Banff. More chances for storms and rain will surely make things interesting. We are hoping our luck with it clearing when we get up high continues!