Sarrail Ridge Hike

Where:

• Sarrail Ridge

 

When:

• August 17, 2024

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Oak, Craig, Carolyn, Peter, Neil

 

Trailhead:

•  the trailhead is a bit tricky to find if you have never been as there are countless different parking lots in the area
• take Highway 40 south from the Trans Canada Highway (casino turn off) and proceed south for about 50 km’s before turning right onto the Kananaskis Lakes road (Highway 40 is closed at this point during the winter months as the Highwood Pass is not open to vehicles)
• after 2 km’s take a left turn (do not go on the Spray Lakes/Smith Dorrien road)
• proceed 10 km’s until you come to the Upper Kananaskis Lakes road where you turn left and proceed to the T intersection where you turn left, and the parking lot is straight ahead
• access to the trail is at the far end of the parking lot by the outhouse

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 770 meters
• 11 km hike
• the trail is relatively flat for the first km along the lake, and then it cuts (left) up the mountain
• the trail then ascents in a moderate climb for 1.5 km before it flattens out as you approach Rawson Lake
• at the lake, you take the trail around the left-hand side, where the steep climb starts up to Sarrail Ridge
• there is a section halfway up the climb with a rope, as it is very steep
• we had rain the day before, so the ascent was very slippery and made it quite challenging
• we decided to take what we assumed was a loop trail from the ridge and ended up having to bushwack for over an hour as it was challenging to find the trail and stay on it
• the hike took us just over five hours

 

 

Interesting notes:

• this is a very popular hiking area, so the trail to and from Rawson Lake was very busy, but most people don’t go beyond the lake
• there are sweeping views of Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lake, Mt. Indefatigable, and several other ranges
• the naming of Sarrail Peak is after Maurice Sarrail of was the commander of the French Third Army in World War 1