[MCR] Upper Kananaskis/Three Isle Lake area conditions

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

Follow up from Will's report. I just returned from guiding a school group in the same area after Will's departure.

We choose to stay at Three Isle Lake despite the ground/ snow cover. Tent pads are now cleared.

In the last few days moderate to gusty winds accompanied with rain showers have melted snow above 1900m in the Upper Lakes region. Gullies and creeks were running with the melt water. At higher elevations, snow does not appear to be accumulating. Although we had limited visibility throughout our stay.

Obvious signs that a grizzly had travelled through and slept at the camp Thursday night<x-apple-data-detectors://0> were left in the snow.

For educational purposes: Weather forecasts may not tell the whole story. We met several parties who were surprised by the weather and conditions. Some turned back from the Northover Ridge and the North/ South Kananaskis loop. If you are using common forecasts for Kananaskis this is more likely for the valley surrounding the Kananaskis Village. Using different tools might help in getting a more accurate forecast. Spotwx.com<http://spotwx.com/>, not a paid endorsement, allows you to view numerical models based a very specific location, Three Isle Lake for example.  By viewing several model forecasts, you might get a better perspective on what is more likely to happen in the area that you are choosing to go to. While this step might take a few extra minutes, it would be worth it in your preparations. It certainly proved more accurate than the Weather Network and Environment Canada this past weekend.

Dale Roth
HG

On Sep 18, 2015, at 11:05 PM, Public Mountain Conditions Report <mcr at informalex.org<mailto:mcr at informalex.org>> wrote:

Just got back from three days in past Upper Kananaskis Lake area. Given the recent rain and snow, the trails were muddy and slippery in places. We hiked up to Three Isle Lake from Forks and ran into persistent snow around 1900m. The trail and stairs up the headwall were slippery in places but manageable.
At Three Isle Lake there was an average of 15cm of dense, well settled snow on the ground, with drifts in isolated places up to calf deep. Despite some sunshine, the snow didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. If you are headed that way, and planning on staying at There Isle be prepared to camp on the snow. Things got a little crowded at Forks last night with groups who were unprepared for the current conditions.
Up high, looking along the Divide it looked like conditions where similar to the north of us above 2000m. Also, from a distance on the trail on the hike out today, a quick peek into the Aster Lake valley looked very similar to what we saw above 2000m up at Three Isle.

Will Woods HG
Madeleine Martin-Preney AHG, ASG

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