Rummel Lake March 27, 2005

Documenting Days Gone By

photos are scanned from prints

information is from what I wrote in a journal

Looking back: is what I still remember today about the day

Rummel Lake

 March 27, 2005 Easter Sunday

Me,  J Him

10 km round trip

400 m elevation approx

10:00am - 2:30pm approx

It was an overcast day just barely below zero degrees.  There had been a snowfall over night.  This is not a maintained trail but there were marks we could follow.  Had to stop a number of times going up.  It was  gradual ascent.  We had lunch at the top.  It was beginning to snow.  Only saw five people.  Beautiful scenery.  Would love to do this in the summer.

Looking back:  This snowshoe trek is memorable for what is wrong in this world!  We arrived at the trail head parking area on the side of the road where there was a Parks Vehicle and a red vehicle with the front window totally smashed out, the side mirrors broken off and left hanging, the side window smashed and the inside of the car covered in snow.   The Park Warden got out of her vehicle and came to talk to us.  She told us this vehicle and been damaged over night probably by young people from Canmore who have nothing better to do.  I was flabbergasted!   I had never heard of such a thing like this happening!  She told us the car would belong to people who went up to the backcountry campground at Rummel Lake for the night.  We were nervous about leaving our vehicle.  She said she would be staying here until the people came down.  We geared up and began snowshoeing.  Part way up we met three people, a Dad, a son, a daughter.  The son and daughter I would say were probably very early teens or almost early teens.  They had snowshoed up for the night, then come down on Easter Sunday and planned to go home to have Easter with the rest of the family.  We told them about their vehicle and the Warden was there waiting for them.  I felt sick about this whole thing and I could tell they now looked the same.  We reached the Lake, did not stay long, there were no views.  We arrived back at the trail head and the Warden told us the family was over at Engadine Lodge waiting for someone to come pick them up and also waiting for a tow truck to come for their car.  We went over to the Lodge and talked with them and asked if there was anything we could do to help out but between the Warden, their family and the Engadine Lodge staff, they were O.K.  I felt so sad, so let down, so disappointed that this could happen on Easter Weekend to a young family who were bonding out in the wilderness, in the middle of winter where it snowed all night.  They were doing what is right in this world but experienced what is so wrong in this world.  

Easter Sunday

This is about shoulder level in the summer.