There was light smoke in the air as we left Calgary, but at least we could see the mountains from a distance. It was about the same at the Elk Pass trailhead, although some blue sky was also evident. We took a snack break at the Blueberry Junction picnic where there was time to pose for a photo:

From there it was a short hike to the border where we followed the trail up the border cutline, which seemed less overgrown than I recalled from my previous trip in the ancient past.  After the climb up the headwall we had a good view of the lake:

The aquabelle in the group decided the water temperature was too close to frozen to be attractive for swimming:

Four participants went further up to a windy Taiga Lookout:

The rest had a leisurely lunch in a sunny spot out of the wind above the lake. One thing we noticed was lots of mushrooms along the cutline portion of the trail and some very solid ones near the lake:

We eventually headed back down along the cutline:

There is a trail that heads off towards Fox Lake and Upper Elk Lake on which BC Parks has put up a closed sign account bridge and trail washouts from flood damage. We went along it as far as Fox Lake and there was no damage so it must be further on. Fox Lake was quite low and had soggy mud along the shore which deterred a swimming option:

On the return we had a few spatterings of raindrops but it never warranted thoughts of raingear. There were the usual bighorns at the junction with highway 40, who appeared to be eating mud – maybe it is to get the minerals? And as usual, there was one truck blocking the left lane on the TransCanada and backing traffic up for kilometers – this time it was Alberta Supply.
 
Thanks to a great group of participants: Bill (photos), Nardi, Bruce, Barbara, Aldis, Tom (welcomed on his first Rambler hike) and David.  Ron, C/S/P.
 
A few more mushrooms: