Participants: Rosanne,Philip,Kim,Arnold,Yolande,Nancy,Leslie,Kathy,Clifton,Joanne,Barbara,Steve,John,Jo,Ivan.

Under spitting grey skies, our group of 15 Ramblers plus Piper the golden retriever headed up from roadside onto the shortcut route towards Headwall Lakes. Once on the former Blue ski trail the showers increased and the first of many clothing changes ensued. As we headed into the wet forest of the Headwall trail proper, the rain abated and we were treated to on and off sun (and clothing adjustments!) until reaching the first lake, where a sit down lunch was enjoyed, more or less, in cold winds and increasing clouds. Lunch over with, the plan had been to continue to the higher lake, but looming rain to the west led to a group decision to call it a day. By the time we hit the steep avalanche path section on the way back down to the Headwall Creek valley, it was raining in earnest, making for a somewhat treacherous descent in sections of slick mud. Thankfully there were plenty of trees to grab onto! As usual, once back in the trees the weather cleared and other than the occasional sprinkle, it was an enjoyable easy return. Lower Headwall lake was lower than we have ever seen it, with the cascades between lakes reduced to a mere trickle, and wildflowers were sparse, other than in some moister N aspect treeline glades. Thanks everyone for being in such good spirits on what was a less than ideal day for my second trip as a probationary coordinator, and special thanks to Philip for mentoring.

A note on our "shortcut" access point, which is the one described by Daffern in the 4th edition of the Kananaskis guide, Volume 1. The book gives a distance of 1 km south from Chester trailhead to the parking spot, however, measuring on Google Earth and car odometer shows 800m to the spot, where a somewhat discernable trail climbs the gravel embankment and then follows an overgrown logging spur road for a short distance onto the easygoing former ski trail that is now part of the High Rockies trail. The shortcut route also shows up on my Gaia gps app.

Steve