Hike to the Carbondale Lookout

At the end of May my friend and main hiking buddy, Rachel,  and I hiked to the Carbondale Fire Lookout near Beaver Mines, AB. We had the longest winter, so finally getting back on the trails was glorious! We chose this hike because we were limited this time around. We would usually hit up Waterton, but the destruction from the forest fires forced us to be more creative. We also needed to pick a low-key hike since Rachel was only 6 weeks postpartum (yes, she is incredible)…and I was just generally out of shape. Rachel chose this trail, and it was perfect; gorgeous, easy, half-day hike.

The trail is actually a vehicle road that leads up to the fire lookout. It is likely only used by the people that live up there, and the odd dirt-biker. I am a huge fan of the deep-in-the-woods, slightly overgrown, “road less traveled” trails, but it was nice to hike one wide enough for Rachel and I to walk beside each other.

Not too long after we started we passed a man dressed in camo carrying a gun. Both Rachel and I were wondering what he was doing, as we thought hunting season was over.  A while back Rachel had told me that her grandma was worried about her going hiking, not because of wild animals, but because there could be some crazy man out there. We joked that maybe she was right on the money after all. Little did we know that hunting was open for black bears in that area.

We stopped to get a good look at the beauty that surrounded us.

I’m glad that it wasn’t any hotter out, because as soon as we got out of the treeline that sun hit us hard!

The fire lookout! How cool would it be to have that job though?! Live up on a mountain, with the best panoramic view… hmmm maybe I need to drop off a resume next time??

I wish that Canada used a Lord of the Rings style signal system, you know, lighting the beacons of Gondor to call for aid…. that sort of thing… ’cause up at a fire lookout, you could easily do both jobs… look for forest fires…look for alarm fires… B.C. needs our help…etc.

It was another perfect day, and of course we had to end it with slurpees, and my personal fav, iced coffee with a shot of raspberry!