Approach: We left the parking lot at 8:30 AM and plodded the well-trodden Upper Kananaskis Lake Trail at a good pace; reaching the junction for Aster Lake in an hour 15 minutes. Although a tree has inconspicuous initials AL and HL to indicate the lakes, there is no sign. We followed the trail through the small meadow and stepped on Hidden Lake's shoreline soon thereafter. The water level was low, granting us a pleasant walk to the lake's south end. We continued up the treed slope on a good trail and got to the scree traverse at 11 AM. The view on the waterfall and lakes improves with the height gain. Further up, before attaining the plateau, caution is required as the trail skirts the mountainside high above slabs. From the plateau, we stayed on the trail for a while and picked a good spot to stash all our extra gear for an ascent of Mount Sarrail.
The scramble up Sarrail is very nice. The scenery is magnificent and the climb is straightforward but still requires care further up along the ascent ridge. Luckily, there was no more snow on the ridge crest. The lofty top is a great place for viewing Aster Lake's vicinity. The summit cairn was already buried by a recent snowfall, and the cornices will probably remain into winter! We didn't stay that long, there is little shelter at the top and with the wind, we were getting cold. We retraced our steps along the ridge and took a nice break lower down. The sun felt warm with the absence of wind, we ate lots of food and prepared to continue the descent to our overnight gear. We had no trouble finding our stuff under the blue tarp. Once all packed, we regained the main trail and headed to Aster Lake. After about an hour, we set up and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. We watched the sunset and shade creeping towards us. Soon after that, we were tucked in under the starry cool night.
