Allstones Lake Trail (8.8km Round Trip) Moderate-Hard
The Allstones Lake Trail is a fairly popular (for the area) trail along the David Thompson Highway near Nordegg. It was an 8.8km hike for us with 654m of elevation gain.
I have mixed feelings about this hike. I really don't know if I enjoyed it but I cannot entirely blame my woes on the trail. We did this hike during the first summer of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Parks Canada had closed the national parks so I think a bunch of people made their way to the David Thompson area to get their mountain fix. I have never seen that area so busy. The typically moderately full parking lot was jammed. When we left people had parked no word of a lie a kilometer down the highway. We started early so we had a spot but were shocked when we returned.
The hike itself is a slog. Right from the beginning you go up. I often prejudge hikes by the slope (rise vs run) and this one was critically examined for having a slope greater than 0.1. With an elevation gain of 654m during the 4.4km hike I went in with a bad attitude and was met with the harsh reality of the climb. The first half is all through trees. This did not add any pleasure to the experience. There is a point in the hike where you will emerge from the trees and see a seemingly straight up climb to a set of adirondack chairs. These chairs provide the first views back to the valley and Abraham Lake, which feels like a nice reward after your climb. This is also the unofficial half way point although is not quite exactly halfway there.
The rest of the way up is steeper than the first half. Although there are many points where you pop out to a view of the valley below. You know you are getting close when you get to a scree slope. Sarah hates these so there is often no stopping allowed along them. When you are almost to the end there will be a fork. If you go right then you will head up to a lookout. Whereas if you are like us and want to see the lake you will go left and head down to the lake.
The lake is nice but not amazing. There is a trail that goes all the way around the perimeter, so you could do that if you were so inclined. There are also a couple of backcountry campsites. The hike seems very short for backcountry camping but I did see someone out on the lake in a belly boat fishing. So I could see value in camping if you were there for a weekend fishing trip. We did not stay at the lake too long as the area started filling up with hordes of people.
Overall, the hike was not my favourite because of the general steepness to lack of payoff. Yes the lake was nice, but not amazing and I know I am being a snob but I do not know if it was an equivalent reward for the effort expended getting there. As I said in the video I would relate this hike to the Whistlers summit hike in Jasper, where you climb straight up rather than doing switchbacks up. If you are looking for an alternative hike in the area I would recommend Coliseum mountain if you are in search of nice views.