An easy, half-day winter hike/snowshoe to a narrow mountain lake. Expect to share the trail with skiers, snowshoe hares and spruce grouse.

An easy, half-day winter hike/snowshoe to a narrow mountain lake. Expect to share the trail with skiers, snowshoe hares and spruce grouse.
Fall is a great time to undertake the long hike to Aylmer Pass in Banff National Park. Next time we'll do the Lake Minnewanka Trail portion on mountain bikes so that we have the time/energy to make the side trip to Aylmer Lookout.
I can think of at least three good reasons Photo Blogging Challenge host PJ went with the Great Outdoors for October's theme. First, chief medical officers keep telling us to head outside for daily exercise (while social distancing, of course). Second, it's a broad theme, which hopefully means more participants. Finally, reading all participating posts will be like a mini vacation with stops around the world!
Chester Lake is a great shoulder season hike, can be done on snowshoes in winter, and has a lake for skipping stones, dipping toes or watching fish rise. It's pretty easy, with less than 400 meters elevation gain. And there are a few options to extend your hike past the lake: a loop around the lake, the Elephant Rocks, or continuing up to Three Lakes Valley.