Grassi Lakes

[Sartorius]

So I took the hike up to the Grassi Lakes by Canmore this past summer. The hike was short, but steep. The lakes themselves were beautiful, and crystal clear. I spent a few hours with my kid brother catching (and releasing) the little brook trout that we could see swimming around in the super clear water. I bumped into a conservation officer while up there, and we got to talking about the origin of the brookies in the lake. He didn't seem to know where they came from.

Does anyone know how those fish got there? I checked some recent stocking reports, and the Grassi Lakes weren't mentioned. Obviously they had to have been stocked sometime in the past, as brookies aren't native. They must be self-sustaining, eh? So does anyone have any info about this, or any stories about the Grassi Lakes in general?

[thumper]

There's been brookies in Grassi for a very long time, (at least 25 years) as well as some other small water bodies near Canmore. Canmore Creek used to have a strong population of them too, but then F & W electrofished them heavily, to re-introduce cutthroat above the falls (culvert under the road to the Nordic Centre). Next time you hike to Grassi, look for the native petroglyphs on the cliff face above the lake.
If you're interested in the history of the name - google up 'Lawrence Grassi'