BOU AVENUE
Shark (Marushka) Lake
On 8 March 2025, Zosia Zgolak and I skied to Shark Lake--also known unofficially as Marushka Lake--in Alberta's Spray Valley Provincial Park.  I got the idea for this trip from Gillean Daffern's out-of-print Kananaskis Country Ski Trails, and we would attempt the counter-clockwise loop which she describes in her guidebook.  Although the lake is frequented by snowshoers in winter, we would find out the hard way why this ski tour has not proven to be popular.  The loop begins from the trailhead (50.85915, -115.37935) at the end of Mount Shark Road.

From the trailhead parking lot, Zosia and I headed westward past a big crowd of cross-country skiers doing warm-up laps and eventually merged onto Watridge Lake trail.  About 1.3 kilometres from the trailhead, we abandoned Watridge Lake trail and basically plunged southward into an old cut block.  Right away, we sank--with skis--up to our knees in unconsolidated snow, and the prospect of breaking trail like this for the rest of the trip made it tempting to immediately pull the plug.  After wallowing in the deep snow for about 30 metres or so, we fortuitously stumbled onto an old snowshoe track which was far more supportive and easier to ski on.  We followed this snowshoe track for the next 1.3 kilometres, and although some of the routing seemed a bit puzzling, we made good progress through what used to be a vast cut block.  It is worth noting here that it has been 33 years since Daffern's guidebook was last published, and many features like cut blocks or exploration roads have now largely been reclaimed.  Although this did not necessarily impede us from following the snowshoe track, the mature trees can make navigation through the cut block more challenging.  Sure enough, we eventually had to abandon the snowshoe track since it was heading in the wrong direction.  Zosia took the lead here and heroically broke trail through more deep snow for the last 400+ metres to the lake.  We briefly entertained thoughts of climbing up the valley behind Shark Lake, but the crusty unsupportive snow covering the frozen lake was so horrible to ski that we quickly abandoned those plans. Instead, we spotted a different set of snowshoe tracks near the outlet of the lake and stopped there for a lunch break.
We ran into Simon Rolland and Leslie Pryslak! Mount Shark trailhead is a busy place on this day.
Where did everybody go? Zosia makes good progress along Watridge Lake trail.
The skiing is getting serious... Preparing to enter the backcountry, Zosia attaches climbing skins to her skis.
We could have called it quits right here! Zosia steps off Watridge Lake trail and immediately sinks in deep snow.  Fortunately, she would stumble onto a broken snowshoe track only a few metres ahead.
Too much forest "massaging"? Zosia squeezes between a couple of trees with the bark stripped off.
Simply brutal snow conditions! After abandoning the snowshoe track, Zosia faces some tough trail-breaking in deep snow.
 

Worst ski conditions right here!

Zosia arrives at Shark Lake.

 

When Zosia and I resumed skiing, we followed the snowshoe tracks over an embankment and soon reached the terminus of a logging road which circles around the north end of Tent Ridge.  Daffern describes this road as a longer but less complicated route to reach Shark Lake.  It is also the same road that Zosia and I used to access Gawby Gulch about a month earlier, but skiing along this logging road was not as straightforward as I had hoped.  Several sections were reclaimed enough to make route-finding troublesome even with a broken trail to follow, and occasional branching tracks only added to the confusion.  After skiing about 2.4 kilometres from the lake, we reached a viewpoint in a small circular clearing as mentioned by Daffern.  Coincidentally the high point of our loop, the viewpoint was a little underwhelming at first with trees obstructing views at the level of the road, but by climbing only a few short metres up to the edge of the forest to the south, we were treated to a surprisingly nice panorama of Spray Lakes Reservoir and the neighbouring mountains.
Thought it would be smooth sailing from here...DOH! Zosia gains a logging road on the back half of the ski loop.
Everyone should take their skis for a walk!

Sonny is not too proud to pick up his skis and walk up a troublesome section of the logging road.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Crazy how hard it was to climb up this short rise! Zosia leaves the road and braves deep snow to reach a viewpoint at the edge of the forest.
These Black Diamond Glidelite 50mm skins are the best ever! Sonny removes his climbing skins at the viewpoint.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
 

Best view of the day!

The viewpoint grants a panoramic view of Spray Lakes Reservoir and several familiar mountains.

 

Returning to the road, Zosia and I continued for about another 600 metres to where we were expecting to find a junction with a cut block access corridor nicknamed "Slash" by Daffern.  It took a bit of back and forth, but I eventually found the corridor hidden behind a wall of trees.  Despite the turnoff being totally reclaimed, Slash was still discernible enough to follow, but like our final approach to the lake, plowing through the deep snow here turned out to be a miserable grind.  Once again, Zosia broke trail for most of the one-kilometre descent of the corridor which took 50 minutes but felt much longer.  Our joy was palpable when we finally stumbled onto a track-set trail which connects Mount Shark helipad to the trailhead parking lot.  In retrospect, it would have been far simpler to skip Slash altogether and take the long way (about an extra 1.5 kilometres) around to the helipad via the logging road and Mount Shark Road.  Unlike the soul-sucking slog through Slash, the descent of the remaining one kilometre of the helipad connector to the trailhead parking lot was a hoot and took a mere 8 minutes.  The exhilarating finish almost made up for the long stretches of drudgery throughout the rest of the loop...almost.
Downhill alert! Mount Engadine is visible in the distance as Zosia resumes skiing along the logging road after leaving the viewpoint.
Needed more of this! Zosia picks up some speed on a downhill section of the road.
Daffern should change the corridor's nickname from "Slash" to "Misery"! After leaving the logging road, Zosia breaks trail through deep snow along a cut block access corridor.
Like a dog, I p*ss on this corridor! Sonny has to perform some acrobatic moves to free his stuck ski from the deep snow.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Hallelujah! Free at last! Zosia jumps for joy after emerging from the cut block access corridor and intersecting a track-set trail (connector between Mount Shark helipad and the trailhead).
Definitely Type 2 fun! Total Distance:  9.0 kilometres
Round-Trip Time:  5 hours 50 minutes
Cumulative Elevation Gain:  199 metres

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