Skip to main content

Day 99 - Mount Robson

The weather was perfect, 80 sunny and clear with a cool breeze for my attempted  40km, 24 mile round trip hike to Berg Lake at Mount Robson Park. 

At 7km, I reached the reflective Lake Kinney. The trail was flat and easy up to here and I made quick time. 

At 11km I arrived at the Valley of A Thousand Falls, a colorful glacier valley with beautiful waterfalls falling from all corners. The river flowing in form the left was white while the one from the right was blue--interesting. 

At 14km White Falls came into view, first of three major falls. This fall cascaded from down the dark rocks and seemed like artwork to me. 

At 17km I experienced the most famous waterfall called Emporer Falls, named for its placement below the steep, nearly unclimable  Emporer Face of Mount Robson.  I scrambled below the fall toward small drops of water to rinse off and was promptly drenched by a wind gust. 

At 18km I started up the valley toward Berg Lake to breathtaking views of the backside of Robson. You can see a massive ice fall and the beginnings of Berg Glacier. 

At 20km I arrived to Berg Lake: Victory!  

The first 10km of the hike back was pure bliss with incredible valley views and mostly downhill stomping. The final 10km were a bit of a pain, with my toes rubbing, my ankles tightening and my energy drained, but I made it back in one piece. Happy. Beautiful day. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Dave NeameJuly 4, 2015 at 3:54 PM

    Wow, that quite a trek in 1 day. We backpacked into that region a few years ago and took 4 days to explore the area and valleys above Berg Lake. Your photos make me want to return. Cheers, Dave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LeeJuly 6, 2015 at 5:11 PM

      Hey Dave! Thank you so much for all the wonderful hiking suggestions you gave me. The Canadian Rockies were truly stunning as you had said. Wow! I arrived at the Robson welcome station an hour before they opened in hopes they would have a first come campsite, but no luck: all booked. So I hiked quickly for ten hours instead!! It was worth it:)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today,  the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit.  We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers.  The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding.  We made it to Guitar Lake by
1 comment
Read more

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit.  We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white.  By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately.  As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments.  This opening was my favorite.  14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly attained, the end of our 2
1 comment
Read more

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass.  One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light.  After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small yet vast.
1 comment
Read more