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. 

Comments

  1. 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. 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 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west.  I left behind this pretty view.  And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights.  I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east.  The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...

Day 122 - Mount Saint Helens

Mount Saint Helens is sinister and wonderful. I spent the morning at Rainier watching the end of the British Open on my phone, then drove south to Saint Helens.  I arrived at the park's northeast entrance by early afternoon.  A massive bulge of rock built up on the northeast side of the mountain before the 1980 eruption and then caused a tremendous landslide when the eruption started. I drove to the Windy Ridge at the end of the road, listened to a ranger describe before and after photos of the mountain, then hiked up to a high viewpoint.  You can see the circular ridge with a notch missing where the landslide occurred, the desert-like exposed right-side where the landslide blew away life and covered 15 miles of terrain with 150 feet of dirt and rock, the greenery that was on the lucky side of the eruption, and Spirit Lake which was covered by dirt and slime and fallen trees for years. The mountain was over a thousand feet higher before it erupted.  After taking in t...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon.  The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion.  Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4.  The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...