Aug. 26 to 28th, Berg Lake (Mt. Robson Provincial Park)
In the morning we packed up at Wapiti campground and drove to the Mt. Robson visitor centre. We had everything packed for 4 nights (5 day trip). At the begin of August when we visited it, I was told that they typically had enough camp sites at Berg Lake even towards Labour Day and only Whitehorn campground on the way to and from Berg Lake was a bottle neck. When we arrived this time I was told that no camp sites were available at all at Berg Lake despite it being midweek. They offered us only 2 nights at Kinney Lake which after some discussion we booked. I guess we weren't the only ones heading north away from the fire haze. The only upside to the whole thing was that the weather forecast was mixed with rain for Friday (day 3) and definitely bad for Saturday (day 4). When we booked Kinney Lake we weren't sure if we would even see Berg Lake because going in and out looked a bit daunting: 25km and about 650m elevation.Official Berg Lake trail map |
Hiking in to Kinney Lake looked straight-forward: 7km and about 150m elevation. We headed out from the parking lot with the fully packed 5 day gear. It did not make sense to repack all the food again. We figured carrying the packs for 7km and 150m up was a breeze even if they weighted more than necessary.
We had very good weather (blue sky) and Kinney Lake turned out to be a superb campground. I found it much nicer compared to Whitehorn at 11km and 250m elevation or Emperor Falls at 16km and 750m elevation in hindsight. And the 2 latter campgrounds are by no means bad ones. Their advantage is that they are a bit closer and higher up on the way to Berg Lake.
Kinney Lake outflow into Robson River with Mt. Robson in the background |
Kinney Lake outflow into Mt. Robson River with Mt. Robson in the background |
Kinney Lake: View towards north. Our campground was on the left far end side of the lake. The Berg Lake trail continuous through the valley at the far end. |
Kinney Lake |
View towards Kinney Lake from our camp site |
I was impressed! Toby went swimming in the cold Kinney Lake water |
Our camp site for the next 2 nights with the tent and gear |
View back towards Kinney Lake on our hike towards Whitehorn campground. The Robson River splits here up into several tributaries. |
View in the morning from the step up from Robson River to Whitehorn campground towards Kinney Lake (in the back). Please note the haze. |
Crossing Robson River via a hanging bridge. The trail is now maybe 150m away from Whitehorn campground. |
View of the Valley of a Thousand Falls from the bridge. The trail is leading towards the pass (V section) in the middle of the picture |
Valley of a Thousand Falls vista |
Valley of a Thousand Falls vista |
Going upwards towards Emperor Falls. This is a steep 400m step with plenty of switch-backs |
Looking back and down into the Valley of a Thousand Falls from two thirds up towards Emperor Falls. Whitehorn campground is at the left side close to where Robson River vanishes in the picture. |
Margaret close to Falls of the Pool |
Falls of the Pool |
Emperor Falls. It is possible to walk quite a bit closer. But you will get wet! |
Halfway between Emperor Falls and Berg Lake. The valley widens and we are now just above the treeline. It is very beautiful there. Great views. |
Halfway between Emperor Falls and Berg Lake: View towards Mt. Robson with Mist Glacier |
Halfway between Emperor Falls and Mt. Robson: Mist Glacier |
Relatively close to Berg Lake: Mt. Robson with Mist Glacier |
Berg Glacier: We rounded a corner and suddenly the whole vista to the north was visible |
An inukshuk pointing the way. A lot of stones in the Mt. Robson area have interesting patterns. |
Vista with Berg Glacier and Mist Glacier close to Berg Lake |
Berg Lake itself with Berg Glacier: Beautiful |
Berg Lake and its glaciers. View from my napping bench. |
Berg Lake and Berg Glacier close to Marmot campground |
Mt. Robson and Mist Glacier close to Marmot campground |
View of Berg Lake and Berg Glacier from my bench |
View of Mt. Robson and Mist Glacier from my bench |
Berg Lake and the view northward: Very enjoyable |
My bench! I actually had a nap there when the youngsters went to for their exploration and swimming. It was here where I figured out what the problem with the camera was. |
Very colourful plants near my bench |
Mt. Robson with Berg Lake and Mist Glacier |
Toby couldn't resist! |
Coming out of the ice cold water afterwards. I would never swim in this glacier cooled lake. But kudos to the next generation ... |
A more reasonable girl: At least she didn't jump into the cold water. |
Berg Glacier and Mist Glacier |
View across Berg Lake towards Mt. Robson and its glaciers |
Heading back towards where I was napping |
Mt. Robson and Mist Glacier |
Petra's gift for fixing her camera: A group picture with one of our cameras. Toby is still wet and (somewhat) cold |
Mt. Robson in the evening |
Emperor Falls on the way down towards Whitehorn campground with a side peak of Mt. Robson |
Kinney Lake in the evening sun |
Kinney Lake in the evening sun. The campground is on the left where the main tributary flows into the lake behind the knob with the trees |
We made it all the way to Berg Lake and the 25km round trip was simply superb. It is one of these top drawer trails in the Rocky Mountains. No question. The trail is compared to the WCT a super highway: All stones and tree roots are exactly where they need to be allowing you to actually move forward and upward while having a look at the superb and diverse surroundings. This allowed us to spent upwards of an hour at the lake. We certainly would have loved to stay at Berg Lake a night or two and do further hikes in the surrounding areas. Berg Lake, Mt Robson and its glaciers and the valleys leading to them are simply super. Similar to Lake Magog and Mt. Assiniboine in some sense.
The next day we slept in quite a bit. By the time we headed back from Kinney Lake towards the parking lot rain was in the air and it started to rain on the last km. We arrived wet outside, but dry inside at the parking lot hut. Later we drove back to the Wapiti campground near Jasper. We had dinner at Kimchi House in Jasper. Margaret and I had lunch there on our way to Vancouver (so no pictures here). This time the meal was equally good but we had 2 Bavarian kids with us who suddenly were no longer hungry ... Sigh! They have yet to appreciate fine food from around the world! But Anna and Tobi got their own treat. Elks (wapitis) were right beside the street near our campground. So they hopped out of the car and did more exploration while I headed back to the tent with the car. This night it rained super heavy (I don't recall experiencing such a rain during camping trips in my last 10 years (maybe back in Holland). But we were well protected by the tent and the tarp above it. Maybe it was a good thing that there were no camp sites available at Berg Lake ... We were dry and cozy.
Wapitis near our campground |
Looks super. In my younger day I did go for a swim in one of these glacier lakes - my only memory now is rather painful muscle contractions.
ReplyDeleteMy only claim to fame with regard to cold water is that I broke partially through the ice of a smaller pond on a late autumn mountain tour and had to run down about 1h back to the car to change and get warm again. I don't recall more. The other lasting thing from that event is that ice can break and it is best life to not explore thin ice ...
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