A Wombats Adventures: Mt.Robson and the Berg Lake trail

Berg Lake Trail

Its amazing what one can find in their own backyards for hikes and things to see of epic beauty. I originally started out my lifes journey in the mountains of British Columbia and economic factors lead us to the coast when I was all but a youth. But my love of the mountains, the steep roads and abundant wildlife has never waned.

I came across the Berg Lake Trail while searching for things to see in BC and when I saw the description..The Valley of a Thousand Falls, I was hooked. I had to see this.

We had some of the necessary gear for a multi day journey up to the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains, and with some research and guidance we got everything we needed.

Our vacation destination set... our packs packed and our gas tank full we head off on a Saturday morning. We are eager and on the first ferry of the island, excitement and anticipation building inside. Now its been a few months since I was in Vancouver and the roads I knew are not longer the roads I know. My poor GPS..aka.. Rudi, was equally as confused. "recalculating....recalculating !!" Thank goodness for the eagle eyes of my Bear as she guided us out of the valley and up towards Hope. The freeways were a great things.. our VW is a speed demon when you unleash those 6 shiny pistons of power that feed those many horses waiting to run. And run they did!! HAHA. I was gently reminded that the posted speed limit was not just a guideline and to stay within 20k of it..hehe.. Up the mountains we went, headed to Kamloops!

Now Kamloops has changed immensely and I was stunned at the sheer size of this place.WOW! and one of the best things any town could have was....a Mr.Mikes !! Yummmmmmy! We filled our tummies and continued east-ish to Valemont.

Valemont is a wee township on top of many a high road.. its cute and a hub for those travelling to Alberta. We stayed at a great B&B called the Dream Catcher Inn. After a good sleep and a good breakfast we were off to embark on the quest.. the quest that shared many similarities to another very epic quest with 2 adventurers and a shady guide. Now I am not saying that my wife or I resemble a hobbit but when you see the landscape and trail you will understand why this adventure was like the climb to Mt.Doom.. minus those kewl eagles though.

So it begins............................

Mist in the mountains

The initial start was true to our style.. we had everything except water and the first watering hole was many a km down the path. So we loaded up what fluids we could find in the car, 1/2 bottle of pop and 1/2 bottle of water, and headed off.

The trail.. mostly like this

The trail was awesome.. wide, flat, slightly rocky and easy to walk. The first 4 or so km the trail gradually climbed. Along the mighty river, thru the forests. The scenery was amazing and nothing like the coast. The slow climb gradually increased in pitch and became a decent grade that we had to ascend. This lead us to Kinney lake,. Stop #1. We refuelled our tummy's and I filled the waters and we continued to Whitehorn Site. This was our home for the night.

We set up the tent and made a covered dry little home by the river. The sounds of nothing but the running water were soothing and amazing! After everything was set-up and the outhouses were located we ventured to the covered area to make dinner. This being the 2nd time I used the camp stove proved to cause a few moments of concern for those around me as I set the table on fire and the flames were a good 5 feet high. But being the professional and calm mountaineer I moved the stove, Bear patted out the flames and we started fresh. Success ! water was boiled and food was made and consumed!

Home !!

We cozied into our ridiculously tight sleeping bags for the night, it was a nice warm night so we used our bags as blankets and drifted off into a lovely sleep... until 2am when all hell broke loose and the weather took a turn. WOW!! I forgot how big the rain gets in the mountains. It beat down on us like the crazy, each rain drop the size of a golf-ball and there was no end.. this went on for hours and we decided that if this rain continued like this we would spend the day here to wait it out. The rain stopped around 5 am and sleep took over again. We packed up everything, threw on the rain covers on the packs and started the hardest part of the climb. In 4 km we would gain a height of 600 meters.

Our climb..up and down !

Glaciers, fog and rain

The initial trail to the climb was very spectacular, in a valley with glaciers clinging to the mountains above, waterfalls off every cliff face feeding the mighty river beside us.. Breathtaking and epic! We cross the river and the path leads straight up ...haha.. Oh my.. so up we go.. The path changes from a woodland type trail of flat wide path to a narrow, on the edge of a cliff rocky mess. Up and up we went, stopping at each of the falls to drink some water, eat something and to question why we were doing this !! HAHA. After the second waterfall the rain started again... and it was coming down. We were prepared, being West Coast people, and had the bags covered and rain gear on. The path turned into quite the running stream making the path very slippery and mucky,. Finally we made it to the summit at Emperor Falls... The rain was coming and going now but not enough to dampen our spirits. The shear power, noise and volume of the falls was amazing. Sounded like 10 jet planes all bearing down for take-off. I was awe struck!

Well maintained trails

The path now levelled out and it was the final leg to the Berg Lake site.. Our home for the next day! The trail was in the woods and it sort of sheltered us from the weather and was easy to follow. Slow though, the woods turned to a valley, one side covered in an avalanche that had the trail, the other side huge mountains covered in snow and ice. The wind picked up and we were tossed about like a leaf on the wind. We followed the rocky, shale covered trail. Not a tree or a bush to shield us from the wind and rain.This trail was very much like the trail the Hobbits followed to Mt.Doom... the trail thru Mordor!! You had to be sure footed or pain and death would be your companion that night. The trail lead to a small woodland bluff which dropped your onto a great vast plain of emptiness. It was flat and went forever, the ground scraped free of soil, plant and hill by a glacier eons ago. The wind was harsh and cold as it thundered its way off the glaciers right through you. Slicing you deep with cold like an Orcs sword. To add to this wind and occasional rain it started to hail. The hail was the size of marbles and equally as hard. Oh how I longed for my motorbike helmet then. After countless steps and unending nothingness we came to several rickety bridges that lead us over engorged rivers and back into the woods. This was the home stretch.

Mordor Trail

Iceberg in Berg Lake

Berg Lake was to our right now as we walked along the forest trail for a few more km's to the camp site. What an amazing sight now that the rain stopped, wind died down and the hail was done. This huge mountain sitting beside the lake with 2 glaciers dipping their toes in the water. There as a small iceberg in the lake that had recently broken off. I was amazed and speechless!

Shelter at Berg Lake

The camp-site is built around the old trading post and the old trading post is the local shelter/hangout. The 100 yr old log building was a welcomed site and the puff of smoke from the chimney meant..WARMTH!

Inside the room is full of people.The fire is raging and clothes are hung everywhere to dry. People are either chatting or staring at the floor with that freshly screwed over look you get when you over do it! That was me!

The river..

After a short sit I went to scout out a home for us. Most of the tent pads were occupied, but there was one amazing one that was not. I strung up the tarp and as I was lashing off the last line I found out why this site was vacant...for it was not vacant at all. There was a colony of angry, territorial yellow jackets in the log I was tying up to. Well they sprung out and gave me what for! 5 stings to the head and neck. I promptly cut the lines of the tarp, gathered my things and booked it back to the cabin.

Well as I am told after, my entrance to the cabin was nothing less then epic and dramatic. I flung the back door opened, wet from the rain, dragging the tarp and tent in looking like I was beat up by a bear. I drag all this in and fling it to the ground by my wife... I say.. "do you have an antihistamine?" I am rewarded with a wee white pill of relief. And I sit there looking like I was rolled down a mountain. After I stop swelling and have my head back on my shoulders we make lunch. I dig out the stove and once again create a spectacular fireball.. Table not so much on fire this time. The bonus to this is that people move and give you loads of room!! After food we venture out and find a new..stinging bug free site. We set up the tent and home we have.

We spent the evening in the cabin, talking to so many wonderful people. Everyone was so nice and friendly save 2. This middle aged woman and her husband. She was the superior one in the room and we were all lowlifes. She took great delight to share many a laugh at other people with her husband. The part the makes me laugh is that we were sitting here with her, 23km in the woods in the same cabin she hiked too. Your nothing special sweetheart as here was 2 middle aged people sharing the same table with you .. HAHA oh well people are funny and karma is always watching.

Bedtime came and I was ready for sleep. We visited the outhouses and headed to bed. The sky had cleared and now it was chilly. We climbed into our tent..into our bags and drifted off to sleep

!! FLASH !!

The sky lights up with lightning and the wind is blowing. Its now gone from comfy to cold.. very very cold. We bundle up in all our clothes..jam ourselves into the bags and bury ourselves under all the clothes we could not put on. Nothing helped... we were frozen..shaking and shivering.. Sleep now not a friend and it only got colder. Finally it was light enough and we got up and headed to the cabin where we made the best coffee and oatmeal in the world. The skies were clear and blue, you could see forever and that's when it dawned on both of us. We were going to freeze to death if we stayed at this height in those crappy bags.There was no way we could stay warm if the weather stayed this clear, which it did!

We spent the morning looking around and taking pictures, very beautiful there and I want to go back. We packed up and headed to Whitehorn for the night. This would be warmer and safer as the sleeping bags and mattresses were not rated for anything under -5. And trust me, it was well below -5 if I got so cold I could not heat up!!

We loaded up and headed back to Whitehorn. The weather was perfect, the scenery amazing! And its funny how time works in weird ways. It took us 1/3 the time to get back to Whitehorn so we decided to push for the trail head. 6 1/2 hours of walking and 23km later we were at our car.

There is so much more to this story about the people we met, the things we saw and the fun we had..I would say if you like hiking that you venture here.