Mt. Robson (hiking in the Canadian Rockies)

Day 4 (7 Sep) — Robson, mountain of glaciers

Mt. Robson

When we woke up, a clear blue sky was waiting. Unfortunately Mt. Robson was still hidden in cloud, but imagining the views that would greet us, our hearts swelled with anticipation.

Our starting point was the Berg Lake Trailhead. A long way of about 20 km from here. Cross the bridge over the Robson River and the trail begins in dense coniferous forest. This is already grizzly bear habitat.

After walking for a while the clouds cleared and the whole of Robson was revealed. What a divine mountain face. I can't imagine where you'd even start climbing it, but every year it's the stage where skilled alpinists aim for the summit. Of course we don't have the ability to aim for the peak. Our destination was Berg Lake, an emerald-green lake on the north side of Robson formed by glacier meltwater. The trail wraps around the west side of Robson to reach the back of the mountain.

Maple leaves, the leaf on Canada's flag, already turning yellow. Last night before bed and this morning when we woke it had been quite cold. Autumn seems to have already come here.

On the west side of Robson is the river flowing from Berg Lake. The water wasn't clear, but it was a beautiful emerald green.

Kinney Lake, about two hours' walk from the trailhead. A superb view awaited us there. There was almost no wind, and on the eerily still surface of the lake were reflected steep mountains carved by glaciers over long ages. The marine-blue, or perhaps emerald-green, lake was so still that it seemed less a lake than a huge mirror laid on the ground. By the way, from the trailhead to here, we hadn't passed a single hiker. Who we did meet were the little residents of the Canadian Rockies, squirrels. The guidebook said Canadian squirrels aren't very afraid of people, and it was true: they kept popping their heads out from both sides of the trail and delighting us.

This is a rest shelter in a corner of the campground beside the lake. Here a few hikers came down from above. I'm not a fan of hikes crowded with people, but having no people at all is frightening in its own way. We were relieved to finally pass someone.

From Kinney Lake we walked on further north. In the centre of the far-left photo above is a cute chipmunk.

This stretch was a bit tough for us, having been short on exercise lately. Our destination was Berg Lake, but we decided to camp at a campground past three waterfalls.

Tonight's dinner was a Japanese-style rice bowl with a thick savoury sauce. Mao had worked out the recipe back in Japan. Some of the ingredients we brought from Japan and some we bought locally. Vegetable prices seemed about the same as in Japan, but meat was frighteningly cheap. Perfect for storing up fat.

The cold at night was very severe, and Mao seemed to have caught a cold. Going further tomorrow would be too hard, so we decided to turn back.