Kootenay Park – Part 3
This was the view from the breakfast area, as the sun shone on Helmet Falls.
Kootenay Park Adventure: Helmet Falls to Floe Lake
Wednesday, July 26th
We were up at 6 AM so that we could get an early start. The breakfast area at Helmet Falls Campground had a beautiful view of the falls which we enjoyed during breakfast. The previous evening they had been in deep shadow, but now they shimmered in the early morning sunlight.
It was a cold morning, and there was frost on the picnic table as I prepared breakfast.
We broke camp and were on our way through the forest up the steep switchbacks to Rockwall Pass. On our way, we had occasional glimpses of the falls to our right as we climbed through the trees. I was straining under a heavy load, as I had all of our water, two liters, in my pack. As I climbed, the water felt heavier and heavier. Just as we crested out of the forest and into the high country of the pass, a very nice small stream greeted us. I could have come up with our bottles empty, and filtered water at this stream!
Now we had some beautiful walking through larch forests and open meadows. Eventually the trail led us into a rocky recently glaciated area, and we descended to a double-bridge across a roaring glacial stream. We had had lunch in this area on our hike of the previous year, but today we carried on and after crossing several rocky glacial moraines, we began to climb up through a larch forest to the main part of the pass. There was no stopping for lunch now until we were out of the forest again where the wind would keep the mosquitoes away.
The second part of the pass was a grueling climb for me, but eventually I made it to the flat high meadows. Here we had a fine lunch. All along the trail, the Rockwall to our right continued to provide a spectacular backdrop to the beautiful scenery.
The Rockwall is a precipitous barrier of Cambrian limestone and dolomite that runs for many kilometers and has sheer 700 meter cliffs in places. We would be walking below the Rockwall for several days, as the towering cliffs behind Floe Lake which we would reach on our second last day are still part of this massive geological feature.
Once we had crossed Rockwall Pass, we took a short side trip on the Wolverine Pass Trail to the height of land so we could look far down the valley. Then we returned to Rockwall Pass, and turned down the trail to the Tumbling Creek campground. To our right, the Tumbling Glacier provided spectacular views.
We kept descending to the campground, and several times had to negotiate difficult deadfall. I was crawling on my hands and knees more than once. The last deadfall was a full blown tree complete with branches, and was perhaps the most difficult of all. It was just beyond a stream, and just before Tumbling Creek campground. We set up our tent, again on the same spot we had used a year ago, and then returned to the creek about the campground to filter water. Unfortunately this meant going through the branchy deadfall two more times, once to reach the creek, and once to return to the campground.
We did find a lovely cool shady spot, though, just a short distance up the creek, and were able to attend both to our water filtering needs, and also our washing needs. Then we took our seven liters of water back to camp, and had a very nice dinner on a table in a shady alcove near the food storage lockers. Tonight it was freeze-dried sweet and sour pork with pine apple, preceded by soup and followed by rice krispy squares. These squares are popular with us on back packing trips, as they are the lightest dessert available. They taste good and have a great texture, but weigh almost nothing.
We had found the trail that day quite strenuous, and soon turned in for the night. However, others on the trail seemed to have a lot more energy. We had met a couple where each member had a dog on a leash, and behind them walked a young blond boy with a nice junior backpack. I was critical of the parents in that I thought on that high mountain pass in the bright sun, he should have been wearing a hat. However, I managed to say nothing. In the campground, someone else had arrived with two young boys who still had enough energy to make a lot on noise as they played for a few hours. Such is the power of youth!
End of Part three.
We were grateful for the double-bridge across this roaring glacial stream.
