Wednesday, September 12^th

Mt Robson

                Up at sunrise, well almost! With our packs all ready it didn’t take long to get going. The cool morning air made us start out walking fast to stay warm. A rushing stream followed the trail. The water was filled with silt giving it a glacier blue color. Mt Robson with its snow-covered cap was standing out against the blue sky. It was going to be a gorgeous day. Slow down, slow down; we still have another 24 miles to go – Jerry’s idea of a little “warm-up” to see if we could go the distance! With all the beautiful scenery around us it didn’t take long to get to Kinney Lake Picnic Tables were we stopped to “gorge” on oatmeal bars to-go. The lake was down in a deep valley so there was no sun shining on us yet. The trail was easy to follow even without using a map (As I had forgotten to bring it!) There were not too many people on the trail, so we had the pleasure of enjoying a true wilderness – well that is if, you don’t count Jerry’s loud singing. At least he was good for warning any bears about our presence!

                Trail went up and down, though mainly up and crossed streams by way of suspended bridges. Past Kinney Lake there were several campsites and water falls. Why was it again that Jerry did not want to camp out? These were awesome places to spend the night.

                Six hours later we sat at Berg Lake, which had gotten its name from the chunks (icebergs) that were breaking off the glacier and now floating in the lake. After getting comfortable I pulled out two cokes as a surprise. On the opposite side a glacier from Mt Robson stretched all the way down to the lake. The wind blew over the ice cold lake so after 15 minutes Jerry and I were ready to go back the 13 miles to were our car was parked.

                On our way back we stopped by the Emperor Falls. No words can really do justice to these falls. The water cascaded down from far above and in such enormous quantities. The air gush was so strong I had to lean into the wind to stay standing. The mist was hitting Jerry, even though, he sat far away. With no fences or signs I could get really close to the falls. It was absolutely fantastic. I wanted to go behind the falls but they would probably have swept me off my feet and taken me down the next series of falls! I was soaked to the bone before we left the place.

                Before once again reaching Kinney Lake the trail split in two different directions. One went the way we came but the other fork lead to …? I decided to be adventuresome and took the unknown trail. Down the cliffs and out from the forest the trail lead me out in the open. Had it been spring with all the snow melting I would have been standing in a much larger Kinney Lake. It was getting really hot out in the sun. I felt like I had just walked into a frying pan. Starting to get dizzy, I knew I was getting a little dehydrated and the symptoms were signs of minor heat exhaustion, the only cure – to get back into the shade of the forest. Wow, if a hungry Grizzly spotted me out here I would be toast! No pun intended.

                Slowly the edge of the lake came into view and with that a trail that lead into the comforting cool shade of trees. Phew, I felt like I could finally breathe again being out of the heat. A short while later Jerry met me at the next shelter. The last three miles of the day were spent in a slap-happy mode interspersed with good views and a little RUNNING!!! We sure did sleep well that night.