Kootenay and Waterton Lakes National Parks

Finishing the final post about our adventures in Canada a few weeks later, I find myself fondly reminiscing about the time we spent in that beautiful country. It is bittersweet; our lives are greater for having ever been there and lesser after having to say goodbye.

We spent 37 days in the Great White North. We recorded 44 trails -- hiking over 250 miles and gaining 49,000 feet of elevation. We barely scratched the surface of wilderness just waiting to be discovered... you could easily spend a lifetime here.

This post covers the last two Canadian National Parks we visited, Kootenay National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park.

Day 29 - October 14th, 2021

We left our Golden cabin early in the morning and drove an hour south to Radium Hot Springs where we entered Kootenay National Park and headed north to Stanley Glacier. This was another ranger recommended hike.

Kootenay is adjacent to Banff National Park on the west side of the continental divide, but the landscape could not be any more different. Lightning-sparked wildfires in 2003 burned 12.5% of the park after 42 straight days of no rain. Interestingly, only one other park records more lightning-sparked fires than Kootenay.

Nearly 20 years later the forest is beginning to recover, and only remnants of the previous forest remain.

I had my fingers crossed that the trails near Stanley Glacier wouldn't be snowbound yet as they were quite geographically close to the Lake Louise area and the forecasts for Lake Louise had been above freezing recently. Like I mentioned previously, the forecasts were more of a professional guess on what would be most likely in a general area, so who knew what this valley would hold?

It was cold at the trailhead when we arrived, but the sun was peeking out. We first passed through a forest of young evergreen, only a few feet taller than we were. To our delight there was only a dusting of powder on the trail. As we looked up towards our goal the sun came out and reflected beautifully off the frozen mountainside.

After a few short switchbacks and crossing a bridged creek we were up in the valley and headed towards the glacier. The snow was only a few inches deep up here and quite manageable. I commented on how pleasant this trail was and immediately the grade steepened.

We turned to see the same mountain that had been reflecting the morning rays and noticed it was covered in icicles!

We also noticed someone was ahead of us but they were gone by the time we reached the end of the maintained trail -- probably headed up to a pass or peak. We gandered at what we thought was Stanley Glacier, hiding up and off to the right side. We did not have a great desire to venture further so we turned around.

Now ahead of us was the lovely view of a snow-dusted mountain framed by the valley we were currently hiking in.

Our hike back was uneventful, meeting only a handful of hikers on their way up.

We decided to stop by Marble Canyon because it was still early in the day and I wasn't confident about the next day's weather forecast. This was a quick jaunt into a canyon similar to Johnston, Malign, and Mistaya. It was relatively busy too, with lots of folks flagrantly disregarding trail etiquette. There's a fence there for a reason people...

We entered the mouth of the canyon and were presented with beautiful geological evidence of the power of water. Having had a great fill of sunshine and fall foliage, we now hoped that winter would make an appearance for our enjoyment, and old man winter delivered.

The trail gained a bit of elevation to trace above the canyon, and was slushy in spots. As we headed further from the trailhead the canyon got deeper and deeper until it was only a narrow crevice in the landscape.

We crossed several bridges that spanned the canyon and eventually made it to the head -- where water was pouring in in a dramatic fashion.

The sun came out right as we were arriving, and the stone was quite prismatic. The only detraction was a large family who hopped the fence to get closer. Slip and falls when you're not where you're supposed to be qualify for Darwin Awards in case you were wondering.

We grumbled to ourselves and our neighbors (on the correct side of the fence) and left.

Day 30 - October 15th, 2021

The forecast called for intermittent showers so we didn't plan anything besides going to the hot springs. It stopped raining after lunch though so we decided to try and squeeze in a short hike before heading for a soak.

This hike started at the parking lot of the hot springs, climbed a small hill, walked along the top of Sinclair Canyon, and then descended down to a waterfall. There was a nice view of the valley below too.

The view from top was nice but the real visual interest was below. A babbling brook wandered out from the canyon, trickling and tickling the rock debris bed.

The trail then switchbacked up to the road above. From the road there was a beautiful view of a cascade exiting the canyon.

We walked the road back to the trailhead, passing through the narrowest part of the canyon, which reminded us somewhat of the sandstone canyons of Capitol Reef. This narrow passage is the only alternate route for the Highway 1 closure, and the poor two lane road was handling a huge amount of tractor trailer traffic.

I took a few more pictures of the water, dangling precariously over the edge of the bridge.

We headed over to the hot springs having earned at least a little relaxation. The hot pool here was much larger than the Lower Hot Springs in Banff and was much less crowded. A better experience overall.

The cold pool at the hot springs.

We left the park and headed back down to Radium. Upon checking strava and seeing that we had missed taking the course record for the climb up from the babbling brook by only a small amount of time, we decided to do it again. And so we stopped, ran down the hill, and hiked back up, successfully taking the course records. Vitali took first and I took second!

Day 31 - October 16th, 2021

We headed to the Floe Lake Trailhead but found rain, so we headed over to Lake Louise and the Paradise Valley trailhead to see if we could pick up a hike I had wanted to do while we were there but missed.

Unfortunately... we found the road to Moraine Lake and the Paradise Valley trailhead closed for the season. We watched multiple other cars find themselves in the same situation we were in, parked on the side of the road trying to figure out what to do. We decided to try Boom Lake since we had missed it previously due to a bear.

We got to see mountains again that we hadn't seen in what seemed like a long time, and our synapses eagerly eyeballed them for change.

The trailhead parking was pretty full (and it was a medium-sized lot!), so we felt better about our chances concerning bears.

We began hiking, thinking the trail was either 5 miles or 5 kilometers, but we couldn't remember which. The trail alternated between being snow-free, to having a little bit of slush, to being a sheet of ice. Luckily it was a very gentle grade.

About halfway up two girls came down the trail and warned us of a bear at the lake. Sheesh, they must like it here. We decided to continue as the girls told us there were many people on the trail ahead of them.

We continued on and as the miles dragged we started to wonder not just about bears but about the mileage. We had passed 3 miles and weren't even at the lake yet! It's amazing how going into a hike with different expectations really affect how long they feel. 15 miles and you know? Flies by. 7 miles thinking it's 5? Torture, purgatory, the longest hike ever.

We eventually made it to the lake (no bears) and even though we were there during mid-day, the sun was still too low to peek over the mountain and the lake remained in shadow. I had seen pictures of it in full sun and the water was a beautiful shade, but today it only hinted at its true colors.

We felt a little gypped and headed back. We checked the sign at the trailhead and learned it was 5km each way. Oops!

Day 32 - October 17th, 2021

I had been watching the weather like a hawk trying to time when we could do Floe Lake. Finally on our last full day in Radium the weather forecast called for clear skies and we headed out to see the classic Kootenay hike (also recommended by a ranger).

It was quite clear that morning and we caught many peaks greeting the sun's rays.

Even though the sun was rising later and later, the competitiveness at the trailheads seemed to be done for the season. We never had an issue rolling in at 9:00 or 9:30, and that gave it a chance to warm up a few degrees too. We were the only folks at the trailhead and once again, we worried about bears.

The hike began by crossing and following the Kootenay River. I had to stop and take a photo right at the start which was always inauspicious in Vitali's mind.

A short and steep climb got us up into the valley we would follow all the way to the lake. We passed a huge amount of deadfall, evidence of the wildfire almost two decades ago.

The flora was unique -- we'd never hiked in a burned area that was at this level of redevelopment. There was a lot of dried fireweed, a ton of deadfall, and the hills were covered in dry grass and young evergreen. A lot of the burned trees were still standing too.

The trail gained elevation very gradually for several miles, and after turning a corner we got our first big mountain views. Which, if you couldn't tell, are highly addictive.

We crossed a stream, then crossed another tributary that was frozen solid. The ice provided Vitali with some entertainment.

One switchback later we began the final climb up to the lake. It was about a mile of steep switchbacks, covered in ice, slush, and snow. We met one person and their dog heading up here, clad only in running shoes. We watched his progress through his footprints, which we'd see slide right off the trail multiple times. At one point, we could clearly visualize where he began several steps of slip sliding and then eating shit into the snow, complete with fall arresting handprints. We were glad to have our microspikes.

Eventually the trail began to get less steep, although the snow got deeper. Once we neared the lake we began seeing signs indicating all the backcountry campsites around, and even bear lockers.

We passed the campsites and came to the lake, first viewed through a grove of trees. A deep emerald green peeked out and the promise of something dramatic behind.

Snow and ice had collected in the shadow of the mountain, creating a beautiful reflective interplay of natural geometry.

To the right of the lake, a beautiful striated mountain collected snow in its crevices.

Rising up behind the lake, a glorious headwall, a great folded shard of mountain towering imposingly close. It was striking and sublime.

I took a hundred more photos while we remarked that this was probably the most beautiful subalpine lake we've ever visited.

We were considering heading up to Numa Pass but by the time we had taken photos and enjoyed the lake it was getting later in the day and the days had become much shorter. With as much snow as was at the lake we weren't confident about the pass either, so we headed back.

Once we made it back to the valley we passed what seemed like an eternity playing the alphabet game with the category of food. B is for bagel! I think Vitali won this round.

We got back to the trailhead and found it as empty as we started. We felt like we had squeaked out one final high country hike and were quite satisfied.

We stopped by one more place though on the way back to Radium.

Numa Falls ended up being very pretty, despite one internet reviewer's declaration that they weren't anything special! They looked pretty special to me.

Numa, the falls are named after you!

Day 33 - October 18th, 2021

October 18th dawned bright and late (8:15AM!), and we packed up for our final destination in the Canadian Rockies, Waterton Lakes National Park. We were starting to feel the creeping sadness of a great adventure coming to a close.

We packed up from Radium and headed south towards the park, about a four hour drive, stopping at Lussier Hot Springs along the way. We should have set aside time to visit Mt. Assiniboine too, but sadly we missed it. The road to Lussier was a 15km dirt road which Vitali seized as an opportunity to complain.

We arrived (despite Vitali stating that it would take forever) no worse for wear.

These were my kind of hot springs! They were very similar to the natural pools at Mount Princeton Hot Springs in Colorado. The hottest pool was HOT, and filled with floating chunks of white microbial mats that looked like egg drop soup... There were only a handful of people there enjoying the pools.

We left after reaching a poached consistency. We continued south where the landscape changed from high mountain drama to more subdued hills, covered in evergreen and golden larches.

Eventually we approached the United States border and Waterton Lakes National Park. It had clouded up during the long drive and they were doing very interesting things in the Waterton Lake Valley.

We also saw an animal peeping out of the grass along side the road and then up popped its head! A black bear scampered out, and across the road.

We pulled in to the park (where they inexplicably had no park brochures -- they didn't order any this year??) and to the townsite inside, Waterton Park, which was an actual ghost town. I had found a taco place on find me gluten free and was looking forward to dinner but when we got there -- it was closed for the season! As we looked closer, so was everything else.

The gas station was closed, the grocery store didn't exist?, no convenience stores or restaurants were open, and the visitor center had a sign that it was open before 4pm but we rang the doorbell and it kept ringing with no one answering. The only thing that was open was the liquor store and Waterton Lakes Lodge Resort, where we were staying.

My original reservation was for Crandell Mountain Lodge but they had contacted me saying they decided their last day of the season was the day we were supposed to check in and transferred our reservation free of charge to their sister resort. The resort also allowed us to push our dates back by a week so all around we were very happy with the arrangement.

The lodge was very nice. It was a series of freestanding buildings with about 12 units per building. Each unit had a handpainted animal on the door (we had red-tailed hawk), and matching artwork and headboards inside. It was very cozy!

We were only slightly concerned that we didn't pick up any groceries on the way in. We tried to find food to buy but only found single serving bags of chips and candy bars at the lodge. Luckily, Numa was outfitted with a bin full of dry goods. Although we ate some unusual meals, we did not starve.

Day 34 - October 19th, 2021

Waterton Lakes National Park continued the thematic ending to our Canadian visit, being even more recently devastated by wildfire -- in 2017 over 80% of the trail network was affected by a massive complex. Four years later the park is covered in standing deadwood, and quite gray. The re-built infrastructure is still shiny from recent construction.

Today was set to have perfect weather though, which we would need for the long unsheltered route across the Akamina ridgeline. We were uncertain about what we'd find on this hike snow-wise. The last trail report was a week or two prior.

We decided to attempt it clockwise, to avoid coming down what a lot of trail reports referred to as "a super sketch section coming up from Forum Lake".

This hike is also one of three in the Triple Crown of Waterton Lakes, including Carthew Alderson (a point to point that requires transport which sadly was done for the season), and Crypt Lake, which requires a boatride that too was done for the season. Next time!

There was only one other car at the trailhead. We headed up the initial steep section and quickly gained Akamina Pass, a broad forested pass, marking the continental divide and the state line between Alberta and British Columbia. We passed a ranger station that was actually stationed! Which surprised us, because we felt like there were only 20 people visiting the whole park.

There was a shiny new sign that marked the border of Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park. Curiously, on the way back this sign was covered in a camo printed tarp.

We stopped by Forum Falls before heading up to Forum Lake, which were barely flowing.

Our trail split again and then began our hike in earnest. This sign below was fair warning for what was to come. Afterwards, I read multiple trail reports of people getting stuck up on the ridge and having to be rescued or losing the trail and descending down dangerous terrain...

We passed through what looked to be prime bear territory, stubby subalpine evergreens, bright green grasses, and a lot of snow and ice. Things weren't looking too good for our hike up the ridge. If it was snowy here, what awaited us at elevation?

As we walked I prepared myself emotionally to turn around if needed. We reached Forum Lake before long and a low fog was slowly dissolving as the sun warmed the air. The headwall behind Forum Lake began to peek out, seeming impossibly tall.

We looked up at it and to the east, to where our route would take us. How did it look? We of course couldn't see the other side of the ridge but this side looked like snow that was almost completely melted, with remnants only remaining on the northeast exposures. We decided to continue.

We turned right, away from the lake and gained a small saddle which afforded us an even better view of the ridge above. It looked okay, and we decided to proceed.

We began to climb a lesser ridge that would take us up through rock bands and then up to Akamina Ridge.

We took a look at the valley we had just climbed out of, which seems to have partly survived the 2017 fire, and heard voices singing to keep bears away. We wondered if they were coming up here too.

We continued a short way on very reasonable terrain and then things escalated quickly.

The trail became steeper and steeper until we were grabbing roots and dirt to continue our upward progress. Then, snow started to appear on the trail. It wasn't a lot, just where the sun had not melted it from the last minor snowfall. But, it was quite inconvenient. A lot of steps and footholds now involved snow. At least we were going up though! We hoped the trail would be clear on the ridge so we wouldn't have to downclimb this later...

We continued a bit further and the hike turned into a scramble. We were not expecting it but had scrambled much harder before, so we continued. Up up up about 130 feet and finally we topped out above the rock band. I didn't take any pictures because I was focused on not falling off of the mountain.

We were overjoyed to see no snow up here and quickly walked away from the steep exposure we had just climbed.

Below on the other side was Wall Lake, and the face of Akamina Ridge behind.

The trail would take us along the spine in the photo below, hitting each of the three closest peaks.

We headed up the ridge at a much gentler slope and up towards our first feature. In the far upper left of the below photo is the trail -- it cuts across that little peak and heads to the left.

You can see the type II fun happening by the look on Vitali's face.

That was the only place on the ridge where we encountered questionable snow. The snow had collected from wind around the corner of the trail and we had to walk across it to make it around the peak to continue. On the left, a thousand foot drop to the valley below. We evaluated the situation and tentatively started walking, and quickly realized it was much better than it looked -- the snow was resting on top of the trail, not crossing it, allowing us to have a flat space, mostly snow-free, and wide enough for a boot.

Kinnerly and Kintla Peak and Kintla Lake in the United States!

We made our way around that feature and were presented with beautiful views into Glacier National Park in the US and Kintla Lake surrounded by golden larches. Vitali made a joke -- if you fall, try and fall to the Canadian side. Because they have universal healthcare. Ba dum tss

We approached the second peak, Akamina Peak, and were so, so happy that we weren't fighting snow and that the weather was fine.

The views from the top were of course, spectacular. We were very lucky that the wind was manageable, and certainly less than you'd expect on an exposed ridgeline.

Facing towards Waterton Lakes compared to Glacier, the contrast was stark.

Eventually we reached the third feature which we went around the backside of, and then the end of the ridge, and then began to descend towards Wall Lake. It wasn't nearly as steep as coming up, although we did need our microspikes for a portion that was shaded.

Below, the trail we'd follow to get to Wall Lake.

And here, a look back along the ridge we had traversed.

We descended into shadow and finally made it to the shores of Wall Lake, a rather plain lake compared to others we had seen. Akamina Ridge loomed above.

The rest of the hike down was uneventful. We never saw the people who we thought we heard behind us, and passed only one other group on their way back from somewhere else.

We were quite pleased that the day went as splendidly as it did, and were very happy to have fit in another epic big mountain hike.

Day 35 - October 20th, 2021

Today would be a chill day after the previous day's exertions, so we drove 20 minutes east to get gas for Numa and to bolster our provisions. Bolstered provisions including cans of chili and potato chips.

Then we headed over to the Red Rock Canyon and Blakiston Falls.

Unfortunately, half of red rock canyon was closed for construction and water flow was minimal. The rocks were very red though, as promised.

Blakiston Falls had evidence of recently completed trail upgrades too, including new steel viewing platforms which were very impressive. The chain link wasn't even chain link! It was steel cable with little crimps.

The waterfall itself was quite beautiful, even if it felt a little nude. We were quite lucky to have the viewing platforms all to ourselves.

On the way back we encountered a few groups coming for a look though.

We headed back into town to visit Cameron Falls next. An argumentative old lady tried to convince us we weren't at Cameron Falls after asking us to confirm where she was... and we even busted out google maps to show her.

We went back to our room and relaxed for a bit before heading back out to do a short hike up to Bears Hump, which was supposed to have a beautiful view over the Waterton Lakes.

The trailhead wasn't too busy and we took off up the hill. It was pretty windy but we couldn't resist pushing for the segment and I think I ended up with 6th overall.

The view from the top was beautiful and extraordinarily windy.

Waterton Park pictured down below, Upper Waterton Lake to the right (and crossing into the United States), Middle Waterton Lake to the left, and Lower Waterton Lake to the far left.

The Prince of Wales hotel can also be seen in the lower left, a curious chalet with red and yellow siding and trim and a green roof.

We drove by the chalet to get a closer look. It was closed like everything else but it looked quite nice.

Day 36 - October 21st, 2021

We debated doing Lineham Peak today but decided against it as it was another long hike with unknown conditions and we felt like we had already gotten our money's worth with Akamina Ridge.

The weather was a fine 50 degrees so we went for a walk around the town to see what we could see. We jaywalked across intersections with wild abandon -- there was no one and no cars to see us!

We walked by the new visitor center which was almost complete, and very nicely done.

We checked prices of homes... an older 1500SF ranch would set you back about $800,000 CAD. Yikes!

We passed by the mounted police station too which was very cute.

We saw an actual phone booth too, what a blast from the past!

And then we made our way along the lakeshore, enjoying the single row of fancy expensive homes facing Upper Waterton Lake and the mountain behind. One in particular was striking -- the log frame was quite exaggerated but overall the presentation was striking.

Two lovely Canadians (hi Bill and Edith!) spied us photographing the houses and struck up a conversation. We chatted with them for a long time, enjoying swapping stories of travel and giving us some good ideas for the next year.

It was such a good conversation that we ignored the plummeting temperatures (we were wearing flip flops) and tried to convince ourselves of future warmth.

Once the cold was too much to handle we walked back to the lodge where we were both staying and enjoyed the sunset.

Day 37 - October 22nd, 2021

We packed up in Canada for the final time, and headed south towards the border crossing, where we may or may not have had a close call!

Goodbye Canada! We spent five glorious weeks frolicking in your incredible landscapes, watching the wondrous advance of seasonal change. You showed us epic beauty, first world infrastructure, spectacular weather and wildlife, extraordinarily kind people, and cemented our passion for the outdoors. We'll never be the same.