Alberta Trip - Day 3 - Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park

Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park

After spending an evening at Mount Robson Lodge we headed to nearby Mount Robson Provincial Park. Before our backcountry hike we had breakfast at the café there.

Our plan was to hike and camp along the Berg Lake Trail. We'd break the inbound trip into two halves. Our first day we'd hike past Kinney Lake to Whitehorn 11 kilometres in before setting up camp. The next day we'd go from Whitehorn to Rearguard (just beyond Berg Lake) campground a further 11 kilometres away.

We'd camp two nights at Rearguard throwing in a 25 kilometre hike along the Snowbird Pass to see the Reef Icefield before heading back the whole 22 kilometres from Rearguard to the trailhead on our last day.

It was slightly overcast when we started. You couldn't quite see the top of Mount Robson from the visitor centre. After obtaining our permits there we drove a further 2 kilometres to the trailhead and headed off.

It wasn't long before we encountered our first obstacle. The Robson River, which follows the path, had overflowed its banks and partially covered the trail for some 15-20 metres.

The water wasn't deep so I took off my hiking shoes and waded in. Though it wasn't deep, it certainly was cold. Most of the water around here comes from glacier melt.

The others decided not to follow my lead and went over the large boulders to the side of the path and made it keeping dry.

We made it to Kinney Lake 2-1/2 hours later. The trail is relatively flat for the first 11-12 kilometres.

After a short break for snacks and to take pictures we headed on. In 20 minutes we hit the bike racks. It's the place where the trail splits. You can take the main trail up through the forested area or you can take the flats. Either way, no bikes are allowed.

We chose the flats. While that might sound like the automatic first choice there is one disadvantage of going that way - parts of the trail are covered in water.

Now there are a number of small bridges which allow you safe, dry passage. Most of the time. But there were some points where you might get your shoes/boots wet. The downside of the flat path.

We hit Whitehorn campground about 2 hours after leaving Kinney Lake. The hike had been relatively easy. Even while carrying our packs.

We found empty camping pads and set up our tents. Then we gathered all our food and other items with scents (like toothpaste and soap) and put them in the bear boxes. They're sturdy metal boxes where all campers are supposed to store their food for safety purposes.

After that we took a short hike to White Falls just to check out the surroundings. It was along the way to our next destination, Rearguard. The sun poked its head out briefly which was nice. It had been grey most of the day.

We had dinner along the riverbank, boiling water on our camp stoves to use with our freeze-dried dinners from MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op), before settling down for the night.