Alberta Trip - Day 4 - Whitehorn to Rearguard

Berg Glacier coming off Mount Robson.

Day 4 started off wet. It was grey and overcast. After breakfast we packed camp at Whitehorn and continued along the Berg Lake Trail towards Rearguard.

This hike would also be 11 kilometres long. But, unlike the first day, we'd be climbing more. Especially at the beginning. We'd immediately be hiking past three waterfalls - White Falls, Falls of the Pool and Emperor Falls.

We started hiking at 8:30 a.m. By 12 noon we had made it to Emperor Falls 5 kilometres away. This is where we took a much needed break. Over that distance we had climbed 518 metres in elevation all with our packs on.

After 20 minutes of snacking and taking pictures we hit the trail again.

The skies started clearing 1-1/2 hours later. By the time we hit the southern tip of Berg Lake at 2:30 p.m. the sun was shining through the scattered clouds again. It really brought the blue-green colour out of the lake.

The water looked so inviting we decided to test it. Gabe went first taking his shoes off and wading in. The rest of us followed. Being glacial melt water it was extremely cold. We didn't last too long before dashing out.

Along the way we saw some cute Marmots by the aptly named Marmot campsite. The Berg Lake campsite would be next with 26 camp pads. We headed on to the more secluded Rearguard campsite 22 kilometres in (from the parking lot). By the time we arrived thunder clouds had quickly moved in.

We set our tents up as fast as possible barely finishing before the rain came down. And it came down hard.

We boiled water in the rain and ate our freeze-dried meals from Mountain Equipment Co-op. The thunderstorm had passed, but a steady rain continued. We called it an early night and headed to bed.