Alberta Trip - Day 6 - Rearguard Out

Emperor Falls, Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park.

After a late night of trying to shoot the stars we packed and left Rearguard the next morning. We'd be hiking the whole way back to the parking lot in one go - 22 kilometres with all our gear.

We left at 10:00 in the morning. It was a bright, sunny day. Beautiful.

I didn't take as many pictures on the way out as on the way in. The gear was weighing me down and I didn't want to keep taking my camera out and putting it away.

It was a tough slog. The trip, mostly downhill, was killing my toes which repeated hit the inside of my hiking shoes. As well, the extra weight of my pack walking on the uneven ground was really doing a number on my ankles.

Our first break was at Emperor Falls, 6 kilometres and 2-1/2 hours in. We had a sit down and a small snack and were back on the trail.

The worst of the downhill trek was next, from Emperor Falls to Kinney Lake where it drops over 600 metres in 9 kilometres. We stopped for lunch here eating whatever food we had leftover.

I had a chance to talk with a ranger here. I was curious as to how often they had to rescue hikers/campers. She told me they did an average of 2 helicopter evacuations every shift. I actually never asked her how long a shift was though.

She mentioned that helicopter evacuations cost $1900 per hour and that the provincial government covered the costs if you were a B.C. resident. They could fly you out for something as seemingly trivial as a sprained ankle. Of course if you were stuck 20 kilometres in you'd never be able to hike out.

I think I also asked about bear encounters. She said they weren't uncommon. But that attacks on humans rarely happened.

After our break we hit the trail one last time. The last leg would be 11 kilometres long. It never seemed to end.

I believe we made it out by around 7:30 p.m. We were hungry and tired. The café at Mount Robson Visitor Centre was closed so we got ice cream bars from the gas station there. The closest village was Valemount. We headed there to try and grab dinner.

Valemount is tiny. Located 1/2 hour south of the park on Southern Yellowhead Highway (5) it's population barely breaks a thousand. The choice of restaurants is slim. The choice of open restaurants at 8:30 at night even slimmer.

The first place we tried was a pizza joint. It didn't look very inviting. And, as it turns out, it wasn't. After we walked through the door they said, we're closed (even though the sign out front stated they were open until 9:00).

So we walked across the street to a Korean restaurant, called appropriately enough, Korean and Japanese Restaurant. I know... a Korean restaurant in a town of 1,000? There wasn't much else that looked appealing.

I ordered Japchae with beef. It was tasty, but I believe, a bit over-priced at around $18 or so. Emily had fried rice which came in around $17 (before tax and tip). We were hungry so we couldn't afford to be picky.

It was nearly 10:00 p.m. by the time we self-checked in at the Mountain River Lodge (back on Highway 16) close to the park entrance. After three days in the bush we decided to pamper ourselves a little.

Emily had booked a small cabin for four there, plus a room for two at the main lodge. Gabe and I took the room while the others shared the cabin.

After a hot, relaxing shower to wash away the grime we visited the others before hitting the sack at around 11:30.