The Berg Lake Trail

August 6th through 9th we were in Edmonton to see family members, especially our two little grandchildren there.  We left early Friday morning, hoping for good weather and planning to hike the Berg Lake trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park.

We have backpacked and hiked the Berg Lake trail many times now but never weary of its spectacular scenery, and interestingly, have only had rainy weather there once, though the area is notorious for cloudy weather and invisible mountains.

We arrived at 7:00 am and were soon on the trail, which we had almost to ourselves, though as the day went on the trail was quite busy.  We hiked as far as Whitehorn, where we usually camp the first night if we are backpacking.

The Robson River was very high and in one spot near Kinney Lake the trail was flooded.  We took our time and a lot of pictures, both of the river and the wildflowers growing along the trail.  We saw a few orchids but most were gone to seed.

There had been rain in the area earlier and everything was wet.  The trail is good enough that we did not have to worry about getting wet ourselves, but it did give us many opportunities to photograph the rain or dewdrops on the plants and foliage.

As is always the case there was a lot of "small nature" to photograph, too, especially fungi and mushrooms, which for some reason seem to be my wife's favorite subject.  Many of these pictures, not only of the fungi, are hers and not mine.

We followed the trail around the east side of Kinney Lake, enjoying the reflections of the mountains in the water of the lake.  It was there we found a number of the Pad-leaved Orchis, Platanthera orbiculata, our most beautiful Platanthera.

All along Kinney Lake and for the rest of the hike we found endless numbers of the Lesser Rattlesnake Orchis, Goodyera repens.  We had never seen this species in bloom because we are usually in the area earlier, near the end of June.

The plant's tiny leaves were hidden in the moss, but the  white flowers were beautiful especially when seen close up.  We also saw its larger cousin, the Giant Rattlesnake Orchis, but did not even take pictures of this very common plant.

Crossing the flood plain above Kinney Lake we hiked up and over the hill to Whitehorn, arriving at noon.  There we made our lunch, my wife resting while I explored, looking for wildflowers, though there were few in bloom this late in the season.

Leaving Whitehorn about 2:00 we hiked out in two hours and were soon on our way home, driving west and then south on the Yellowhead Highway.  Delayed by an horrific accident near Barriere we did not get home until after midnight.

Backpacking in the Canadian Rockies (5)

Day Five - July 9, 2010

We were up very early, around 4:00 am, on this fifth and last day of our hike.  Packed up our camp, had a quick breakfast of granola and blueberries, and were on the trail with our packs before 5:30.  No one else was stirring in camp and the trail was deserted.

In all it took us about six and a half hours to hike out, including several fairly long stops for pictures, for refilling waterbottles, and for rest.  This was about half the time we had taken to hike in.  The sky was nearly cloudless again and it was hot, so the early start was a good idea.

Our last views of Berg Lake and of Mount Robson in the morning light were beautiful and it was nice to see the same scenery we had seen hiking in at a later time of the day and in a different light.  My wife took more pictures than I did, however.

We saw two new orchids on the way out.  The Alaskan Piperia, Piperia unalascensis, we had probably missed on the way in.  We found it along the trail just below the Emperor Falls detour.

The other orchid, Platanthera orbiculata, the Pad-leaved Orchis, we had seen on the way in, but none of the plants we saw were in bloom.  Now we found just one plant in full bloom in the woods near Kinney Lake and took our time getting pictures, since this was one we had not seen before.

The plant is very elegant with two large, shiny, round leaves at the base of plant and a fifteen inch flower spike with large, very intricate green and white flowers.  If not the showiest of native orchids, it most certainly is the showiest of the Platantheras.

The last four kilometers of the trail, from Kinney Lake to the trailhead were very busy with dayhikers and bikers, since it was a beautiful Friday and now near noon.  We must have seemed very much in a hurry to them and we hoped that no one could smell us as we went by - five days without a shower leaves a definite odor.

The Robson River, after a week of hot, sunny weather, was a raging torrent, and the woods through which we hiked appeared to be very dry, but we did not linger often even for photos on our way out.  The energizer bunny seemed to have more energy than I did, but even she took only a few pictures on this last leg of our hike.

Arriving at the car we divested ourselves of our packs for the last time and headed for Edmonton.  First, however, we had to get some civilized food and drink, and so we stopped at a Tim Horton's in Hinton, the first town outside the parks and later at a Chinese Restaurant for our evening meal, and so ended our excursion.

Beautiful mountain scenery, and abundance of flowers, time to be together and to relax, what more could one ask?  Will we do it again?  With family in Edmonton it is a real possibility, and the result is certainly worth the effort, but there are other trails and other things to see, and we are not as young as we once were. 

Stats:
- total distance hiked: 50 miles, 80 kilometers.
- daily average miles hiked: 10 miles, 16 kilometers.
- elevation gain (and loss): 6500 feet, 1980 meters.
- beginning elevation: 2800 feet, 853 meters.
- Berg Lake elevation: 5400 feet, 1646 meters.
- Snowbird Pass elevation: 7920 feet, 2414 meters.
- Mumm Basin elevation: 6800 feet, 2073 meters.
- number of orchid species seen: 15 + two additional varieties

Backpacking in the Canadian Rockies (1)

Day One - Monday, July 5, 2010

Left our son-in-law and daughter's home in Edmonton at 2:00 am for the five hour drive west to Mount Robson Provincial Park.  Forgot that British Columbia is in the Pacific Time Zone and so arrived at the park headquarters at 6:00 am with two hours before we could check in, confirm our reservations and get our backcountry camping permits.

On the way saw several moose feeding, but too far away to get a decent picture, and a number of deer and elk.  I stopped to get pictures of two bull elk along a small lake in Jasper National Park and they plunged into the lake and began to swim across.  That was a picture I very much wanted, but it was still quite dark and the pictures turned out a bit grainy.

We were hiking the Berg Lake Trail, a very popular trail, and so had made reservations several months earlier, a good thing, since the backcountry campgrounds, especially the campground at Berg Lake, were quite full most of the time we were there.

After checking in and watching the obligatory 15 minute video on hiking and camping in the backcountry we drove the short distance to the trailhead and were on the trail by 8:30, crossing a footbridge across the Robson River and following the river north.

The weather had not been very good the previous week and we had watched the weather reports carefully.  We'd had fairly heavy rain while driving and there was still light rain as we started our hike, but the weather quickly improved and we had beautiful weather the rest of the day and the rest of the week.

Red Columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

Had to make only 11 kilometers to our first camp at Whitehorn, but that took us six hours since we stopped often to take pictures, especially of the wildflowers that were growing everywhere along the trail.  This usually involved taking off our packs and putting them on again, a rather laborious chore.  Landscape pictures were more easily taken.

Red, White and Blue for the 4th of July

Soon saw several native orchids, Listera cordata var. cordata, the Heart-leaved Twayblade and Platanthera huronensis, the Green Bog Orchis, the latter growing in every boggy or wet area along the trail, and its tall, bright green spikes very visible.

Listera cordata is a tiny plant only a few inches tall and was usually growing among other plants in shady well-drained areas.  As its name suggests, the two leaves are heart-shaped and are opposite each other a little above the ground.  This plant we found growing at all elevations up to our final camp at Berg Lake.

The first four kilometers of trail to Kinney Lake are much used by day hikers and bikers and are very easy hiking.  This gave us the chance to adjust our packs and get into the rhythm of hiking, and pictures of the Robson River which we were following, gave us some quick "breathers."

Arriving at Kinney Lake the weather was still cloudy, though the rain had stopped, and the trail, now through the woods and somewhat more difficult, gave us some wonderful views of the lake and of the mountains in the distance.

In the woods around the lake we began to see plants of Platanthera obtusata, the Blunt-leaved Rein Orchis.  We had seen this plant the previous year but then only a couple plants in flower.  Now it was everywhere along the trail and we would continue to see it nearly all the way to Berg Lake.

This plant was easily recognizable by the unique shape of its flowers and the rather long single leaf at the base of the plant.  Also saw three or four plants of the much larger and very elegant Platanthera orbiculata, the Pad-leaved Orchis.  They were near blooming but not a single flower was open, a huge disappointment.  Also saw a lot of the Lesser Rattlesnake Orchis, Goodyera repens, but none of these were in bloom either.

At the north end of the lake we had hoped to see again the Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) and the Sparrow's-egg Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium passerinum), but were disappointed to find that these were all finished - not a flower to be found.  Though we were hiking at nearly the same time as last year we saw everywhere that spring had come much earlier this year and that everything was further along.

Stopped at the Kinney Lake campground for lunch, having made about seven kilometers in four hours, nothing to brag about.  Each had an MRE for lunch, very convenient since it doesn't involve heating water and not too bad as far as hiking food goes.  Refilled our waterbottles and went on, now under better skies and in much warmer temps.

After hiking across the flood-plain north of the lake where we had found Yellow Lady's Slippers a year ago but none in bloom now, we started up Whitehorn Hill and along the last few kilometers to our first camp.  Saw a huge porcupine but were unable to get pictures.

Arrived at Whitehorn at about 2:00 pm, set up camp, soaked our feet in the river, and pumped a container of water with the purifier, one of my least favorite camp chores.  The camp at Whitehorn is in a beautiful basin along the river, and the campsites in the trees.



Finished setting up camp we took our cameras and headed north from camp toward White Falls.  Were delighted to find Yellow Lady's Slippers blooming in the woods and along the trail north of camp, and the Small Round-leaf Orchis (Amerorchis rotundifolia) as well and one tiny flower of the Sparrow's-egg Lady's Slipper.

The Yellow Lady's Slipper was interesting in its variable colors.  The pouches varied from a deep to pale yellow, but sepals and petals were even more variable, ranging from green to a rich mahogany color.

Amerorchis rotundifolia is an interesting plant, most closely related to the European genus, Orchis, and with no other close relatives in North America.  It is a small plant, about five inches tall, with delightful flowers that look like little pink-spotted angels.

At the falls, a beautiful cascade of four different waterfalls that are only partly visible from the trail, we climbed a loose and steep talus slope to get a better view and some time exposures of the falls.  Perched precariously on the slope, we got our pictures, but were relieved to be down at the bottom of the slope again.

By the time we finished photographing the orchids and the falls it was nearly 6:00 and we wandered back to camp where we had our evening meal of freeze-dried beef stew, teriyaki chicken and tea.  Afterward chatted for a while with some of the other campers and then headed to the tent where we read for a while (I started Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods) and finally went to sleep at about 8:00.

Note: The third, tenth and last pictures were taken by my wife.