Sat, May 30 2009, Sun, May 31 2009 - Backpacking - Glacier Lake (View Original Event Details)
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I think all of us agreed that our Glacier Lake trip turned out to be excellent. The weather held up, and the scenery was exactly as advertised: spectacular.
Our trip had a very rocky start, as someone ran a stop sign and collided with the car carrying 2 of the participants in this trip - only a block away from our meeting spot in Edmonton. Fortunately, all involved in the car accident were unhurt (the cars ... not so much...), and nobody wanted the unfortunate turn of events to disrupt their weekend plans. Of course, our planned 5 PM departure from Edmonton on Friday night was inevitably delayed, as we had to wait for emergency responders to deal with the scene, for the exchange of insurance information, and for both cars to be towed away. Most of us grabbed a quick bite of pizza on Whyte Ave. while we waited, and we hit the road at about 7 PM. We had a brief stop in Rocky Mountain House, where some of us gathered forgotten supplies for the trip. Canadian Tire was already closed, and the choices for camping supplies at the Superstore were intriguing (deluxe toaster - yes; camping fork/knife/spoon set - no). Chris's final choice for an alternative utensil (an ice cream scoop) was ... interesting. I think he gave it mixed reviews after trying it out at camp.
After our Rocky Mountain House stop, we drove on until dusk, and stopped for the night at Shunda Viewpoint Provincial Recreation Area, just outside of Nordegg. There wasn't a lot of thought that went into how that camping spot was chosen (I saw a sign with a logo for camping, and turned right), but it turned out to be a good choice for the night - nice campsites, a lovely view of the mountains ... and it was free.
We were all up by 7 AM, and after breakfast at our campsite, we hit the road and continued on to the trailhead. The David Thompson Highway was a pleasant drive as always. Near the Banff Park border, there was a lot of smoke in the air: prescribed burns were taking place north of the highway. (I SO wish I could have managed to snag a picture of the sign saying, "Is your fire out?", which was perfectly placed in front of the smoke and flames.)
We were on the trail by 10:30-ish, and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to hike to Glacier Lake. The trail has some very lovely stopping points: we crossed a wild stretch of the North Saskatchewan river which flows through a canyon after 1.1 km; we were treated to a gorgeous panorama at a lookout over the Howse River flats after about 2.3 km. After gradually hiking uphill through the forest for several more km, the trail plunges 225 m over 2 km, taking us to the eastern end of Glacier Lake. Glacier Lake is as gorgeous as advertised! However, it was a bit windy when we arrived, which made erecting tents a slightly more challenging adventure than anticipated.
After setting up our tents, we had plenty of time in the afternoon to do a bit of exploring. We hiked for about 3.5 km each way, following along the north shore of Glacier Lake to its western end. Some of our group continued even further, following the increasingly sketchy trail along the Glacier River flats and unsuccessfully attempting to reach a second lake (until hunger eventually drove them to abandon their expedition). After dinner, we sat around the fire and chatted with each other and some of the neighbouring campers (including an Australian couple and one interesting solo backpacker, whom some of us refer to as the "Into the Wild" guy).
On Sunday we ate breakfast, broke camp and hit the trail just before 11 AM. We were back to the cars by 1, and immediately hit the road for the long drive back to Edmonton.
I was really glad that this trip turned out exactly the way that I wanted it to, and I was glad to have such excellent company doing it!
- Ryan
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.