CRYPT LAKE - A 'MUST DO' HIKE

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CRYPT LAKE

Words can not really describe how awesome this hike was and I could not have thought of a better way to spend my birthday in Canada. This hike has it all as I will explain in the blog, amazing views, element of risk and event a bear sighting just to top it off.



I was supposed to be at Dave, the PE Coordinator from Fairview by 5:50am in the morning. As my mates from Melbourne, and maybe pretty much everyone that knows me, I have a bad habit of being a little late. This was a time I could ill afford to be late as the ferry or boat that we had to catch to cross the amazingly picturesque lake in Waterton left at 9am SHARP! We could have caught the10am ferry but that would have meant a longer day and later getting home. We picked up Simon and Brian M who I also work with and began our adventure along highway 2 towards Waterton which was about a 3 hour drive from Calgary. I also found out that Steve who had run the Canmore trip and i had gone X-Country skiing with earlier in the year was also there with another exchange family and they too were going to be doing the hike.



When we arrived, the sky was grey, cloudy and dull but this did not dampen our spirits as we prepared for the hike. Now, how much would you expect to pay for a 10 to 15 minute return ride on a ferry across the crystal clear blue lakes of Waterton? $10? Higher! $15? Higher! We paid $22 for a return ticket. As Dave had said they know people will pay it as the hike is renowned to be in the top 20 in the world. What do you get for your $22 you may ask? An amazing view of the lakes in Waterton, a view of the old Prince of Wales hotel that has an amazing location on near the edge of a cliff by the lake and green mountains and a briefing about the hike and the expectations of the park. Now I had heard whispers of a component of this walk that does flirt with danger and when the speaker told of a guide rope that is pretty much your life line as the path is narrow and one mistake is probably a 300 to 400m drop, maybe more you attention is grabbed and the heart rate flutters a little bit. Simon and I, both not a fan of heights definitely had a little cause for concern but Dave had pointed out that no one had died to his knowledge from doing this hike while comforting you didn't want to be that number 1 if you know what I mean.



The start of the work had me hooked from the start. The paths, while fairly narrow were surrounded by green vegetation and flourishing pine trees and we walked up the fairly steep start to the track. Unfortunately I get a bit excited and like to take photos whenever I see something that captures my fancy. This was nearly every 20 to 30 metres ad the view of the lakes from the path was just stunning and we hadn't even started our climb. The hike continues walking on the edge of the green valley which include a series of waterfalls and river flow which you pass along the way. While walking through the forest section the path is quite safe but but once you venture more into the mountain part the path which is narrow and quite rocky (slippery in some parts if you are not careful) starts to have a fairly steep drop on your right. On our left was the winding path and the rocky mountains that kept us trapped within the valley. In some parts there was some rushing water that flowed down the step mountains and was quite pleasant to observe and even explore a little.



The view of the valley is nothing short of sensational as was the water that dropped from Crypt Lake and splashed down the large drop that you could now start to see. This view also revealed the dangerous part of the walk and only my pictures may give you some indication of what this actually looked like. We started to turn round the edge of the cliff at the end of the valley, walking along a narrow rocky track with the left edge a lot steeper than it had been. There was also no trees to block your fall or to grab on to if you indeed slipped on the edge. It was a little humorous watching people lean to their left for that little more security as they walked towards a tunnel that I can not tell you if it was man made or natural but either way, it was pretty cool. The ladder to climb to it was quite narrow and the nervous that were starting to flutter around in my stomach impacted on me making this more difficult than it should have been. The tunnel was high enough to just fit your back pack in if you ducked and only wide enough so that one person at a time could shuffle their way through.



The cave had been conquered but the guide rope was still to come. It was only about fifty metres away when we reached the guide rope and if you dared to look down the fall was now a straight vertical drop. The guide rope was barely wide enough to fit one person so if someone was coming the other way, it appeared that it could be quite interesting. Brian and Dave had managed to guide Simon through quite safely but I had lagged behind to take photographs from the cave. There was two points during this section where I had a little moment to question my presence on this hike. The first was I got to a point where two people did come from the other way. I was lucky enough that where I ran into them was a little rock perch I could climb onto while they walked past. I felt like I was Gollum from the Lord of the Rings waiting to pounce on Frodo and Sam as I waited patiently for the couple to walk past. Not more than a few steps later I got to a point where it looked like the walk way had broken way and there was no where secure to place your foot. I studied it for a moment and carefully worked out how best to tackle this from a 400m drop and slowly i put my foot down on a slightly slanting down rock which was the size of barely a human foot.



Apart from a slight concern that it had taken me longer than they expected the others and I continued on through a much safer part of the path through a nice green section towards the lake. There was a minor bit of scrambling but eventually we arrived at this amazing part of the world, Crypt Lake. As we arrived the sun came out from the clouds for the first time and we sat down next to the freezing cold waters to eat our lunch and enjoy the view. As the photos will show, the lake was pretty much a round clear lake circled by mountains. There was a small bit of ice that still remained at the far end and on the edges of the lake if you decided to walk around it which we had chosen to do so after lunch. Again the path was narrow but on most occasions the drop was barely 10 metres and it was protected by water. Walking along the melting ice did cause some concern but added to the adventure of the hike. One point we actually walked underneath a piece of remaining ice which was actually quite cool before we ventured around into more shrub, vegetation and pine trees that was on the left hand side of the lake when you look at it when you first come in (our right at this point of our hike). It was a place you felt at piece with and one I didn't really want to leave. The thought of staying there over night though if you missed the ferry with the bears that may lurk unfortunately put meaning to the phrase 'all good things must come to an end'.



There was only one small mishap on the way back to the guided rope and that was when Simon tried to jump from about a 2 metres scramble and clipped his foot as he jumped. How he did not face plant still has me puzzled but miraculously he landed on his feet. The walk back along the guided rope was actually some what harder as there were a couple of times you were unsure where to put your feet. The first was the same section as on the way, the other way a small steep drop that was a little difficult to walk forward down. An old couple who had been racing through this section behind me and making me look silly suggested sideways or backwards was a better move and once I plucked up the courage to turn my body, I managed to make it through this section on the tunnel and back to the other side. The sun, which had threatened to leave us for a moment and had us contemplating doing the tough section in the rain and its degree of difficulty, was shining brightly for the remainder of the walk which gave us a new perspective of the valley and mountains on the way back.



The hike was over but Dave had suggested going to see Red Rock Canyon, which was a place I had read about and wanted to see. Once we had got off the ferry, got back in the car and drove a little way to took the road to the canyon which was still located in the park. We hadn't gone this road long when we saw a few cars stopped and parked by the side of this narrow road. It could only mean one thing! Bear! Sure enough we saw what looked like a female Grizzly bear frolicking in the think high grass and venture towards a small water hole where it joyfully went for a swim. After being infatuated with the bear for a few moments we drove along the beautiful but slow drive along a road that had to be questioned for its condition. Dave pointed out some good camping grounds while I stared in wonder at the beautiful green mountains that once again had blown my mind.



Red Rock Canyon was actually pretty cool! The red rock stands out and looks absolutely stunning in amongst the green trees and the mountains on either side of it. It was not a very step canyon, maybe the rock walls on either side never really got 8 metres high from what I had observed, and you could easily walk down and play in the water and have a closer look at the canyon from a different view point. If we had more time I would have loved to walk along it and explore it but as it was we still needed to get back before dark and have dinner along the way. I hope to one day visit Waterton again and explore this awesome looking canyon. Before this adventure had ended we still had one last surprise that we enjoyed as we drove along the questionable narrow road. From out of the valley of thick grass Dave had seen a bear bounding towards the car a great speed. We had more than enough time before it got to us but we drove a good 80 metres up the road and stopped to watch it as it walked across the road (even stopped to look both ways) and then bound through the thick shoulder high grass to continue its journey to towards the green mountains.



This was a great hike and it was great to listen to Brian, Dave and Simon tell so many different stories about a wide variety of topics. They all seemed so knowledgeable about the world and many different things in it and whether it was fatigue or just my lack of knowledge on the topics I found it hard to link my experiences to the conversation. I was glad to have ventured on this hike with these guys and hope that I get the chance to do another hike with them again soon. I have loved hiking the mountains and wished I could do all the hikes within the Rockies but not even if I did a hike a day before I leave would that even be possible.

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Photos

Living on the edge
Standing on the edge before the tunnel looking down into the valley.

View from the underground tunnel
Shows the path edge before the cave

View from the underground tunnel
Shows the view and the walk before the guide rope

The approach to the cave
I love this photo