Tallest of them all

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When: September 2nd - 5th
Where: Mt.Robson Provincial Park
Highlights: Camping, float trip, hike, BC.

Friday, 2nd September
We were so dead, both of us that we thought we would just pull over & catch up some sleep. But somehow(read G took over) & we reached Jasper by 2pm. I fell asleep 1 hr into the drive & S slept when I was half way through it. 😊 So, it was break time for all of us at Jasper. We witnessed rain & a bit of snow on our drive & Jasper was still cold & windy. But we enjoyed being outside so much. Even S did not mind the cold.😊 It was only a short 1 hr drive to Mt.Robson and we reached there early enough to set up camp and check out the visitor center. Btw, we just crossed the border & gained a precious 1 hr.
We haven't been in BC long enough to experience the place. But the campground looked well groomed & looked after. 😊 A friendly staff came by to offer firewood & G got 2 whole bunches.
A friendly staff at the visitor center pointed out that someone spotted salmons jumping over rearguard falls. The water level was so high 1 month ago when we stopped by on our way from Alaska. So, Ganesh could not wait to get there asap.
At first look, we were disappointed. We did not see any. Looking closer, I noticed something moving in the water, half way up the falls. It was a Chinook.
Then I noticed a 2nd one trying to find its way upstream. And then a 3rd. It got really exciting. Really. We saw so many salmons jumping out of the water. S had so much fun moving her neck from that end to this. S has seen so many salmons in the last month that the minute she sees a fish now, she would blindly say that it is a salmon😊
By the time, we got back to camp, it was almost dark. And cold. It took us a lot of searching to discover we did not bring a fire-starter. And the wood was damp as it had drizzled a bit. So, Cold. And no Fire. Made me 😞
I had cold feet, literally.😊 S & Ganesh managed to sleep really well. S slept inside my sleeping bag. So, please imagine how I slept!!! I woke up with a sore neck and back the next morning.
😞

Saturday, 3rd September
So, as disappointing it was to realize that we could not start a fire without a firestarter, we set off to Valemount(20km South) to get some. In the event, we stopped by Swift creek to see some Chinooks. It was another spawning area. All the salmons we saw were bright red. The Sun was hot. Some 25+C. But way cooler back at the campground. So grateful!
We headed immediately to Berg Lake Trail. It was a short 4.5km hike(walk) to Kinney Lake. S fell asleep immediately and woke up only at Kinney Lake. S is becoming heavier. Ganesh did not stop even for a moment along the hike. 😊
The scene was very quiet at Kinney Lake. Beautiful reflections! It is the popular trail in the area & another 16km lies the astounding Berg Lake. Read more about Berg Lake trail here
Maybe we'll come back for this sometime. Surely interested me. A lot. 😊
S refused to walk but I did not want Ganesh to carry her. So, we managed to invoke her interest in the immediate surrounding which means she walked back all the 4.5km without even knowing it. The trail was pretty straight. Being with her means I noticed all the different colors in mushrooms. I was even surprised to find pink and black. 😊 We had a very interesting walk & talk by the end of which S was tired & almost ready to sleep again. 😊
It was quite ironical that Mt.Robson was covered in clouds for when we were right below it at Kinney Lake, but cleared up as we hiked out.
It had turned out to be quite an eventful day & we were glad to be at the campground to check if we could manage a fire tonight. Turned out, we could & we were out late. But for some reason, it wasn't cold. Relatively speaking.😊

Sunday, September 4th
We all took it easy & woke up late. We had a float trip to do starting at 1pm. Somehow time flies when you are outdoors.(Or even indoors for that matter😊)
We checked in at 12.30 at Robson Lodge. We had stayed there on our ALCAN trip. It felt good to be back. The place is locally owned & it was a blast how these people(Terri, our guide & owner) & Bruce(I think) see life. They have not travelled as much, but they are so contented doing what they are doing. Ok, given that they are near the tallest peak in the Rockies. But how many of us can make it a routine as soon as we can!
So, Terri talked about the area, its mountains, animals, the salmons, the river, etc. I am always hungry for more for anything the locals have to say. It comes from experience and not just knowledge.
At a point(spawning point), they stopped the raft & talked about the life cycle of a salmon, Chinook salmon, specifically as only they can come this far(1300km inland). Their life cycle is a must-read. The talk was so enlightening. I was looking at the Chinooks in the Fraser with so much reverence. If you read the life cycle, you will too. 😊
Fraser is one of the longest undammed rivers in the country. Here is a little read about it.
S was having fun in the water & the gentle rapids so far. But after the talk, I don't know if it was Terri's talking or the movement of the boat, but she fell asleep as soon as I put her on my feet. Well! Wrong place to put a toddler when you don't know the duration of the sleep. But to say the least, I was kind of hoping when the trip will end as my leg turned numb pretty soon. But S slept well out of the trip. Until I had to yell "ice cream" in her ears. That always works!😊
We cooled down with an ice cream & later checked out the exhibits in the visitor center basement.
Berg Lake trail seemed inviting. I may eventually forget it in my daily routine, who knows!
We had an early dinner & I left the family behind to take some night shots of the mountain. It had been so long I spent time on photography. But Ganesh was willing enough to take care of S so I could do this.
We hit our sacks fairly early.

Monday, September 5th
Labor Day! We woke up to an early start while S was still snoozing. We had to pack up slowly & by the time S woke up, we were almost done. But somehow, we managed to leave only by noon. We paid a visit to the Overlander falls & then it was a straight drive into Jasper. The day was hot, quite contrary to the day we came in. At Jasper, we fueled ourselves & our Forester.
A long drive on a hot sunny day on the Icefield Parkway is not our idea of an ideal roadtrip. So, we stopped by at Mistaya Canyon for a short hike. It was way too late to do any other hike. So, we headed home which was a good 3 hrs away.
We reached what we called as home around 10pm. I should be dead by then, but S starts school tomorrow & I went into a panic mode thinking of what all I didn't do for it.

Enjoyed a lovely weekend! Not sure if this is our last camping trip. Might most likely be. But there is a Fall festival in Lake Louise. So, who knows! 😊

~travelbuffs
All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. -Toni Morrison

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Photos

Heat & Light
campfire

Chinook Salmons
Spawning time on Swift river

Salmon Spawning viewpoint
Swift river

Kinney Lake, with its mountains & glaciers
Berg Lake Trail continues much farther up. In 2 days you could be at the base of Robson Glacier.

Comments

[Shiva]

Reminds me of Rainier!!
BEautiful set of pictures Meera, good to c your blog! And yea as title says it, reminds me of Rainier :D