theragingbirder: Robson

Mt. Robson is one of the most epic trails in the Rockies, so I had to take Ramata there. Keep in mind, this was her third time camping (EVER) and only second time doing backcountry. Fortunately, BC parks maintains a quota for the Berg Lake trail, so the masses attracted to this great trail are kept to a tolerable level. We managed to secure 2 nights at Kinney Lake which is lucky; people we talked to reserved on October 1st! We stayed at Adolphus Lake (Jasper) for the middle two nights which was quite easy to get as it is little-known.

Day 1
We started with an easy 7km on the first day (a good boost of confidence on the first day/excellent suggestion from Steve Pike!).

Day 2
We hiked 19km to Adolphus Lake (Jasper) which is 3 km past the Berg Lake trail. We stopped at Emperor Falls for an epic photoshoot.

Spruce Grouse

Storing food the old-fashioned way

Day 3
This was the day we were going to climb up Snowbird Pass. We started at 5:15am and leaving our gear behind we hiked the 26 km (return).

En route, we picked up Brewer's Sparrows, Pikas, Clark's Nutcrackers in the whitebark pine area and startled a White-tailed Ptarmigan which bursted into flight from right beside the trail. I'd finally ended my years-long battle with this nemesis just 2 days earlier, having seen 5 at Whistler's Mountain, Jasper via the gondola ride (which is cheating I know!). Critics will note that we found one under the power of our own steam! As we climbed higher toward the pass, the trail became more and more treacherous and Ramata discovered she had a fear of precipitous cliffs which is not all that unreasonable. We were reduced to a crawl but her determination overcame her fear of imminent death. With each segment I occupied my mind with contemplating the probability of death if I were to fall down this or that slope. Of course, I did not say these thoughts out loud! Stopping for a break having traversed the more deadly section, a female Ptarmigan with chicks appeared up on a slope!

Clark's Nutcracker

White-tailed Ptarmigan!

American Dipper

We broke into the vast alpine meadows too glorious to describe. As the cool glacial waters flowed in the alpine stream, so the juice of life flowed through our veins! A Prairie Falcon flew overhead. A Dipper dipped in the stream. The trail turned steeper but the reward I can quite solidly say was the best view I've ever had in my life, by far - a commanding vista over the Robson glacier and the Reef icefield to reawaken our city-blunted sense of wonder.

Mt. Robson

Mountain Arnica

Moss Campion

Our senses blasted with epicness, we began the arduous descent, braving the cliffs once more. We came within 1m of the female ptarmigan (1 foot from a chick) but my camera died! I nearly got it on my touch list but it scuttled away. We pulled into Adolphus Lake for a frigid swim and Ramata discovered a new favourite activity of jumping in frigid alpine lakes!

Day 4
We left at 4:40am on this day in order to catch the sunrise. We started two Moose on Adolphus Lake in the morning mist. Robson was epic, and pink. 19 km later we were at Kinney Lake fully beat and ready for a feast of Lipton's sidekicks and canned fish. Now both our spirits and our bodies were fully nourished.