Berg Lake Trail - Day 3 (Snowbird Pass)

Day 3 was Snowbird Pass Day!  This is a 19km day hike from our campsite, featuring 700m of elevation gain to a pass at 2408m (7900 feet) which looks out over the Reef Icefield.  We were told not to miss it, so despite tired legs, we took comfort in our light day packs and set out around 8:30am again (so we would not be caught by mid-day heat on the walk up, or afternoon showers on the walk back).

Chad channels his inner Karate Kid at the start of the trail.  Robson Glacier in background

Sarah surveys the trail and river

The Robson Glacier is receding quickly.  It is now at least 1.5 km past this sign - where it was 100 years ago

After skirting Robson Lake to the left, we began a very gentle ascent of the lateral moraine of the Robson Glacier, with Rearguard Mountain across the valley from us.

Looking back towards our campsite.  Sarah is outfitted and ready

Sarah displaying characteristically cat-like reflexes as the mountain tries to trip her.  It did not succeed

Chad marching along the moraine

Don't worry, we'll stay off the glaciers...

Just after the above sign, the trail took a dramatic turn uphill and got very steep and a bit rough.  The previous days of hiking caught up with Sarah at this point, so rather than further exhausting her legs she took the prudent course and turned back, saving her energy for the very significant 23km hike with full pack the following day.  Chad pressed on, with the promise of photos from the top.

The Robson Glacier begins to reveal more of itself

View of Rearguard Mountain and Robson Lake, with Robson Pass on the right side of the treed area

The trail definitely got interesting, including this little section hugging a cliff that had some chain fences for comfort.  Very fun, though you had to pay attention to avoid losing the trail in some places.

I'm pointing at a ridge only a few feet in front of me, followed by a steep drop.  The valley bottom and glacier are hundreds of metres below

Glacial ice

Moraine-top trail

The trail leveled off for a couple of kilometres, and ran along the top of the Robson Glacier's lateral moraine. Geologically interesting - the hill above on the left was a loose rock slope resulting from erosion - sedimentary-type rocks had broken off in big, rectangular slabs.  But the glacier, during its prime, had pushed the material I was walking on all the way up to this height - it was round rocks, gravel and sand below me and on the downhill slope to the right.

Trail turned uphill again at this waterfall, which drops into the valley below

Alpine meadow

Once over the lip of the cliff, the trail flattened out nicely and wound through a surprisingly lush alpine meadow, full of grasses and flowers.

Looking back, the north face of Mt. Robson and the meadow

After meandering through some grassy bowls, the trail hits pure, lifeless alpine and heads up a loose, rocky slope to the pass.

Feeling good, approaching Snowbird Pass (in background)

Snowbird Pass!  It was damned windy, so I was glad to have brought my toque and jackets.

At Snowbird Pass, looking back towards Mt. Robson

And man, was it worth the climb...

Looking out over the massive Reef Icefield, to the right of Snowbird Pass

Looking to the left of Snowbird Pass, over the Reef Icefield.  I'm blocking the view of the Colemand Glacier

That view was spectacular.  The Reef Icefield is huge - it must be many kilometres across, and potentially dozens long (it disappears over the horizon to the right).  I spent about 50 minutes at the pass, having lunch and taking in the view.  There's no good way down the other side of the pass (it's a steep drop-off), and even if you did make it down, crossing the glacier would require expert knowledge and skills, even if it was safe enough.  So it felt like reaching the top/the end of the line, which was satisfying.

I took a brief panorama movie that might or might not give a better idea of the grand scale of the icefield, below.

Looking left from the pass

Zoomed in view to the left of the pass

Zoomed in view to the right of the pass.  The mountains beyond the icefield seem rugged and endless

Looking up the very loose scree slope from my viewpoint

The short path up to the viewpoint from the pass, with Mt. Robson and Rearguard Mountain in the background

Mt. Robson, as seen from near Snowbird Pass

On the way down, I came across (almost stepped on) a smallish but very unafraid and curious marmot.  He seemed not to have any natural enemies up this high.  Though a young German woman from our campsite claimed to have seen three wolves on the Snowbird Pass trail (who could have been hunting marmots), though that seems unlikely given that the trail is busy, no one else saw them, and food and camouflage are sparse at those elevations.

Mt. Robson and meadows

Rearguard Mountain and creek bed

Upper reaches of Robson Glacier

North Face of Mt. Robson

One of the people in our campsite was an elite mountaineer back in the 1980s - apparently he summited Mt. Robson and nearby mountains many times.  He said that back in the 80s, the whole north face was snow and was much easier to climb.  Now, there is a ton of exposed rock and "fan" marks from huge chunks of falling ice and rock.  He said he would never climb that face now, as it's too dangerous.  He also mentioned how the early climbers (early 1900s) had it a lot easier (apart from their equipment/technology), as they simply walked up the Robson Glacier (which was much bigger and safer), then over a snow-covered couloir onto the shoulder of Robson, then a quick final push to the summit.  The glacier is now a mess of crevasses and such, so you have to walk around most of its lower reaches now.

After a truly fantastic day hike, I went for another dip in Adolphus Lake (a bit chillier than the previous day), followed by a great meal with our friendly camp mates.

The two guys on the left are long-time friends from Edmonton who go out into the backcountry a couple of times a year together, as it's their favourite thing to do.  The guy on the right is originally from Sarajevo (he emigrated before Yugoslavia dissolved) and was super nice, in addition to being a classic solo outdoorsman, complete with Rambo-style bowie knife and headband.  It was really nice to have a fire and some good conversation before our big hike out the next day.