Glacier Lake

A weekend at the spa, or a weekend that makes you long for the spa? Simone (from Germany), Jess Andrews, and and I set out for a two day, one night backpacking adventure 2 hours west of Rocky Mountain House. We hit the Glacier Lake trail head around 8:30 am on Saturday, and stopped for our "near the trail head" photo op over the North Saskatchewan River about 15 minutes later.

The hike into Glacier Lake took about 3 hours. The first hour was relatively flat with a few ups and downs, followed by a second hour of significant elevation gain. We reached the summit of our climb at the 7 kilometer mark, and made a steep descent for about 1.5 kilometers to Glacier Lake.After three long but enjoyable hours, we reached the hiker's campground at Glacier Lake. The water was like a mirror that created a perfect imitation of the mountains above (the ripples in the photo were caused by the dog... he was more interested in a bath than preserving the reflection).

We stayed overnight at the hiker's campground and made a late start (about 10 am) back to the trail head. The trip back started with a grueling climb out of the lake basin, followed by a relatively steady, but calm descent to the car. This was a five minute break on one of five small foot bridges along the way.

Unfortunately, the last 0.5 km of the hike back to the car was almost straight up as we left the river valley once again. Whoever designed the hike should know it is cruel to place a hill at the end of a hike. ;) A dear grandpa took our "return to the trail head" photo. We made it!