For our anniversary (16 years now!), we decided to go on a backcountry camping trip. Jess' parents generously agreed to watch the kids for 3 days while we headed off to Waterton Lakes National Park. Very appropriate since this is also where we honeymooned.
We decided to hike to Twin Lakes, a pair of small lakes high up in the mountains, right by the BC border. We planned to hike to the lakes in one day, spend one day at the lakes, hiking around the area, and then pack our tent the following day and head back through the Blackiston valley, making a loop to end up back at our starting point: Red Rock Canyon. It would be a 22 km loop, with Twin Lakes being about 300 metres higher than Red Rock Canyon.
We started out Monday, carrying 30 and 35 pound packs on our backs. It was a lovely day, though a bit too warm and we were soon sweating. The saskatoon berries were in full abundance so we knew there were bears around enjoying the berries though thankfully we never encountered any. Though we did see plenty of fresh bear scat along the trail.
Once we started to climb a little higher, the saskatoon berries disappeared and so did the bear scat. We stopped for a break at Snowshoe campsite, where we had this lovely view of the creek. After this, the path narrowed and started climbing more noticeably and we entered a more remote area of the park. I think we encountered a total of about 6 other hikers over the next 2 days.
Do I look exhausted here? We've almost made it to Twin Lakes, it's been a long day! My feet were so sore by this point, each step was really painful. Which was frustrating because if it hadn't been for sore feet, I would have felt great. It wasn't as hard to carry all that weight on my back as I had feared.
We finally made it to Twin Lakes! The lake we camped at was surprisingly warm. It was smooth as glass most of the time we were there and the water was very clear (thankfully since this was our source of drinking water during our stay!) There was room for 4 tents but we ended up being the only campers there both nights.
Our luxurious accommodations included this lovely outhouse:
And the all-important bear pole:
We camped right beside the lake, it was absolutely quiet and serene and gorgeous.
One of the many fish in the lake:
The view from our tent on Tuesday morning:
Jess filtering our water. This was a fairly time consuming process. We brought water purification tablets which made it safe to drink but didn't do anything about the wiggly floaties in the water...So, he took some mesh from our tent repair kit and used it to filter the water as he collected it from the lake.
Crazy mountain sheep:
On Tuesday afternoon (after a very loud thunderstorm blew through the area), we climbed up to Sage Pass, right above Twin Lakes. It only took about an hour to get up there and the view was so very worthwhile.
The border between Alberta and BC runs along Sage Pass - here I am with a foot in each province:
Our view of Twin Lakes from Sage Pass (the second, smaller lake is to the left of this one, behind those trees).
Our elevation was high enough that we were higher than the lowest clouds:
I got to spend lots of time reading, a rare luxury for me, here I'm reading while I wait for our water to boil:
On Wednesday, it was time to head back. We followed a trail past the lakes, up over a pass on the other side, and then the descent into Blackiston Valley began.
Blackiston Falls - only 2 more km's to go!
And, here we are, back at Red Rock Canyon, mission accomplished. It was a difficult trek but it was so very wonderful. I can't remember when we've ever spent 3 whole days alone together with no one else to talk to but each other. But not only did we get to talk about everything under the sun, we had to help each other and we had to work together to accomplish our goal - a lot like how we have to help each other and work hard to accomplish our goal of a successful marriage. We really loved this hike, we'll definitely do it again - we've already chosen next year's route!
