Mount Richardson

Those of you who know me well, know that my husband and I have spent quite a bit of time in the mountains this summer. We are so fortunate to live in this amazing country with all the scenery, national parks and wild country, from coast to coast it's an amazing land.

Recently I have been introduced to mountain climbing and scrambling. My husband is an avid mountain climber and I have really enjoyed learning this sport with him. This August we spent 4 days in the back country of the Rocky Mountains, near Lake Louise in the Skokie area. It was amazing and I wanted to share our adventure with you. If you look at the title picture you can actually see Lake Louise. That photo was taken from near the top of Mount Richardson.

The mountains are beautiful, vast and formidable! When you get into the back country you are completely at the mercy of the mountains. You best come prepared because you have to take what they give you. I am working on a blog post that contains a comprehensive packing list for the back country for those who may be interested. We are learning as we go;)

As I mentioned, you take what the mountains bestow. For the first three days our charming benefactors gave us sunlight, waterfalls and remote mountain lakes. Colours you could hardly imagine! Deep, navy blue lakes, bright turquoise lakes, vibrant purple flowers, deep green moss and lichen. We heard the deep, soulful call of the loon, the playful squeaks of chipmunks and marmots and the delicate breeze playing in the evergreens. It was bliss!

The last day and a half...we paid. A series of rain storms came marauding over the mountain peaks one after another. We had steady rain, thunder, small hail, high winds and sleet. The last morning we woke up to frost on the ground. Try convincing yourself to crawl out of your sleeping bag when your tent is covered in frost and ice!!

Getting into the back country is as amazing as it sounds. You see beautiful, remote country and for the most part you are alone. You do see others at the back country campgrounds, but it is really enjoyable to have some social time and share stories of your days adventures with others who are as crazy and excited about it as you are! It's also fun to compare notes on which dehydrated meals taste best! ( hint: they all taste amazing out in the fresh air after hiking all day).

We tried to split our trip up into manageable portions as carrying heavy packs you can't go quite as far or as fast. Day 1 we hiked up to Hidden Lake campground, about 8 km, and set up camp by shortly after lunch. Then we grabbed our day packs and scrambled Mount Richardson. Standing tall at 3080m, from Hidden Lake to the summit and back again took us 6 hours. You can do it faster if you don't have arthritic hips slowing you down;) Parts were steep and narrow, some of it was climbing on all fours. Watch for the cairns to mark the way as it is easy to get side tracked and miss the trail. The views were so amazing. Every time you climbed a few hundred feet you had to turn around and take more pictures as the view changed and opened up.

The last few hundred feet to the top was climbing and scrambling boulders. This is the part where I always wonder why I am doing this! It's such a grind at the end, but once you reach the summit you realize it was worth it! It's so amazing to stand on the top of a mountain and look all around, 360 degrees panorama of mountain peaks and wilderness, all stretched out before you. God's power and diversity in creation on display. It's breathtaking. And what a feeling to know you made it to the top! Challenge completed!

Day 2 we left Hidden Lake and hiked over Deception Pass. A beautiful hike by Ptarmigan lake and it's sun dappled waters, ptarmigan peak on the left and meadows alive with wildflowers and small creatures, we even saw a white tailed deer. The haul up over Deception Pass is less inspiring but a necessary evil to gain access to the valley and the Red Deer Lakes. We hiked from Hidden lake to Red Deer Lake camp ground, about 11 km on day 2...felt like double with those packs on tho ;)

Day 3 we hiked 9 km return on a fantastic hiking trail over to a natural bridge and water fall. I think I took a million photos of it! The hike was an easy ramble through meadows, along the valley and through the trees. This was our rest day and it was worth the hike to see the natural bridge. Coming around the corner you can hear the water as it rushes through a natural arch in the stone, circle in the sky. The sun shining through, moss growing on the sides of the bank and the rock shining with the spray..amazing.

I could have stayed all day, I love waterfalls! We hiked back to red deer lakes, went for a swim in the lake and had our dehydrated supper...delicious! Camped a second night at Red Deer.

Day 4 We hiked back to Hidden Lake this time going over Skokie Pass, a much more delightful and rewarding hike tho no less demanding than Deception Pass. You get to walk along the valley for the first few km and then you come to the base of a small water fall. The trail goes right up beside the water fall, climbing over boulders...and under boulders, you quickly gain elevation, coming out right beside the beautiful skoki lakes!

We took our time along the Skoki lakes, had a lunch break and then braced ourselves for the climb up out of the Pass. It's a steady climb with no breaks where it levels out so we just tucked in and kept at it. Once you are up its a fairly intense descent back down to Ptarmigan Lake and then to Hidden Lake. We could see the rain coming across the valley as we made hast for Hidden Lake. We were hoping to get our tent set up before it hit but we were about 5 minutes too late!

Thankfully we had a tarp ( a lightweight tarp is a must for back country hikes), which we set up and kept most our gear dry. By Supper there was a steady rain and as we were eating a light hail storm blew through. Brrr!

Day 5 we were up early because it was so cold! We forced ourselves to get up and packed up as quickly as we could. My poor Husband had to pack up the tent with ice stuck to the fly...added a few extra pounds I am sure. A long but relatively easy descent and we were back to our van by mid morning. I was still chilly even after hiking out so we made tracks to Radium Hot Springs! Nothing like a soak in the hot springs after a chilly night and 4 days of aching muscles to relax.

A fantastic adventure and highly recommended! If you are interested in our back country menu let me know and I can post that too!