“It’s 4:30 am and the North Face of Mount Robson is being painted purple with the rising sun. The full moon shines in pink over Berg Lake, while Venus and Mars bookend the “Monarch of the Rockies”. Berg Lake lives up to its name for as it grows brighter the icebergs start to shine whiter above the dark water.
Beside me the coffee pot perks away, promising to drive away the cool morning air. We’ve woken up and hiked down to the lake for photographs. Half of our group are avid photographers, keen to get the perfect photos of this majestic mountain. Their tripods line the lake as they take it all in from the viewfinder then stare around as the camera works it’s time-lapse magic.
This morning in the calm beauty with a strong cup of joe in hand, I listen to the creaks of the glacier, the murmur of the stream and mutter of avidness, at peace with the beauty of Robson.
Later the same day we’re up on Snowbird Pass. It’s been a long hike through the power of the mountains, standing on moraines hundreds of feet above the Robson Glacier. This glacier creaks groans and thunders quite actively as it moves down the valley.
The meadows above the glacier are a surprise of flowers and marmots before the steep climb up to the Pass where stellar views of Robson, Resplendent and The Helmet loom above us. On the other side is the vast expanse of the Reef Glacier. Shaun in his excitement is scrambling higher and higher up the Lynx Mountain shoulder and some of the others are following him. The older gentlemen are content to soak in the views at the Pass.
Two days from Snowbird Pass we’re hiking down the Valley of a Thousand Waterfalls in intermittent rain. Robson is obscured in clouds but that adds to the beauty of the valley. We stand next to the ROAR of Emperor Falls. The spray misting everything around it.
As we descend the spine of geological erosion, we get a chance to see back into time where rivers and glaciers carve out trenches in the rock. Later we wander around the Whitehorn camp on our last night, skipping stones into the turbulent river or just saying goodbye to the area in our own private way, for this is our last night out here and it has been a great trip.”
Kevin Blades – ACMG Backpacking Guide
