Day 1 - Paint Pots to Helmet Falls:Day 1 is in the books and everything went according to plan.
We hit the road from Bragg Creek/Calgary just around 8:00 am, and met up at the exit from Highway 1 onto Highway 93. From there it was a short drive to the Flow Lake trailhead where we left Andrew’s vehicle for the end of the adventure. We met a French backpacker in the parking lot who was looking for a ride back to Paint Pots, where we were also headed, so we told him to hop in. We had a nice chat on the way back, and met his hiking partner when we got to the trailhead. They are going to be taking the same route as us so we will be sure to see them over the next few days.
The parking lot seemed busy with quite a few other groups getting ready to hit the trail. We wasted little time and headed out ahead of everybody. With the exception of one 10-minute water break we hiked the entire day’s journey without stopping. I have done this leg once before with Amanda, and I think Andrew has done it several times with his family. The trail was in very good condition with only a few muddy spots. We basically paralleled Ochre Creek and Helmet Creek for most of the day. They are very beautiful rivers with clear, cold, mountain water.
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| First Steps - Crossing Vermillion River At The Trailhead |
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| Helmet Creek Near The Helmet/Ochre Junction |
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| Trail Beside Helmet Creek With The Start Of The Rockwall In The Distance |
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| Bridge Over Helmet Creek |
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| Andrew With Limestone Peak (The Beginning Of The Rockwall) In The Distance |
The best view came with about one kilometre left when you get your first glimpse of Helmet Falls. Helmet Falls are a tiered falls with a total height of 352 m. They are the. 11th tallest confirmed falls in the Canadian Rockies.
There were only two tents set up when we walked in around 4:00, but all fifteen or so tent pitches would be full before we settled in for the night.
After setting up our tents we were ready for dinner. Andrew had a couple of hard boiled eggs and pasta with sausage (pre-made). I had Ramen noodles with chopped up chicken breast which I cooked last night in preparation for today. We both had a couple of homemade ginger cookies (Thanks Mandy!!!) for dessert. Andrew pulled out his crib board for a quick game while we both digested, and gave me a solid ass-kicking. After cleaning up our dishes, and pumping some water for tomorrow, we headed back to our campsite. Andrew broke out his camp chair (great thinking!!) and I pulled up a rock while we chatted for a while, until it got cold enough that crawling into the tents seemed like a really good idea.
As we were crawling into our tents our friends from the parking lot spotted us. They had just walked over to the falls and had spotted a mama grizzly with two cubs. If there were less people in the campground I might be worried, but as it is full tonight I don’t think anybody needs to be concerned.
It’s getting dark and a little cooler now so I think I will tuck in for the night. We will begin our journey along the Rockwall tomorrow which is sure to provide us with some great views!!
Day 2 - Helmet Falls to Tumbling Creek:
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| Andrew And His Morning Routine |
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| Breakfast View |
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First Few Steps Of Day 2 - Andrew And Helmet Falls
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We were excited for today’s hike as we both knew it would likely provide the best scenery of the trip. We were not disappointed. The day started with a hike up to Rockwall which we would then parallel all the way to Rockwall Pass. The Rockwall runs between Limestone Peak on the north side and Rockwall Peak on the south side. It has a prominence of about 700 m, and runs for over 6 km. It is hard to put into words, or capture in a photo how impressive it really is, but I can say with confidence that it is definitely worth seeing if the opportunity presents itself. Once over the pass it was an easy hike down into Tumbling Creek campground. Today’s section as well as most of the next two days is part of the Great Divide Trail which is a long distance hiking trail (1,130 km) that closely follows the great divide. Sam and I have spent many hours discussing and researching the Great Divide Trail - it would be a monumental, time-consuming through-hike, intended for the toughest of backpackers.
As mentioned the scenery was spectacular. We leapfrogged with some of the hikers we met at our campsite, which gave us a chance to take some short breaks and chat a little. As always when hiking with Andrew, there was no shortage of good conversation - life, relationships, work, family, kids, politics, camping gear, world events, food, and much more. I enjoyed it as I always do, and it made for very enjoyable hiking.
After topping up our bottles we headed over to Tumbling Creek for a bit. Andrew had a pre-dinner snack, and I soaked my feet in the glacier-cold river for a few minutes. 🥶 It was a very nice way to partially freshen up! After a while we headed back up to camp to finish setting up, and to change into our warm nighttime clothes. Once that was done it was time for dinner. Tonight Andrew had freeze dried butternut Dahl, and I had the same as last night - Ramen noodles with cut up chicken breast (pre-cooked).
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| Post-Dinner Cleanup |
After a couple more of Mandy’s delicious ginger cookies we cleaned up and headed back for another water top-up at the clear stream. At that point it was still only 6:00 so we agreed to another round of crib. Unfortunately after only one hand it started to rain and so we are now both in our tents trying to stay dry…
After an hour of pretty healthy rain, the underside of my tent is looking very wet. THe tent floor looks like the top of a water bed.... Fortunately it hasn’t seeped through, but I am not holding my breath. Wish us luck for the evening, and I will provide a hopefully not too soggy update then….
Day 3 - Tumbling Creek to Paint Pots (Early Exit):
I think it is safe to say that was the craziest storm I have ever been in the back country for.... When I left off last night there was a significant amount of rain falling. After that it got much worse, and the lightning and thunder rolled in right over our heads. When you are laying in a tent and it's dark your imagination tends to become very active as you go through every possible scenario as to what is about to happen outside - bears, lightning strikes, falling trees, axe-murderers, etc... 😂 While I wasn't concerned about bears and axe-murderers, my mind was definitely worried about getting hit by lightning, or a tree coming down on my tent from the wind or lightning, or everything getting completely soaked. The lightning definitely put a light show on inside my tent - even with my eyes closed I could see every flash. The thunder was very loud and very close, and it echoed up and down the valley giving it an eerie after-effect. For the first few hours I managed to get to a point where I was dozing in and out a little. Somewhere around 11:00 I woke up to shadows on my tent coming from somebody outside that seemed to be working on their tent. Concerned that it was Andrew on the pitch next to mine I decided to get all of my rain gear on and see if I could help out. Fortunately when I got over to his tent I saw that it was his neighbour digging some trenches to try and get some of the water accumulation away from his tent. I talked to Andrew for a few minutes, and then his neighbour before heading back to my tent. I climbed back into my sleeping bag, doing as much as I could to not bring in any extra water, and resumed my dozing. It was a wild night that I will not soon forget.
We woke up to a light dusting of snow after having experienced just about every form of precipitation during the night - mist, rain, pouring rain, monsoon rain, sleet, hail, and snow....
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| Andrew's Tent - The Morning After |
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| Campsite |
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| There Was No Sign Of Snow On These Mountains The Evening Before |
We decided to grab breakfast and discuss our options for today. Because we had both done the upcoming section before, and because the weather was looking like more of the same, we both ended up agreeing that taking an exit loop back to the trailhead was the right call. Both of our tents were soaking wet on the outside, it would be rainy/snowy and cold for the rest of the day and into to the night making the trail a little more treacherous and making it impossible to dry anything out, and so we both felt good about hiking out, getting home, drying our gear, and getting a hot shower. An added bonus to this was checking out a section that we had never walked, which would also help Andrew with some future trail running options.
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| Tumbling Creek At The Exit From The Campsite |
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| Inside A Snow Globe On Our Exit |
The hike out ended up being a pleasant one, and despite the weather we enjoyed good footing and scenic views. An hour in we spotted a decent-sized black bear across Tumbling Creek, or rather he spotted us and made the decision to head into the bush in the opposite direction. It was very nice seeing some wildlife from a comfortable distance! The trail followed tumbling Creek all the way back to Ochre Creek, about 5 km from the trailhead where we had started two days ago.
After stopping for a quick lunch break we made it back to the trailhead, jumped in my car, and drove to the the parking lot where we had left Andrew's vehicle. I really enjoyed this trip, and as always had a great time solving a few of the world's problems with Andrew. 😊 Our plan is to get together to discuss next September's trip in the coming months so that we can get it booked next year as soon as the reservation systems open up. I am looking forward to it already, and wonder what kind of excitement we will run into next time!!
