RockBound Lake, Banff National Park
Distance: 11 miles (18km). Total elevation gain: 1,000m.
Pre-Hike
The morning of the hike to Rockbound Lake was immediately after an afternoon a hike up to Bourgeau Lake, which finished shortly before dark. Although physically tired, having slept in the vehicle, it was invigorating to wake up in fresh air, with the quiet of the woods, silence broken only by the occasional bird or squirrel.
Our day began with a short, gentle stroll along Johnston’s Canyon. Arriving before 7am meant there was no one around until leaving the area an hour later. You can traipse a boardwalk with rushing water beneath you. There’s an impressive waterfall at the end, the pathway allowing a close look to appreciate the power of the water which formed, and is continuing to form, the canyon.
The start
After a quick stop for breakfast, we headed to the start of the day’s hike. After we struggled in the snow the evening before, I confidently assured my partner we weren’t reaching the same elevation today so, logically, snow wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t quite know how I came to make that judgement. It felt as though we were starting at a lower elevation, and we wouldn’t climb as high. I can now say with certainty, on that day late in May, I was wrong.
We set off around 9am, almost exactly 12 hours after we returned from our last hike. It took us approximately three hours of steady climbing through the woodland. Although tough, the ascent was less steep than the Bourgeau Lake for the most part, with rare openings looking out to the mountains on the other side of the valley. Despite surviving the first hike, the shuffle of critters, or creaking of the trees in the wind, brought the fear of bears into us. Fortunately, we survived the second day, also.
Meadow Valley
Reaching a higher elevation, the trees began to shorten in size. And, with that, snow appeared. It wasn’t deep initially, making it easy to navigate, and the ground levelled out as we passed through a meadow. The terrain began to resemble a natural winter wonderland, with a mixture of small and large alpine fir trees, set in the snow.
The landscape opened again, catching glimpses of the mountains either side, as we entered a mini valley. The volume of snow began to increase, and it was very uneven, making it a surprise when your shoe went through it. Sometimes you were a few inches deep, at other times it was a half a metre. And this time, there was more ice and water from the melt, making it impossible to avoid wet feet.
Putting the slight uncomfortableness to one side, the views made the effort worthwhile.
Castle Lake
It was a at least two kilometres through snow, ice, and slush, as the trail – now barely visible – became very tough on tired legs. The sun was stronger today, and the diminishing treeline meant there was no protection from it. Conversely, the conditions meant we were cold from the knee down yet sweating from the waist up.
Ploughing on, we made it to Castle Lake, the first of the two lakes on the hike. Still almost entirely frozen over, the white ice was framed by a towering mountain range, the suitably named Castle Mountains.
Exhausted, it was the perfect place to sit, recover, and soak in the sight.
Continuing on
We had to face a difficult truth – we weren’t at the final destination on the hike. While Castle Lake was a wonder in itself, and we were satisfied we had challenged ourselves to get there, we remained acutely aware we hadn’t done what we set out to do.
On this day, I was ready to give in and save my body. My partner though, having seen another couple pass us on the trail, then became determined to continue on to complete the walk.
Thankfully, after passing the first lake, the snow and ice almost completely faded away. It was a very steep climb on the far side of Castle Lake to Rockbound. But once on top, we were rewarded with a deserving look back over the valley we’d just traipsed through. And here, we spotted a bald eagle circling above us, scanning the lake and meadow between the mountains.
Rockbound Lake
On the plateau above the first lake, the snow returned. And it was thigh high on route to Rockbound Lake. Fortunately, it was only a short distance and there were some prominent rocks to climb on to help avoid the snow.
Rockbound Lake was a larger body of water, cradled by another mountain ridge behind. Again, it was largely ice – highlighting how low the temperature dropped at night, in contrast to the glaringly sun in the day.
And back again
It was an effort returning through the snow for an hour and a half, before another few miles of constant decline. Between us we had a bad knee and back. Definitely the toughest hike I had done, given it followed a similar hike the day before, with plenty of elevation, snow below and heat from above. I was more than relieved to get back to the car.
After cooking dinner, a short drive through the forest as the sun set was a fitting way to end the day. We were able to find a spectacular panoramic view over a river, with a train track running parallel, over the forest that expanded into the foot of the mountains we hiked yesterday.
Then, sleeping in the car in full view of the mountains we had conquered that day, albeit battered and bruised, was oddly satisfying. And I slept soundly, exhausted, as deer were grazing around us.
