July 1 and 2, 2009
When I first conceived this epic walk I invited anyone and everyone who wanted to to join me. I have had a couple of family members take me up on the offer. A it was my good fortune to have the company of Penelope my most recent hike.
Since Lorene and I tried to hike into Forum Lake in June of last year I have been wanting to return and make another attempt at reaching the Tri-Boundary Marker. On July 1 and 2 I had that chance.
My friend Penelope and I hiked did this hike. I wasn't sure what to expect in the way of people using Waterton Park on July 1st. I arrived at the Akamina Pass trail head in Waterton Park at about noon. Penelope and I then loaded our back packs and hiked into the Akamina Kishinena Provincial Park in BC. This is a distance of about 2.5 km. To my surprise the campsites in Akamina Kishinena Provincial Park was empty in spite of a high number of hikers and cyclist being on the trail. After a rest and supper there was enough daylight for an evening hike into Wall Lake. This was a about a 5 km hike there and back. The total elevatyion gain on this hike was 179 ft. so it is relatively level. The total hike probably took us 1 and 1/2 hours to complete.
The hike to Forum lake is moderately difficult. It is about 2.5 km into the lake and the elevation gain is 708 ft. Just before reaching the lake we encountered a few small patches of snow that could be avoided, but then there was one area of packed snow that has to be crossed. At the Lake there is a sign marking the trail to Akamina Ridge.
The hike to the ridge is only 1.11 km with an elevation gain of 547ft. There was one avalanche area to cross. It was all packed snow and although it was slippery walking it did not pose a serious obstacle. The second patch of packed snow was on a steeper slope so I chose to avoid it by staying on the tallis on the high side.
We reached the ridge at about 2pm so our hiking time was spent. From where we were the rest of the trail up the ridge seemed a bit daunting to me. I took a photo of it and it is posted in this Blog. I wasn't aware that we could have continued over the ridge and hiked down into Wall Lake. This will be a nice hike to do on a future venture. So we returned the way we came. On the way back we saw a male and a female Blue Grouse. Back at the tenting area we rested a bit and then packed up and hiked out. So the total distance hike on July 2 was about 10 km. which wasn't a bad day for a first time out.
From where we were on Akamina Ridge it was only about 2.2 km further on to the Tri Boundary Marker. But there is another 900 ft. of vertical to do. I also could see from the lake what looked like a contiunous ridge of snow along the ridge. Wheather or not this extended back behind the ridge I could not tell but my guess is that there is a real possiblity that we would have encountered signficant amounts of snow up on the ridge.
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