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Jasper Scrambles (formerly Berg Lake) · Fri. Sep. 3rd, 2021 - Mon. Sep. 6th, 2021

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Organized by: Isaac Borrego.

Start: Friday, Sep. 3rd, 12:00 pm
End: Monday, Sep. 6th, 10:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting: Tuesday, Aug. 31st, 7:00 pm
Pre-trip meeting location: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/5121824260?pwd=MFhtZGpDUml6VGs4dElLQm5weDFpZz09

Description:

Important edit: The Berg Lake Trail has been closed for the season due to flooding. Which is obviously a huge bummer :( So I'm working on an alternative itinerary, probably in the Rockies somewhere. Thinking Jasper but if anyone has any ideas let me know! BC Parks kind of left us high and dry here and I'm not expecting a lot of backcountry permits to be open anywere, so this might shift to more of a car camping and day hiking kind of trip depending on what's available. 

 

Update: My current idea is to follow a similar itinerary as this trip report I found: https://www.ramblers.ab.ca/public/tripreportdetails.asp?TripID=1237
 
Friday, September 3
- depart Vancouver (ideally by noon but might depend on everyone’s schedule)
- camp near or at Jasper 
 
Saturday, September 4
- scramble to Edith Cavell - please note that this is a strenuous objective which will require helmets and some amount of experience with scrambling/scree
- others who don’t want to do EC can come up with an alternative if there is a free vehicle
- camp in Jasper
 
Sunday, September 5
- explore the Icefields Parkway - there are some good hikes here including Beauty Creek or maybe Mount Wilcox as mentioned on that trip report if we feel up for it
- camp in Jasper
 
Monday, September 6
- short hike near Jasper
- drive back to Vancouver
 
Please email me if interested in this new itinerary! I don't have a ton of free time to plan this right now so the organization will be a lot more informal than my usual trips. 

 

Please read this description in its entirety before signing up! Also, please please use this site, and only this site, to sign up as interested/committed - emails, texts, insta dms (lol) requesting to be signed up will be ignored. I don’t have the time to keep track of all that, and it’s not fair to others on the list. For priority I generally try to go by order of the committed list but reserve the right to make changes as I see fit (i.e. for carpooling, group cohesion/safety, and other logistics). 

 

Now for the advertising: This place is world famous, for good reason. With multiple glacial blue lakes, valleys of abundant waterfalls, and giant flows of ice dropping down from the soaring peaks of Mount Robson, the hike to Berg Lake is a classic in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. Who wouldn’t want to hang out at a world-class alpine lake, listening to glaciers rumble in the distance? So let’s go camp there for two nights over the September long weekend!

 

Note that there is currently flooding in the park but we'll be thinking positive thoughts for them to get it all fixed up by late summer!

 

As with my numerous other BC Parks trips, I’ve booked 3 tent pads for 12 people, which, again, will require some creativity/tent sharing to fit everyone in. Nothing we can’t accomplish if we set our minds to it. The hike in is long, but not super steep - 20km with 800m of gain. Because of the distance I’m asking participants to have at least some experience with a backpacking trip of similar length. We’ll camp at Marmot Campground on the southwestern side of Berg Lake, which should be an excellent base camp for for further exploration in the area. I’d like to scramble to some sort of peak, poke around some glaciers, and maybe even hike into Alberta over Robson Pass if there’s time. 

 

To be confirmed as “going” on this trip I must receive your share of the permit cost ($20) after the pre-trip meeting. If you bail from the going list and I can fill the space, that cost will be refunded. If not, no dice. Please don’t bail at the last minute - I expect the demand to be high for this trip and it would be a bummer if any spots go unfilled! Also, in terms of costs be aware that gas prices in BC will likely continue to be insane so ~$50 per person is the minimum I would expect for fuel, at least in my vehicle. 

 

Side note: the trail to Kinney Lake (~7km) is open to bikes and is pretty flat so I’m tempted to try mountain biking it (or hike-a-biking it to cruise on the downhill at the end of the hike), but we can see how we’re feeling/what gear everyone has. Biking will certainly not be a requirement for the trip, just a fun little side thing if it happens and we can always regroup at Kinney/the trailhead. 

 

The itinerary is as follows:

 

Friday, September 3

- Depart Vancouver. I’d personally like to drive in the daylight so will leave early-ish, but we can sort out different departure times for different car groups if needed

- Car camp somewhere on the road near Mount Robson Park. There’s a decent little BC rec area that will do for one night about 45 minutes south of the park.

 

Saturday, September 4

- Get the permits at the visitor center. I want to be there right as it opens, last time I was there the line was quite long and caused a fair bit of delay at the start of the hike.

- Hike to Marmot Campground. Take it all in along the way - Kinney Lake, the Valley of a Thousand Falls, Emperor Falls, and finally, Berg Lake. The journey is just as good as the destination on this trail.

- Camp at Marmot Campground

 

Sunday, September 5

- Explore the area. Options include Snowbird Pass, Lynx Mountain (maybe ambitious), checking out the Robson Glacier, Robson Pass, Adolphus Lake, Berg Lake Viewpoint, the sky’s the limit. Well, I don’t have the skills/experience to tackle Mount Robson yet so I guess that’s the limit actually…

- Camp at Marmot Campground

 

Monday, September 6

- Explore a bit in the morning if there’s interest (Berg Lake Viewpoint might be a good short trip for this)

- Hike out from Berg Lake to the trailhead (and maybe some will want to bike the last stretch)

- Drive back to Vancouver (late return)

 

Let me know if you have any questions! 

 

All Signs Point to Berg

 

Emperor Falls

Posted: 2021-07-06 11:51:25
Last modified: 2021-08-31 19:31:49