01
Floe Lake | 2010-05-15
|
I have been sick again and I was almost but not quite fully recovered. Originally I planed to go with others, but I decided to go solo. This way I didn't have to worry about giving it to someone else and I could pick some easier hike. So I took advantage of this rare occasion (me picking hiking route instead of a peak), and decided to see The Rockwall in Kootenay. I wanted to check the Rockwall for quite some time now so it was a good choice for me. According to my book "Canadian Rockies Trail Guide", elevation gain for Floe Lake trail is 715m, but when net gain is already 857m according to my GPS, how can that be accurate?
I parked at Floe Lake parking lot. While I drove, I could see some part of the Rockwall and that gave me a warning that I should bring snowshoes, even though there was no snow anywhere else. So I asked no question and packed my snowshoes which turned out to be a very smart move. The trail was well maintained. There were dead trees blocking the trail every once in a while but wasn't too many to annoy me. The first 7.5 km was snow free and mainly flat. Then there were 2 hills to go up. The first hill was short but snow came in play. The second one was long and takes several switchbacks to go. Once it flattened near Floe Lake, I realized snow up there was probably 2 m or could be deeper. What a difference. Down there it's totally spring, up there it was totally winter.
I have to be honest, I was little disappointed though. After a long hike, I only got one view... I guess in order to enjoy the Rockwall, I really have to backpack instead of a day hike and do whole traverse, now that would be awesome (I hope).
SUBSCRIBE