Day 2 August 15, 2023, 12.3 km, 663 m elevation gain, 564 m elevation loss, 3 hrs 30 min.
We were up a little before 7 am. I was very impressed that I was able to keep Margaux in the tent and relaxing that late into the morning. Frequently back home Margaux is trying to encourage me to get up at 5:30 am or earlier. After going for a little walk so that Margaux could do her business we set about getting breakfast. Margaux of course was fed first. I had my coffee and breakfast ready by 7:05 am.
During breakfast Judy and Ciera came by all ready to head down the trail to the next campground at Tumbling Creek. They said they like to get going early as they are not the fastest group on the trail. I had the tent down by 7:30 am and we were on the trail at about 7:45 am. It was not a very early start but we only had about 12 km to go and the way Margaux hikes it would just be about 3 hours of moving time so I was comfortable we would arrive at Tumbling Creek CG well before the heat of the day arrived.
Following our last view of Helmet Falls we had a 2 km woods walk before arriving at Limestone Shoulder. Along the way we past a couple of groups including Judy and Ciera just as we arrived at the shoulder. It is always quite stunning coming out of the woods on Limestone shoulder. You are one moment hiking through the trees then you turn right and enter a clearing with the Rockwall dominating your view disappearing into the distance. With Margaux at the lead we finished the woods walk in 40 minutes covering 2 km and gaining 250 m of elevation. We lingered at the shoulder for a few minutes talking with Judy and Ciera before heading downhill all the while experiencing the full glory of the Rockwall. I hope Margaux was appreciative of the view.
From Limestone Shoulder the Rockwall stretches into the distance past Tumbling Peak and its glacier all the way to Foster Peak which overlooks Floe Lake. The Rockwall is approximately a 30 km long with the only break in the limestone cliffs coming at Wolverine Pass. Hiking under the sheer cliffs is a humbling experience and a must for any avid hiker of the Canadian Rockies. Lucky girl Margaux got to hike the Rockwall when she was only a bit over 2 years old.
The trail down is at nice grade with no obstacles. There is a small stream crossing near the bottom but at this time of year we hardly got our ankles wet. After a second crossing we ran into a wall of rubble left by a long ago retreating glacier. The wall rubble is what is known as a terminal moraine. A well worn path leads us up and through the terminal moraine. We passed by a couple of small ponds where I have enjoyed a pleasant lunch on past trips. We do not stop on this trip since I was focused on finishing the hike before it got hot out.
We quickly weaved our way through the moraine. A short rise alongside a creek brought us to a bridge that took us across the creek for an uphill walk in the woods. It was a very pleasant walk through the trees and I was happy for a bit of respite from the sun since I knew the last stretch over Rockwall Pass would be above treeline with no shade. It took us just a bit less than half an hour to emerge from the trees charging a distance of 1.6 km and rising 220 m. The sun was starting to beat down on harder as we hiked through the alpine meadow that took us up and over Rockwall Pass and down to the junction with Wolverine Pass.
Arriving at Wolverine Pass we ran into a large group heading northbound. Margaux was very popular among the people in the group and they thanked me for my keeping Margaux dog on leash while hiking. They were also quite impressed when they found out I was packing all of Margaux’s doggie pooh out. The group were headed for Helmet Falls Campground then up and over Goodsir Pass to McArthur Campground before taking the McArthur Valley Wilderness Route up into Lake O’Hara. After about 15 minutes of “she is such a good girl” we said goodbye to the group and headed out on the last stretch of our day.
We were the first hikers into the campground. Tumbling Creek Campground is set up with the campsites concentrated in two distinct sections. I frequently camp in the lower section which I have named downtown as opposed to the upper sections which is uptown. I don’t see myself as an uptown sort of guy. I found a shady campsite downtown and set up Margaux beneath a tree as a I set up camp. After an hour or so of recovering Margaux was ready to get moving, somewhere, just anywhere as long as she is moving. We wandered around camp and headed down the trail to check out the bridge we had to cross all while staying in the shade. Just before 2 pm we headed back to camp so I could have my lunch. I was not feeling very hungry, probably because of the heat, but thought it would be best to eat to keep the energy level up.
I had my dinner with Judy and Ciera who were sleeping and eating uptown. During dinner Don came along and joined us. It was a great dinner with lots of engaging conversations. The fun really started after dinner. Judy, Ciera and Don where all continuing on to Floe Lake and exiting at the Floe Lake Trailhead. Margaux and I were heading back to the Paint Pots Trailhead tomorrow. When booking the trip I decided against doing the entire Rockwall even though the campsites where available because of the challenge getting back to the car. Doing a loop was much easier logistically than doing a point to point. The challenge that I had forgotten about was that there was a 100 foot long suspension bridge over Ochre Creek that I had to cross with Margaux to get back to the Paint Pots. In my experience dogs are not super happy on suspension bridges. The bridge we had to cross was long, wobbly and there were no sides to prevent the dog from trying to escape. There was a short suspension bridge on the way to Helmet Falls CG that we had crossed successfully but the bridge at Ochre Creek was much, much longer.
My initial plan was to carry Margaux across the bridge. I had tried in the past to just pick her up but she really did not like it. She had squirmed so much that I knew there would be no way I could carry her all the way across the bridge. My play at this time was to use my Fido Pro Airlift emergency dog carrying sling. I had purchased the Fido Pro a couple of years prior after having to carry Volcano on my shoulders during a thunderstorm when she refused to move due her fear of the thunder.
With the help of Judy, Ciera and Don I was going to put Margaux in the Fido Pro as practice run for crossing the bridge. It was difficult to get Margaux into the harness as she kept moving but was not really that bad. Life got exciting when I tried to stand up. Margaux fussed and flayed around so much that it was impossible for me to actually walk. She ended up leaving quite a few scratches on my back from her claws. Upon closer inspection I discovered that the Fido Pro was too short between the legs for Margaux. Volcano was a 60 lbs Alaskan Husky and Margaux is just a little heavier. I never thought for a second that the Fido Pro would not fit Margaux. Margaux is just obviously much longer than Volcano was. With the option of carrying Margaux across eliminated my best option when crossing the bridge was to hold onto to her tightly and carefully walk across the bridge. I decided that I would wrap Margaux’s leash several times around my hand so that it was basically impossible for me to be able to let go. My biggest fear was that she would get scared of the bridge while crossing and try and escape by going over the side. I did consider hiking all the back through Helmet Falls Campground, a trip of about 28 km, or exiting at Numa Falls Trail head which would mean a 5 km road walk back to the car. Neither option really appealed to me and everyone was very supportive and confident that Margaux would do just fine crossing the bridge so I settled on just crossing the bridge. Just before we were finished with trying to decide how to get Margaux across the bridge, I do not remember who exactly but someone mentioned that they did not actually have a plan on how to get back to their car when they were finished their hike in a couple of days. It ended up that none of them had a ride back to their cars. Since I was on vacation and had the time I offered to drive to the Floe Lake Trailhead and drive them back to their vehicles at the Paint Pots parking lot.
After all the fun and excitement of trying to carry Margaux we went back to our campsite to relax. I had the perfect plan to relax already in set in motion. Shortly after arriving at the campsite I had placed a beer in the small creek to cool off. It was now time to enjoy that beer.
After reading for a little while Margaux took me out for a little walk before bedtime. There was another dog that had arrived in camp. The two dogs where a little wary of each other initially but once they met they both tried to play all the while restrained on their leashes. We headed into the tent to go to bed just after 9 pm. The zipper was unhappy but with the fly pulled tight Margaux was content to stay inside the tent. I read for little while before heading to sleep.
Good night from a warm and a somewhat hazy Tumbling Creek Campground.