Day 2 August 16, 2023, Tumbling Creek CG to Paint Pots Parking Lot, 11.1 km, 50 m Elevation Gain, 522 m Elevation Loss, 2 hrs 25 min.
I did not sleep well knowing that we had to get over the bridge. It was just 6 am when I woke up. I did not really feel like lounging in the tent I really just wanted to get to the bridge and get it over and done with. So we quickly got out of the tent and of course the first thing we did was to go for a little walk before getting Margaux her breakfast. The smoke that had been hanging around all summer but had be absent for the first two day so of our trip had rolled back in leaving the mountains with a muted hazy feeling. After feeding Margaux I had my breakfast on the boil by 6:35 am.
During breakfast Don came down and joined us. We ended up having a long conversation about life kids, dogs, lots about dogs and a mutual friend we have in Canmore. Small world. We ended getting going a little later than I had intended but the conversation was worth it. This was not good bye for us as I would be seeing Don in a couple of days when I came to pick drive him, Judy and Ciera up at the end of their hike at the Floe Lake parking lot and drive them back to their cars at the Paint Pots parking lot.
We left camp about 7:55 am. After a quick walk we came to the bridge across Tumbling Creek. Once on the other side of the creek we came to a junction where we would be turning left to go back to our car while Don, Judy and Ciera would turn right to continue onto Numa and Floe Lake Campgrounds.
Margaux and I quickly got into a groove and quite literally flew down the trail. I did yell out to warn any wildlife of our presence. Margaux was not thrilled with my yelling but other than an annoyed backward glance she stayed focused on moving down the trail at what she thought was a comfortable speed. I am going to have to work on getting Margaux to hike a slightly more leisurely pace. It is not always necessary to hike at 4.5 km/h.
I could hardly believe when we came charging up to the bridge. We had only been hiking for 1 hr 25 min and had already covered over 6.5 km. I took a moment to mentally prepare myself and wrapped Margaux’s leash around my hand several times to keep a good grip on her. It took a couple of tries to get Margaux to up the ramp to the bridge but once she did she went into a squat like many dogs do when crossing a suspension bridge and charged across. I could barely keep up with her as we made our way across the bridge. Margaux never wavered once. She stayed dead centre in the bridge all the way across. Once across the next challenge was descended back to the ground since several planks were missing from the bridge. The easiest way would have been to let go of the leash allowing Margaux to make her own way back to terra firma. As it was we had a awkward scramble down the ramp but we did make it safely back to solid ground.
Once across the bridge it was a short uphill walk back a junction with the trail we had hiked on day one.
Last time I had hiked from Tumbling Creek CG back to the trailhead it had taken us 4 1/2 hrs, which did include a stop for lunch. With Margaux we complete the hike in just 2 hrs 25 min. After some happy face washing by Margaux she quickly jumped happily into the back of the car for the ride home. I was glad to be done early as it was starting to get hot and more smokey.
On our way back home we stopped at the General Store at Castle Mountain Chalets. I bought Margaux one of her favourite treats a rawhide donut, me I got myself a Coke.
So our time on the Rockwall was a little warm it was still a rewarding experience to hike some of the best trails in the Canadian Rockies and meet both some old and new friends.