One day two lakes.
Day 5 Flint’s Park CG to Sawback Lake CG, 13.4 km, 457 m elevation gain, 283 m elevation loss, 6 hrs 34 min.
It was to be a short day with the distance to Sawback Lake CG only a little over 6 km. I suggested making a detour to Rainbow Lake and Micah declared that was the plan. Heading to Rainbow lake would add about 6 km and some elevation to our hike but it was to be an excellent return on investment.
Parks Canada”s concern with whirling disease for hikers is that the parasite can attach itself to clothing or skin and can then travel from one water body to another.
I had low expectations for the trail to Rainbow Lake. I was expecting the trail to be rough and overgrown. I was pleasantly surprised to find a well graded and easy to follow trail.
The trail eventually came up onto a ridge which offered amazing views across the valley. Bent and I fell behind other two as we gawked at the view and took photos and shot a little video.
It took just 2 hours to cover the 6.5 km and 430 m of elevation to Rainbow Lake. By the time Bent and I arrived Micah and Jordan were already set up lakeside just taking in the view.
The lake was so nice we ended up hanging out for three hours. It was a short hike to Sawback Lake so we had the luxury of staying as long as we wanted. After a while I wandered around and took photos of the lake from different angles.
We did not back track to the main trail but headed south to reconnect with the main trail in the meadow below 40 Mile Summit where would would do a 180 degree turn and head north back to Sawback Lake CG. There is no direct way to Sawback Lake CG from Rainbow Lake but by following our route the trail was predominantly downhill all the way to camp.
We did ponder short cutting and heading down the slope. A small cliff band could have ruined our plans quickly. So we decided to stay safe and just follow the trail.
The main trail walks through a wide meadow for a couple of kilometres before reentering the forest. Shortly after entering the forest we quickly came upon a short but very sharp descent down to the outlet creek from Sawback Lake. The trail dropped 100 m in just 1/2 a km on very gravelly footing. After arriving at a nice bridge across the creek it was a short rise up to the campground trail.
We set up camp near the front of the campground as we figured we would be up and out of camp early in the morning. Our plan was to spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening at Sawback Lake. I grabbed a quick snack before we headed over to the lake. The hike to the lake is pretty simple and takes about 15 to 20 minutes. The trail is easy to follow but it does pass through a boggy area that can be muddy in the spring or after some rain. One drawback of hanging out at Sawback Lake is that in the lake is west facing which means in the evening there is full sun exposure is the direction you are looking. Once at the lake Micah and Jordan went off exploring while Bent and I remained at the little beach area taking in the view. Bent put his headphones on and listened to a podcast. I did hear a couple of giggles. Bent’s other summer obsession is golf and I know he listens to golf podcasts. Cannot think what could be funny about golf. I took some photos then put my hood up and enjoyed the view and did some reading.
My left leg frequently goes to sleep when I am sitting in my chair (maybe this was foreshadowing of things to come). So as I sat near the edge of the lake I let my legs dangle over the little lip that rimmed the lake. This gave my legs another 10 cm – 15 cm to stretch out. No numbness in my leg on this day.
We had all brought our dinners with us and we set up a little kitchen just in an open area inside the trees behind where we had been sitting. During dinner both Bent and I took the time to filter water for tomorrow.
When we got back to camp there were three new people in camp. They were hoping to get permits for Glacier NP in Montana. Apparently the permit system it is a lottery and they lost. So since they had the time off and had booked their travel they needed a back up plan which was the Sawback circuit. One of their goals for the trip was to see some wildlife. I was very surprised that we did not see more/any wildlife grazing in the meadows below camp.
I journalled and read before bed. The book I was reading was physics book, “Space at the Speed at Light”. The book was an easy read but not very in depth. The author seemed to rely on stating impressive facts to capture the readers attention but the book was a little short on theory. In the background while I was reading Micah and Jordan where having a heated physics discussion. Science can really draw the passion out of some people, not all people, but definitely some people are very passionate about their science.
Day 6 Sawback 2.0 – Banff NP 2024