29 August 2016, Monday

Again we wake early. I manage to get the tent semi-dry with a towel after a night of light rain, and we are searching for breakfast by 7:15. We finally settle on a bakery in Lake Louise where we share some pastries and coffee. After breakfast we drive still further north on route 93, the Icefields Parkway. The weather is cloudy with intermittent showers, and many of the peaks are shrouded in clouds, but we still see sheer cliffs and hanging valleys with glaciers. At Jasper we turn westward towards British Columbia. I search on the name Jasper and find out that the town is named after Jasper Hawes, a fur trader who opened the first fur trading post here in the early 1800’s.

As we turn westward, we drive Yellowhead Parkway, named after a fair-haired Iroquois who helped open this area to European trading. We gain an hour as we enter British Columbia and finally arrive at the visitor center for Mt. Robson Provincial Park. Here we register for our 7 day, 6 night expedition to Berg Lake. We will take two days to hike up, spend several days day hiking and then take 2 days returning. The weather report is for ongoing rain showers and cool weather, but at least there is no snow forecast. Before leaving the visitor center we view the required 20 minute video about hiking and camping in this park.

Now we drive on to Valemount where we have a room booked for tonight. There is one brew pub in this town, but it is closed on Mondays. Poor planning! We console ourselves by finding a laundromat at a nearby campground. We cannot check into the Rose Cottage B&B until 4 pm. By the time laundry is finished it is after 4 and we return to the B&B. It is very homey and our hosts very friendly. (Seems a bit ironic that after our family members all agreed that all marmots we see are probably the same marmot and that his name is Maurice, we find that our proprietor’s name is also Maurice!) O and I work all evening after dinner to fit everything into our packs for our Berg Lake hike. Thank goodness the B&B has a nice front porch for staging this expedition. Thunder showers blow through intermittently. And now, much later than anticipated, it is time for bed.