27 August 2016, Saturday
This morning we have no schedule to keep and no shuttle to catch. We sleep in until 7 am and take our time over breakfast. By 11 am we arrive at the Red Rock Canyon parking area to begin our hike up to Goat Lake. This is described in my “Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies” book as a “moderate” 8 mile hike that is “worthwhile.” It gets a 2 boots out of 4 rating for scenery. Yesterday’s hike was 3 out of 4 boots.
This hike begins along the Snowshoe Trail which is wide and easy to follow. After 4.5 km we make a right turn and begin our ascent to subalpine elevation. Our progress is at our usual slow but steady pace. After about an hour we arrive at a narrow path on glacial scree along a rock face. There is a sheer drop below.
The scenery is breathtaking, but I am trying to concentrate on where I place my feet. The wind is gusting and I feel as if I will be blown right off the mountain. Several young people pass us by. I hug the cliff face as they pass. How can they look so confident!? About half way along a tall, young athletic-looking man comes towards us. He is turning back because of the gusty wind along the cliff. That does it! I catch up with O and tell him this is not fun! He says we can turn back, but points out we have come a long way already. We decide he will lead, but stay closer to me. We pause so I can catch my breath whenever we come to a scraggly tree or bush on the drop-off side of the cliff. The trail finally starts making some switchbacks and the downhill side becomes greener and less steep as we approach the lake. I can breathe normally again!
We follow a little stream upwards. Our surroudings change from bare, windy rock to lush, green pine forest. We finally arrive at teal blue Goat Lake, surrounded by rugged cliffs. We meet a family which has been sitting together eating lunch lakeside. One of their boys, maybe 11 years old, has spotted a mountain goat way up the cliff face. What sharp eyes! Through our binoculars we confirm that it is a goat. I manage to get a few photos well zoomed in. How appropriate! My first mountain goat spotting at Goat Lake. It makes all the adrenaline worthwhile.
O and I sit in the sun watching the goat for some time. How he ever got up on that mountain ledge I will never know. While we are at Goat Lake we also spy yet another “marmot” (actually another Columbian ground Squirrel!). Before we leave, we point out the goat to newly arriving hikers. I also promise to email my goat photo to the boy’s family.
The time has come to descend. Somehow the descent is not as bad as the ascent was, perhaps because I know I survived the trail in the opposite direction. We are soon past the cliff and back to more gentle terrain.
We arrive back at camp by 6 pm. We clean ourselves up after our two days of hiking so we will be more presentable as we travel north. After dinner we pack everything but the contents of the tent back in Jazz in hopes of getting an early start tomorrow.