4 September 2016, Sunday

We wake this morning to 2 degree temperatures and emerge reluctantly from the tent. The ghostly peak of Mt. Robson glows in the golden mist above, while the base of the mountain is obscured by clouds. It seem enchanted! The calls of robins in the bush seem a bit incongruous.

By 9:10 we have eaten and struck camp. We begin our hike downward towards Emperor Falls in the cool mist. It is hard to tell at times whether it is drizzling or whether we are feeling blowing mist from the falls. O and I take the side trail to check on the Emperor’s mood – not friendly today! The wind is blowing and with the cloud cover, the spray from the falls is chilling. As we resume our hike, the sun breaks through. This day is showing more promise. We are soon back at Whitehorn Campground where we stop for lunch. Only four more kilometers to go to Kinney Lake. We are eager to set up our tent and relax in the sunshine.

So…of course it begins to rain again. The four picnic tables at the Kinney Campground are crowded with hikers waiting for the rain to stop. It is hard to tell who is staying and who is travelling on. Eventually, the shower ceases. All of  the hikers clear out, heading up or down the mountain. For awhile it appears O and I will have the entire place to ourselves.

While O remedies a serious calorie deficiency by eating much of our remaining snack food, I set up the tent. By the time we are ready to cook our Spanish rice there are at least four other parties here. One party is on the way out, two on the way in, and then there are two women with a moppet of a toddler staying here. The little girl has a knitted owl hat just like K’s.

After dinner O and I wander out onto Kinney Flats, a gravel bed nearly the area of the lake, if not bigger. We are in a giant bowl, surrounded by peaks, some of which still have small glaciers on their summits. We consider that this entire basin was filled with glacial ice not that long ago in geologic time. It is an otherworldly place.

I will miss the crack and rumble and roar of Mt. Robson’s glaciers tonight.