Lupe entered Canada via Hwy 17 on the afternoon of July 16, 2014, the 2nd day of her 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies & Beartooths. She was already in Waterton Lakes National Park, and the first order of business was to go see the lake itself. Lupe soon arrived in the small community and tourist town of Waterton Park, which is located on the NW shore at the N end of Upper Waterton Lake. SPHP found a place to park near the S end of town near the lake.
It was a hot day. According to the G6 it was 90 °F. Not exactly the weather Lupe and SPHP had been anticipating in Canada, but certainly a good day to check out the beach. The beach was rocky, with rounded rocks of various sizes. A breeze was blowing and there was some moderate wave action. Lupe was hot and was eager to wade in the lake to cool off. Lupe doesn’t like to swim, but she loves to wade and lay down in the water. She was clearly glad to have the opportunity to get wet and cool down.
Upper Waterton Lake was quite beautiful. The deeper water was a brilliant and very appealing blue color, while the shallower water near the shore took on the gray color of the rocks on the bottom of the lake. Unfortunately, the scene was not quite as beautiful as it normally would have been due to considerable smoke in the air. The smoke was from wildfires somewhere, but SPHP never really found out where the fires were. The smoke was thick enough to detract from the view.
There are actually three Waterton Lakes. Lupe and SPHP had driven by Lower Waterton Lake on the way to Waterton Park. The lower lake is good-sized at a couple of km long, but is the smallest of the three lakes. Upper Waterton Lake is the largest and goes all the way S into Glacier National Park in the United States. Middle Waterton Lake is 4 km long and actually at the same level as Upper Waterton Lake, since the two lakes are connected by a narrow straight called the Bosporus. However, Middle Waterton Lake lies outside the long canyon flanked by dramatic peaks Upper Waterton Lake lies within.
After Lupe had cooled off in the lake, SPHP thought it might be fun to go take a look at the lake from the grounds of the Prince of Wales Hotel up on a hill at the very N end of Upper Waterton Lakes. This involved a drive back through the town of Waterton Park, but it wasn’t far and didn’t take long despite all the tourist traffic. The views from the grounds of the Prince of Wales Hotel were quite grand, but still just as smoky. Quite a few people were around, and Lupe made a few new acquaintances.
After the jaunt up to the Prince of Wales Hotel, Lupe and SPHP returned to the shore of Upper Waterton Lake near the S end of Waterton Park. Lupe and SPHP wandered SW along the shore of the lake and came to a trail that heads S along the W shore of Upper Waterton Lakes. A map near the start of the trail showed another trail about 1.5 km S to Bertha Lake. Bertha Lake was located up a steep side canyon to the W. The whole trip to Bertha Lake was about 5 km long and involved an elevation gain of 475 meters or over 1,500 feet. SPHP thought that a trip to Bertha Lake looked like an interesting thing to do. Lupe was happy to be on a trail again.
For the first 1.5 km heading S, the trail climbed gradually. Upper Waterton Lake was always in view extending away to the S sandwiched in between jagged mountains to the E & W. There were bushes 2 or 3 feet high on both sides of the trail, so most of the time Lupe probably didn’t have much of a view. Even though it was getting to be late in the afternoon, it was still very warm out.
There were lots of hikers heading back towards Waterton Park. There were even more mosquitoes and flies feasting upon them, Lupe & SPHP. The bugs weren’t too bad though along this first stretch, as it was easy to just keep moving and avoid most of the swarm. SPHP chatted briefly with some of the returning hikers. Quite a few had been up to Bertha Lake and all declared the trek to be worthwhile.
Shortly before reaching the side trail to Bertha Lake, there was a very short spur trail to a little point. At the point was a bench situated looking S to have beautiful view of Upper Waterton Lake. Lupe and SPHP paused here for maybe 10 minutes to relish the scene. There was a bit of a breeze up on the point to help ward off the bugs. It was a great view. SPHP wished there wasn’t so much smoke around, but there was nothing to be done about it.
There were two waterfalls on Bertha Creek on the way to Bertha Lake. The first one was reached 1.4 km from the main trail along Upper Waterton Lake. The trail to this point was gaining elevation faster than along Upper Waterton Lake, but still at a generally modest pace. The trail crossed to the S of Bertha Creek just below the lower Bertha Creek falls. Once past the falls, the trail began a long relentless ascent up the forested S side of the side canyon Bertha Lake is in.
The switchbacks lasted nearly the entire 2.8 km from the lower falls to Bertha Lake. They seemed endless. It was still hot. SPHP was sweating. The heat drained away energy. Even Lupe plodded along dispiritedly behind SPHP. It was a tough grind. SPHP felt out of shape. At each stop for a breather, though, flies and mosquitoes descended instantly and drove SPHP and Lupe onward. The trail never got close to the upper falls on Bertha Creek, and didn’t start to level out until nearly at Bertha Lake.
Bertha Lake was very pretty in the early evening light. There was a campground on the NW shore. Lupe and SPHP crossed Bertha Creek again to get over to the campground. SPHP was surprised to find the campground was completely abandoned. Peakbagger.com shows a trail completely around Bertha Lake. Lupe and SPHP continued SW on the trail leaving the campground behind. SPHP intended to circumnavigate the lake, but about 2/3 of the way to the SW end of Bertha Lake the trail was blocked by thick deadfall timber.
It was too late to consider forcing a way through the deadfall. Lupe and SPHP turned back. The way back down the trail to Upper Waterton Lake was much more fun than the climb up had been. With gravity now a friend, it was easy to keep going and outpace most of the flies and mosquitoes that were still around. With the sun low enough so Lupe and SPHP were in the shadow of the mountain, it had cooled off a bit by now, too. Lupe trotted along looking lively again. There were spectacular views of the N side of the canyon, and eventually out to the E towards Upper Waterton Lake. SPHP hadn’t noticed them much on the struggle up.
Lupe and SPHP had only seen one person on the way up to Bertha Lake after passing the lower falls, and saw no one at all on the way back down until below the lower falls again. There were still some people on the main trail back to Waterton Park, even a few just starting out. This far N, it was later than SPHP had realized. Although it was still light out, it was 9:30 PM by the time Lupe reached the G6. Time for a bit of dinner and then a good snooze!
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