Rocking Chair Days

rocking chair day - have you had a day or a moment that you know will still stand out in you memory even when you're old and gray and just sitting in a rocking chair all day? If so, congrats! You've just had a rocking chair day!

I have dreamed of going to the Canadian Rockies for years and specifically, of backpacking a trail called the Rockwall trail in Kootenay National Park. Two weeks ago, Zach and I were able to do just that!! We met a man on the trail who was as enamored with the trail as I was, and he promised the boy scouts he was leading that their days on the trail would be "rocking chair days". I loved his little theory and yes, these were rocking chair days for me! It was such a dream trip and was even more majestic then I could have imagined and something I will always remember doing!

The first night of the backpacking trip almost ruined everything. After a long day of hiking and gaining a LOT of elevation, we were cooking dinner by Floe Lake when it started pouring rain. No big deal, it's part of backpacking, you just cozy up in your tent. EXCEPT, my expensive, fairly new, MSR (a good brand) tent failed, as in rain POURED through the tent and made a little indoor swimming pool. I was devestated. I had planned and planned, but this was not something I could have anticipated. Tents as they get older will start leaking more and more on the seams, but leaking is livable, pouring rain all night long (we might as well have been outside) in 40 degree weather is not good or healthy.

But we had some of the best luck ever! There was a closed up ranger cabin nearby, and we planned to spend the night on the tiny porch to stay semi dry, and just hope no ranger showed up to kick us off. But then a ranger did show up, who was planning on spending the night in his cabin with his daughter. It took us hours to finally ask if we could sleep on the porch, but the ranger said no, but we could sleep in the cabin, on regular beds with mattresses, pillows, and a wood burning stove! It poured and poured most of the night, all the while we drank hot chocolate, warm and dry, and chatted with these nice people and then had a great night's sleep.

The next day we decided to chance camping another night and hope for good weather, and except for one short rainstorm and a stinging hail storm, we got it!

The trail is set up to climb up and down one pass each day and camp before attempting the next. The ranger we met told us he though we could handle more then that so we decided to attempt Numa Pass and Tumbling Pass both the next day. That way if the weather did get bad and we had to bail, we were covering as much ground as possible each day.

Topping out on Numa Pass

We took a long break at the campground where we had initially planned on spending the night and then started off up Tumbling pass. It was a butt kicker to say the least!
Only halfway up Tumbling pass, and then we needed to go down the other side too!
But it was SO SO worth it! Look at this view, I mean honestly! I couldn't think of a better way to spend a day.
Just some random pics. My bear whistle to scare them off if we came across one. Zach carried pepper spray. The only time I wasn't in complete nirvana on this trip was when we came across bear poop on the trail. Oh and when a bear wandered into our campsite. The Floe Lake Patrol cabin was where we got to spend that cozy first night. And our piece of crap tent and just some scenic pics. Look at that blue river! The color was amazing.

The campsites were really fun. We hiked each day without seeing anyone which was nice to enjoy the views in solitude. But then at night everyone camps in the same designated camp ground, so it was fun to meet people from all over and chat with them. After hiking together all day, Zach and I had usually covered any and all possible topics, so some diversity in conversation was nice! Everyone we met was lovely, and we ran into the nice ranger and his daughter here and there, so I think they are officially added to my handful of Canadian friends!

We had planned to do all of the trail but one 8 mile section. We had a limited number of days in Canada, so we wanted to leave ourselves a couple of days to see all the other sights also in Kootenay national park, as well as Banff, Jasper, and Yoho National parks, which are all in the same vicinity. But when it came time to turn one way to begin the hike out or turn the other way to do that last section, I was so bummed we weren't doing the complete trail! I really wanted to do another night, but....Zach hates backpacking and was being a trooper coming on the trip at all, so I didn't push it but promised myself that I would be back to do the whole thing! Zach has since sworn off backpacking ever again, so luckily I have Zach's sisters who want to do the trail one day (when that one day might be, who knows, but we'll do it!) So if you're interested, come join us, we'll have a fun all girls backpacking trip!