Castle Crown Wilderness

It was an epic day!

We broke camp and bush whacked up the mountain by an old trail covered in thick alder smacking us in the face and hemming us in. Eventually we came out to high windy snowfields with soaring views of the Castle Crown. From this height it is easy to see why it is named thus. Like so many castles, mountaintops ring the huge valley from which we came.

As we climbed higher the trees became more sparse, giving way instead to rocky talus slopes covered in lichens and low growing wildflowers. The wind screams over the ridgetops up here and it is very cold, taking your breath away. I took up the rear looking after Miriam who has asthma, and Tim who has a tendency to linger over wildflowers, like me. I like it better back here un-rushed.

At our highest point, here at the crown of the castle the wind blew in gusts that must have been 50 or 60 miles. It almost bowled me over a few times - dangerous. And yet I love that feeling too, when mother nature shows you her power and makes you feel small and humbled. It was so cold and windy up there some of the guys braced themselves in the wind like this held up by the air itself, full face in the storm. Amazingly I heard the squeak of pikas and walked amongst rocky boulders full of beautiful alpine wildflowers in this inhospitable place. Another world - alien and beautiful.

We descended beyond the winds when we could stand it no more to an old logging trail and our way outwards to a place called Bovine Lake for the night. The temperature has dropped in a major way and some big weather seems to be coming in. I have a feeling we'll be hunkered down and bracing for the cold tomorrow, maybe even snow. July in the Canadian Rockies....