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Only 4.2 miles of easy
hiking separated the two campsites. Dawn
Mist Falls is impressive. The hike from
Elizabeth Lake to Helen Lake was worth
the added exertion. The campsite there
was among the best we'd seen.
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The storm lasted but an hour. When I
woke up at 0600 the sun was just starting to crack through
the clouds and was illuminating the mountain across the
lake. A quick check of our gear revealed that the tent was
almost all dry and the sleeping bags just a little damp
from the condensation resulting from the tent being buttoned
down for the storm.
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| Elizabeth Lake from the backcountry
campground |
I let yumi sleep a little longer since
we only had 4.2 miles to do today and the brush was all
wet anyway. Why push to leave this perfect camp site? So
we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and
precooked bacon. Yumi almost didn’t get to eat at all.
After doing her business in the outhouse, she was “held
hostage’ by a doe and her fawn who were eating right
there on the trail l
eading back to the cooking area. She
finally made it back and was rewarded with her breakfast.
Our friends from the east had already
eaten and came back to the food prep area to say goodbye.
They were by far the most entertaining bunch we met our
entire time in the park.
By 0840 we were also ready to hit the
trail. Twenty minutes later we were at the river crossing
which proved to be easier than expected. I sent Yumi across
without her pack first, then I crossed with her pack, went
back and brought mine over. The water only reached mid thigh.
Yumi said she could carried her own pack. I took a few pictures
and said so long to Cosley Lake. About the only feature
of note we would see before getting to Elizabeth Lake would
be Dawn Mist Falls. Of course, I had already seen countless
photos of the falls on the Internet and wasn’t that
impressed.
After washing herself in the lake yesterday,
Yumi was not happy with the beating her lovely legs were
taking on the trail. In addition to the skeeter bites, she
was also getting scratched by the brush hanging out over
the trail. To put an end to this insanity she decided to
don her gaitors for the first time. This turned out to be
a great decision as the brush was still soaked from last
night’s rain. The gaitors kept her boots dry while
mine became soaked before I even knew it was happening.
Knowing wet boots alone do not blisters
make, I kept going but made sure everything felt OK on my
feet. By the time we got to the falls I had formulated the
perfect boot-drying plan.
The falls turned out, like everything
else in the park, to be bigger than expected---and louder,
and mistier as well. I took off my boots and stuffed them
with small towels and put them in the sun to dry. In the
meantime Yumi and I took pictures of each other by the falls,
drank some water and munched on a Marathon bar. In a half
hour I put on dry socks and boots that were about 80% dry
and started off again.
It took less than an hour to reach Elizabeth
Lake Foot once we left the falls. There were some nice views
of the Belly River, which flows north, but mostly we were
hiking through dense forest up and away from the river.
The campground may have been the prettiest of the trip and
by far had the best food prep area with nice, shiny food
boxes instead of poles. Though the sign said not to cook
or sit on the food boxes (I didn’t see the sign until
lunch had been started), we did so anyway. Our butts were
so sore from sitting on logs that the smooth, flat box was
too inviting to pass up. The only negative was, of course,
the flies and mosquitoes. Again, they were everywhere and
in great numbers.
After we ate we then set up camp. Because
it was early in the day we again got our choice of camp
sites. At 1230 we came up with a kooky plan to hike the
4.5 miles to Helen Lake, which was supposed to be among
the most beautiful and least visited in the entire park.
Nine miles round trip seemed like quite a bit, but it was
going to be flat and the reward supposed to be worth it.
Besides, I had something I needed to give to Yumi and thought
Helen Lake just might be the place to do it.
You can’t really tell by looking
at the map, but Elizabeth Lake is really long. It seemed
like it took forever to get to the end and back to the Belly
river which fed into the lake. Some parts of the trail took
us right to the edge of the lake, and we were able to see
18” trout jumping from the water to eat flies. I kept
looking to my left, across the lake, trying to find the
Ptarmigan Tunnel and looking at the reddish colored rocks
of Redgap Pass---tomorrow’s 2700’ climb.
We eventually made it to the head campground
and about a half hour later ran into a group of four young
people with chainsaws and muscles clearing the trail to
the lake. We spent a few minutes talking to one of the lucky
young men who told us the lake was gorgeous and that we
were almost there---only another 1.5 hours to go. That didn’t
make us feel too good as we were already getting tired.
We briefly thought about turning back but Yumi insisted
we push on and not waste the time and distance already invested.
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| Helen Lake will always be special
for Yumi and I. |
By 1520 we made it to the lake. Truthfully,
Helen lake looked like a few others we had seen in the park
so far---incredible. To our right was Ahern Glacier. To
the left was the Ptarmigan tunnel and Redgap Pass, and directly
in front of us numerous waterfalls cascading down the face
of the cirque. We sat down on the beach, dipping our feet
into the cold water and let the fatigue melt away with the
view.
To make a long story short, I asked Yumi
to marry me right there on the shores of the lake, and presented
her with a ring purchased a few days earlier at the Many
Glacier gift shop. For some reason her mood was lifted.
Maybe she really loves me? And to everyone reading this
who we told that we were already married....sorry about
that.
We only spent about 50 minutes at the
lake, but we would spend a lifetime together. A Fair trade
in my opinion. After refilling our water supply we began
the long walk back to Elizabeth Lake. The distance hadn’t
lessened now that we were engaged, but the trip back went
rather quickly despite our tired legs. By 1800 we were back
at the campsite.
After slipping on our sandals we went
back to that beautiful food prep area. Three groups had
come in while we were at Helen Lake, and two of them were
cooking their dinner. One was an arrogant looking dude who
I took an instant disliking to for some reason and his equally
arrogant-looking wife. There was also Phil and Matt, a father-son
duo who started out at Kintla Lake 8 days prior. Thankfully,
the arrogant couple took their dinner to the beach directly
in front of our camp site--a clear violation of backcountry
rules.
Since it was such a nice night, I thought
I might be able to wash up in the lake. Unlike most of the
other lakes, Elizabeth was shallow so I thought it might
be a little warmer and plunged in. Not too bad. I would
feel colder by the time our vacation was over.
Now almost squeaky clean, I could go
to bed feeling great. Not only was I engaged to marry the
greatest woman I’d ever met, but I also didn’t
stink that badly!!! That wouldn’t last long, however,
as Redgap Pass was coming up tomorrow.
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