A splendid one-way hike with a side of summit. The last time I hiked with Ivan we drove a long way to get stuck in snow (Kindersley Pass in late May); this time we drove a long way and successfully got away from the snow that is “plaguing” Banff, Canmore and K-country.

The Carthew-Alderson trail in Waterton Park is listed in “The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide” as the most popular one-way hike in the Canadian Rockies. That may well be true, we shared the trail with several other groups, but we also saw why it is so popular.

We started off the day with an appetizer morsel of Akamina Lake (a short trail to a pretty and misty lake near the Cameron Lake parking lot).

Cool morning at Akamina Lake

Setting Off from Cameron Lake

Then we got down to the main course. The climb from Cameron Lake to Summit Lake passed quickly and we were soon up out of the trees and into the alpine. On the way we were joined by a solo hiker from Lethbridge who knew the area very well.

From the Carthew Summit (which is the high point of the through hike) Rick pointed out to us that the lower summit of Mount Carthew (referred to in Patton and Robinson) is not far and that the true summit of Mount Carthew is an easy ridge walk from there (as described by Kane).

Carthew-Alderson Summit Col

So we proceeded to the lower summit and three continued on to the true summit. We were quite pleased to “bag a peak” when we really hadn’t planned to do so.

Mount Carthew summit party

The views of the many jewel-like lakes, and the larches, and the many surrounding peaks in the park and over in BC and Montana were really quite spectacular already from the Carthew Summit col and even more so from the mountain summits.

Alderson and Carthew Lakes from summit of Mount Carthew

Cameron Lake, B.C. and Montana

We were then reunited at the Carthew lakes, and took a break there.

Between the Carthew Lakes

We then descended back down into the trees and on to the cars at Waterton town site. (On the way we had been approached by an elderly couple who were hiking the other direction, whether they could take Ivan’s car from Cameron Lake to town and he bravely acceded. I figured that if someone was into stealing cars, there are easier ways of doing it than walking 20 km and climbing 1000 m.)

Distance about 22km, ascent almost 1000m, weather near freezing in the morning, up to double digits in the afternoon, sky sunny all day, snow minimal and only above the through trail, wind calm to moderate, on the trail from 10:00 until 5:00.

We saw many mule deer and birds of prey on the road and in Waterton town site, and found a few blueberries on the trail (previously frozen, but never-the-less delicious).

Coordinator Ivan, participants Kim, Eva, Paul, and Carl (scribe and photos)

PS. Thanks Ivan, it was well worth having to reset my alarm clock for the early departure. C