Travelling and Exercise a Perfect Combination: An Overview of Crypt Lake Hike in Waterton.

This is a piece I wrote for the travel section of the Lethbridge Journal about the Crypt Lake hike at Waterton National Park.  A wonderful hike full of adventure and a great way to have a workout in some of Canada's finest nature.  

The Crypt Lake hike at Waterton National Park is quite a challenging, but beautiful hike in Southern Alberta.

The hike takes an entire day and is approx. 16-18km in total.  Piece of cake, right!!!  Well it is also a climb to a 700 metre elevation, past 4 waterfalls, many obstacles and changing landscapes. 

I remember that morning getting to the ticket counter, I had prepared my feet to prevent getting blisters (nylon socks from the running room are a miracle cure for preventing blisters) and purchased my 20 dollar ticket to take on this hiking challenge.  To get a ticket, one has to go to the dock and purchase before the boat leaves to take you to your destination.  There is a boat that leaves at 9am (suggested to take) and 10am, with the boat picking the tired hikers up at 4pm and 5:30pm.

I suggest the early boat, mostly because this is an all day hike, it is intensive and not everyone can make it back to the dock right at 4pm, but do not panic, because you will definitely make it back for 5:30pm, also mostly because you have to.

On the boat ride, there were quite a few people, from a vast array of cultures and a guide who provided information about the hike.  In fact, I was sitting their excited about the fact that I had finally bought a bear bell, promptly attached to my backpack, when the guide says, okay folks, remember this is the bears home, so be careful. 

I stifled a smile to my fiancé thinking I will be okay with my bear bell.  Then the next thing out of the guide’s mouth is “bear bells are useless and will not protect you, in fact, the sound of the bell will attract bears out of curiosity, so just use natural sound”.  Well this was certainly interesting, so I immediately put the bell in my backpack and realized I had just wasted money on a bear bell.

The boat drops the eager hikers off at the dock near the beginning of the hiking trail, definitely come prepared with food (fruit, vegetables, granola bars), water and appropriate hiking gear because this is it, no one can leave until the boat returns at 4pm, so now the fun begins.

The hike begins by immediately starting on an uphill climb through lots of green forest, but eventually levels off, shortly upon starting the journey, a sign to hike off the track and check out Hell Roaring Falls appears, if one wants to see the Falls, then it is recommended to check it out on your way back, because you will need to conserve energy for the uphill climb, plus to meet the trail again, it is a pretty steep climb up.

Then the hike levels off, a good time to conserve energy, grab a snack and prepare for the uphill to begin again.  Approximately 5.6 kms into the hike is Burndt Rock Falls, which is a very nice area and a beautiful view, a good chance to take some pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Next, there is lots of rock face to climb up on, this can be very tiring and get extremely hot, especially with the sun beating down on the rock face.  There is also obstacles with snow that can be slippery and difficult to walk through that randomly appear at places along the trail, so be careful, walk slow and all will be okay.

After walking on rock for quite some time, the hike gets exciting, as there is a cave with an 8ft steel ladder, that you must climb to crawl through the cave, which is in the side of the mountain, after that there is a narrow ridge, with some difficult rocks, it is important to be careful and hold the cable if necessary, because a fall would not be a good thing at this point.

Shortly after that, it is the most relieving site, Crypt Lake, congratulations, you have made it 8kms up and now can enjoy a hard earned lunch with a very scenic view.  If you need to refill water, which I am positive you might, 50 metres away is a waterfall that can assist in getting more water, very cold and refreshing.

Now it is time to get motivated because even though the accomplished feeling is great, you have to go back down, which is also quite tiring, but reaching the dock is a nice site, because you have just accomplished an amazing hike and if you are like me, just lost 5 pounds.  Please enjoy this hike if you get a chance, it is really worth a day of scenic nature.  Plus the cold beer in the town after has never tasted better.