Canadian Rockies 2025: Way Above Emerald Lake

On July 26th Joan and I drove up a winding access road to the enormously popular Emerald Lake, setting out early to avoid being forced to park far down the road by the tsunami of cars, campers, and buses that flood the designated parking area. Our counter-clockwise loop began with a boardwalk. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

Here's a map of the area; note the packed contour lines. We're gonna tackle a long climb.

Low clouds hung over this cool morning.

The first leg of the lake trail, winding along the shore, is under gradual repair. It's prone to sustained muddiness, so supplies for creating more boardwalks are anchored offshore.

Soon we turned onto the Burgess Pass trail, and immediately began climbing through switchback after switchback.

Bankeraceae fungi often grow from mature conifer and broadleaf trees, of which we had an abundance ...

Up and up we went. A wide variety of blooming and non-blooming plants, changing with the altitude, kept calling for our attention. The trail grew rougher, with occasional obstacles such as fallen trees to go over, under, or around. Views only emerged after 2½ hours of climbing.

The woods finally began to diminish and thin. This pic was taken 45 minutes later.

Then the Burgess Pass trail briefly merged with the Wapta Highline. Following our noses rather than a plan, we turned left to reach the high point marked by a black circle in this map.

We'd climbed 3,000 feet, or about 920 meters. It was time to gawk and luncheon before retracing our steps.

 Looking down at Field.

Clouds, mountains, and an erosion plain were in view on the far side of Emerald Lake.

After our break, it was time to retrace our steps. Partway down we encountered a trio of women hiking up, our first encounter with fellow hikers since leaving the lakeside, and the only encounter until we were back at the water! We turned right to finish circumnavigating the lake. At first, it felt odd to encounter so many fellow visitors. The further we went, the drier the trail became, and eventually the village complex came into view.

It was as busy as ever!

Joan and I will claim credit for 10.5 miles (almost 17  km), not counting the treks through the parking lot to/from our car, and 6,000 feet of elevation change -- 3k up and 3k down. Whew! I think we earned our dinner back at Cathedral Mountain Lodge.