Outdoor Video Magazine

 The Rockwall, Kootenay National Park, B.C., Canada
Length: 55km
Time: 3-6 days
Book: Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies/Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies
Max-Min Elevation: 1338m-2370m
Effort: High
Rating: 9/10
Scariness: 0/3
Map: NTS: 82 N/1, Gem Trek: Kootenay, The Adventure Map: the Rockwall

Overview
The Rockwall is a fantastic backpack which has all the major features needed for a perfect outing in the mountains. It has lush valleys, mountain streams, glaciers, tarns, superb wild flowers, spectacular cliffs, and the second highest waterfall in Canada (a fact which is often debated. But it’s certainly high.) There are also excellent wildlife viewing opportunities; the trail goes through some prime grizzly habitat, and sightings are frequent; mountain goats can often be seen round Helmet Falls; Wolverine Pass is a good area to see the wolverine (funnily enough), although it is highly unlikely you will see this elusive creature; hoary marmots and ground squirrels are pretty much guaranteed unless you normally hike with your eyes closed.

Trail Description
There is no huge advantage to hiking this trail in a particular direction. If you go North to South you save a whopping(!) 100 metres in overall elevation gain, but this pales into insignificance against the overall elevation gain on this hike. Either way you will need two cars, or you will have to hitch. I will describe this going from Floe Lake to Helmet Falls.

From the road to Floe Lake campground is a short 10.5km. But you go up. Up 720m to be exact. At first it’s OK, you climb gradually through a burned forest that is starting to flourish with new growth. You pass through some good bear habitat as you cross overgrown avalanche slopes. The views are interesting, but not particularly inspiring. Eventually it starts to get steep…really steep..and there is a grueling section of switchbacks that seemingly goes on forever..but there is a pleasant smell of wild strawberries in july to keep you going! There’s also an awesome selection of BIG trees (Engelmann spruce) some more than a meter in diameter and over 40m tall. Floe Lake is very nice…when I got there in early July it was slightly disappointing. I was expecting something SPECTACULAR…but it was just very nice. I think it was the lack of snow by the lake that is normally known for it’s floating ice chunks. God damn global warming. Maybe if you get there earlier in the year. Oh, and beware mosquitos June to August..yowser.

From Floe Lake to Numa Creek campground is just 9.5km, so we doubled up and headed to Tumbling Creek CG, 17.9km in total. My criticism of Floe Lake was retracted the following morning when I dragged myself up for sunrise. It was by no means the nicest sunrise in the world…but seeing the sunrise over Floe Lake made it very special indeed. See the photos below if you don’t agree.

Unbelievably, after sunrise the hiking only got better. Wild flowers. Wow. If you do the Rockwall, you have to do it in July when the flowers are out. They were actually too good to be true. I felt like i was hiking through the set of a music video. Literally CARPETS of flowers….red, purple, yellow and white (yeah, I’m really technical when it comes to flower identification), All the way up to Numa Pass (a quick 300m in 3km) the flowers are brilliant. Descend a crunching 800m down to Numa Creek CG, for lunch or for your night’s rest.

Carrying on to Tumbling Pass…you go through some awesome grizzly territory. Big lush bushes covered in berries by a loud stream..be careful…it would be a shame to get eaten by a bear this early in a fantastic hike. Nearing the top of the pass you pass through a alpine-meadow type area complete with glacial morraine. Tumbling Glacier should also come into view as you summit the pass. It’s a beautiful glacier that really looks likes it’s tumbling off the summit of a mountain. Your second and final descent of the day then takes you to the relaxing looking Tumbling Creek CG, sat in a nice little meadow. If only there was some ice cold beer for sale…..

From Tumbling Creek CG you then climb up on to Wolverine Plateau. I delightful alpine meadow area with stunning views back along most of the Rockwall that you’ve hiked…right back to the mountains above Floe Lake. The wildflowers here are also stunning (indian paintbrushes and western anemone I believe. Yes I had to look that up.) Next is the scenic highlight of what is already a scenic hike, so it’s obviously…umm scenic. Actually no, amazing is probably a better word. From Wolverine Plateau you climb gradually to Rockwall Pass, where a 4km long vertical slab of Ottertail Formation limestone dominates the view. It’s HUGE. There is a glacier hidden at the base of the cliff, covered in rocks. If you look carefully you may notice a couple of parts where it breaks the surface. Indeed when I was there a big 10m high face of it was exposed. It was well worth a sidetrip to inspect it..but beware the falling rocks in this area.

The trail now descends to cross Helmet Creek before beginning it’s final climb to Limestone Summit. By this stage on the hike you’re probably getting a bit weary from the constant ascending and descending, and this up feels a lot longer harder than it should be. Once you reach the top however, it’s downhill all the way. Oh and look out for the views of the second highest waterfall in Canada. Its quite pretty. Once you get to the Helmet Campground, I would recommend finding the energy to take a sidetrip to the base of the falls themselves. They truly are spectacular, and it’s just a 1.5km hike to get right to the base. This is also an excellent area to see mountain goats…and we had the privilege of seeing one across the falls from where we sitting. It was nice to be looking across at eye-level with the worlds best four-legged climber. The falls themselves are in shade a lot of the day, and as such are hard to photograph. However, if you get there for sunrise you in for a treat as it illuminates the falls perfectly for the first few hours of the day.

From Helmet Campground it’s a 14km hike out to the road. This section isn’t much to write about, some nice forests and some nice river sections but it’s all pretty plain compared to the grandeur of the previous days. Those still wanting an adventure can take the long side-trip to Goodsirs Pass. The highlight of the hike out is the Paint Pots as you approach the road. These ochre beds are pretty amazing with the greeny/yellow water and the fantastically orange soil.

The Rockwall is truly an unforgettable hike and one of the best in the Rockies.