Rockbound Lake Hike - September 2010

Usually we would be camping in K-country for the Labour Day weekend but a weather forecast of wet and cool weather - dampened our enthusiasm. So . . . we decided on a day hike to Rockbound Lake in Banff National Park with Katja, Larry, and Stefan. Our boys were supposed to join us but unfortunately Alex got a case of food poisoning from a Taco Bell take-out dinner - so he and Eric stayed home for the day :(

Once again, we were incredibly fortunate with the weather. When we arrived at the base of Castle Mountain the sky had turned dark and there were a few drops of rain. I was imagining a wet, wet hike but the clouds moved on and we had mostly a sunny sky for the entire hike. It's an 8.4km hike to Rockbound Lake and the first part of the walk is a bit of a slog along an olde fire road. As you progress the forest begins to thin and you get some great views down into the Bow Valley. The trail then enters an alpine meadow behind Castle Mountain and the sheer rock walls are very impressive. We finished the final switch backs up to Rockbound Lake and found a sunny spot for lunch - surrounded by the natural ampitheatre of rock.

Marie had even purchased a day fishing license for Eric so we took a few casts into the lake but it was very difficult to imagine that there were any fish in the lake as it was so shallow and void of any plant life. We sunned ourselves for awhile on the huge rocks at the base of the Castle Mountain talus slopes and then headed back down the trail for an amazing dinner at the Storm Mountain Lodge :)