take a hike

This out and back hike is the perfect early morning jaunt that you can crank out in under 3 hours. It's 5.2 miles roundtrip with a 1,600 ft elevation gain. It's certainly a push up to the top, and at times the fencing covering the pathway is tricky, but overall, it is a smooth ride up with amazing views.

To get to Saddle Mountain take Highway 26 west from Portland toward Seaside. There will be a sign before milepost 10 indicating the turnoff for Saddle Mountain road. Follow Saddle Mountain road for 7 miles to the trailhead. If you are able to hike in the month of June, you will see some fantastic wildflowers. Also, this hike is NOT suitable for dogs, there is wire fencing covering most of the trail and it could injure your pet. Easy-breezy-beautiful-mountainhikes. Enjoy!

Fencing lines much of the pathway on this hike.

I couldn't get enough of these pinecones.

#wildflowers

Looking up at Saddle Mountain from the Humbug viewpoint

Day 5 & 6. I jokingly mentioned to Val that there was a glacier bearing her namesake in British Columbia. I did not actually think we would hike to said glacier. Mainly because this is a 13 mile backpacking trek and to be honest, I'm not too found of heavy-ass bags strapped to my body for 4+ hours. But, I was somehow convinced after looking through other blogs at the photos of Berg Lake and Berg Glacier. If you've got time and stamina, by all means, take on this epic journey.

I read that some people camp at Whitehorn which is roughly 7 miles from the trailhead, then venture up to the glacier during the day without all the gear. (Which is likely how I will attempt this overnight in the future.) There are a total of 7 campgrounds, we stopped at campground 5, Berg Lake Campground. We were way too tired to venture much further and thankfully elk were mating so campgrounds 6 and 7 were closed in June. The trail itself from the trailhead to Whitehorn is pretty mild, a few ups and downs, but nothing too tough. Once you pass Whitehorn at mile 8, you start to seriously climb...and climb...and climb. The good news is, the views are unreal and this hike isn't jam packed with people like some of the others in Banff and Jasper. We were so motivated to get to Berg Lake we basically blocked out the agonizing pain and exhaustion. Once we arrived, well it was totally worth it. Enjoy.

On the way out, the clouds really closed us in, as you can see toward the end of the pictures, Mt. Robson was barely visible. This hike is located in the Mt. Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia, it was roughly an 1.5 hour drive from Snaring River Campground in Jasper.

Berg Lake/Glacier - the final destination.

Mt. Robson from the Visitor's Center

Starting out, so naive.

This isn't so bad (1km in).

Kinney Lake

Robson River.

Whitehorn suspension bridge.

orchids?

Passing Whitehorn, about to feel the burn.

Slowly climbing.

White Falls.

Falls of the Pool.

Emperor Falls.

Mist Glacier ahead.

Berg Lake

Berg Lake Campground Shelter.

You have no idea how good this felt.

Berg Lake from our tent site.

Canadian cider with a view.

Suspension bridge at Whitehorn Campground.

Robson River. What is not very visible in these photos were the numerous waterfalls all around us.

Mt. Robson peeking out.

Val practicing yoga at Whitehorn.

Arriving at Berg Lake/Berg Glacier/ Mt. Robson.

Beach at Berg Lake Campground. We thought we would want to go for a swim after hiking 13 miles, then we saw baby icebergs in the water and thought...nah.