A few weeks ago I drove out to Lake of the Hanging Glacier in Kootenay National Park. The drive took about 5 hours, and included 2 hours of driving down a gravel road, which was clearly intended for high clearance vehicles, not a Toyota Prius. Despite that I made the trip, albeit much slower as I had to carefully pick my path. Something to note is that there are two bridge crossings along the hike, and the bridges are removed sometime in October through sometime in July, so make sure to pay attention to the Summit Trail Maker Society facebook page and website, otherwise you’ll show up and be dissapointed.

The hike is 15.9 kilometres long, and has 947 metres of elevation gain. You start off from the parking lot and bush whack through the trees for a few hundred metres, before emerging into some tall grasses, and then back into the trees. There are berries all along the way so be sure to bring your bear spray, as this is prime grizzly bear country. The first bridge is a few kilometres in, with the second about half way through the hike. You also encounter a waterfall about half way through the hike.

The majority of the hike is through a thick forested area, and the blowing wind creates a really eerie feeling when you can hear the trees creaking in the wind. Continue up the switchbacks until you emerge on an alpine meadow with willows and flowers. You’ll eventually come to another waterfall, this time quite a wide one.

After passing the waterfall you’ll see tons of glaciers, and their associated waterfalls draining into the lake below. This was one of the most unique hikes that I’ve ever completed and has been on my list for years.

After taking in the absolute beauty of the lake and surrounding glaciers it was time to head back to the car. The hike took me about 4.5 hours to complete. It was a long day for me with being away from home for 14.5 hours in total.

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