Activity: Backcountry Camping/Backpacking
Total Distance: 61 km
# Nights: 3
Date: August 6-9, 2016
Area: Kootenay National Park
Crew: Ben, Eric, Travis, Stephen
Trailhead: Floe Lake Trailhead / Paint Pots Trailhead
Trailhead: Floe Lake Trailhead / Paint Pots Trailhead
Day 1 - Floe Lake Trailhead to Floe Lake Campground (10km, 700m)
Day 2 - Floe Lake Campground to Tumbling Creek Campground (17.5km, 1100m)
Day 3 - Tumbling Creek Campground to Helmet Falls Campground (12.5km, 400m)
Day 4 - Helmet Falls Campground to Paint Pots Trailhead (14.7km, -400m)
We did the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park from South to North. We ended up having to rent a 4-man tent since Bennett's work schedule lined up with our trip (yay)! The tent pads were plenty large enough for a 4-man and could most likely accommodate a 6-man (which we contemplated borrowing from JJ...)
Our plan was to do 2 side-trips - Numa Mountain and Goodsir Pass - we didn't end up doing either! It was too rainy on the first afternoon to enjoy summiting a mountain. Then on the third day we were going to hike up to Goodsir Pass, but we ran out of time because we took our time enjoying the hike from Tumbling to Helmet - we stopped for 2 hours to enjoy the sun and do some acro-yoga with Eric on Wolverine Pass, then also side-tripped up an unofficial peak "Drysdale NE4". Once we arrived at Helmet, we did the ~2km (RT) hike up to Helmet Falls
Overall this was an unreal trip. The weather was forecasted to rain most of the time, but we only had to hike in the rain for ~30mins on Day 2, and although it rained 2/3 nights, we never had to cook in the rain and we kept our tent/sleeping bags dry. The last day was by far the most weather-consistent so we were sad to leave the Rockwall Trail and go back to civilization.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VUJ2tfZ-Nj1SPOMfPfgfRCFwi2Vip7HmpPqj0Bl0SQIw0utFQ9NJ5TO7m3PkZttCKB4PAUycTY13ap6UVgnLWPMQlyn195qZTeEZmGMDg4BQCQ4OZ6Xr8rS5sj4Fl-CMIyGCBnqTcUFD/s640/rockwall+day+1_1.jpg)
Floe Lake reflection after some rain (Day 1)
Hiking up on the moraines across Floe Lake at sunset (Day 1)
Beautiful wildflowers that we got to see every day! (Day 2)
Coming down from Numa Pass (Day 2)
Lush forest common along the trail at valley bottoms (Day 2)
Group selfie (Day 2)
Tumbling Glacier (Day 2)
View of Helmet Falls from the campsite (Day 3)
Helmet Creek Patrol Cabin (Day 4)
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