Canadia Day 2

The second day of my trip involved a long walk, which was expected since I was with Chizm. We hiked 10 miles (18.something kilometers) to see one of Chizm's favorite lakes, Crypt. We started our hike at 4 pm, which meant we got to hike back down in the dark. Chizm said this hike was a test of my abilities and general toughness. It was one of the most unique trails I have been on. To get there, you have to cross Waterton Lake. We canoed. I was so glad that we had two strong men so I didn't have to paddle.

This is Jonathan and Ridge. Jonathan is Chizm's cousin and Ridge is Chizm's little brother. He was a trooper. Hiked basically the whole way by himself.

Canadians are too tough and manly to bring water bottles with clean water. They just stick their faces in a stream and drink. I also drank from the stream, but choose to scoop the water up in my hands and then drink. Easier to tell if there was a floaty.

This was our next water break, and the pictures do not do it justice at all. It was stunning. I would have been okay just chilling here and not continuing on to the lake. Although I am glad that we did.

The waterfall comes from Crypt. It looks tiny, but trust me, it is huge. Somewhere around this spot, Chizm and Jonathan were gazing around in wonder at the rocks making up the mountains. I just kept walking. Chizm said something to the effect of "Obviously rocks do not move you like they move me" which was pretty humorous. He would be correct, while rocks are lovely, they are not as cool as water or living things.

We had to walk along this extremely narrow ledge to get to the tunnel (really, a tunnel!) to Crypt. I felt like a mountain goat. I forgot to take a picture of the ladder that we had to climb up to get into the tunnel. I felt bad for the construction team who had to put the ladder there. Not a lot of good footing.

Chizm peering into the tunnel. It was not a very big hole. If I was claustrophobic, the whole thing would have ended very badly.

On the other side of the tunnel we had to cross a cliff (more or less) with no ledge. They just expected us to hold onto a little cable while we crossed. Chizm was so cute about Ridge, he kept telling him to hold on with both hands and grabbing onto the back of his shirt to make sure he was safe. He was less gentlemanly with me. He didn't even check once to see if I was okay. Rude.

That little tiny black hole is where the waterfall comes out of Crypt Lake and begins its plunge down the mountain side. Pretty, huh?

Finally, the promised land. As far as lakes go, it was nothing that special, but the hike was super fun. Also, we got there just as the sun was setting, and the reflection of the sunset in the water was beautiful.

Just a sweet photo I took from the inside of the tunnel. Chizm is waiting to climb down the ladder to get back to that teeny ledge I mentioned earlier.

After this, it got too dark to take pictures, but we had to canoe back across Waterton Lake in the dark. The stars were so bright, and the air was so cold. If I wasn't so cold, I could have stayed out there for hours just looking at the stars.


By the way, I passed the Crypt trail test with flying colors. Hiked those boys into the ground. Ha.