Waterton Lake NP - Crypt Lake

The Crypt Lake trailhead is accessible only by boat from Waterton town. Wanting to be on the first boat (at 9:00 AM) to the trailhead, Matthias and I rose early and wolfed down some cereal prior to heading to the marina to buy two round-trip tickets across the lake. We bought the tickets, and then packed our lunches before boarding the Miss Waterton. The ride was short and there were a lot more people on the boat than I expected going up to Crypt (about 40, I guess). Matthias and I should have positioned ourselves nearest to the exit on the boat so as to be the first ones off at the trail; instead, we were held up in a long line of people on the trail for the first hour of the hike.

We ascended through dense forest, then dusty hills on our 5-mile ascent to the lake. I was especially glad we had started early as the air temperature was quickly increasing. Near the end of the ascent, the terrain got interesting; in order to get to the lake, we had to tiptoe along a steep precipice, climb a ladder, and scamper through a tunnel which had developed naturally and was later enlarged. A marmot guarded the exit to the tunnel.

The lake was beautiful. We had lunch there, rested and stretched our legs, and I went for a swim. All the while, we shooed pesky horseflies. On our way back to the boat, we took a detour through Hell-Roaring Falls. They did roar like hell, but we could hardly see them and were not too inclined to get off the trail to see them, because there were reportedly bears around and we were pretty hot and tired. We made the 4:00 PM boat back to Waterton town and stopped again for a shower. We rested a bit on a bench at the marina, did a little shopping (for things like a newspaper, ice, and after-bite), then we had dinner at Subway. We visited a pavilion dedicated to the International Peace Park – a joint effort between Waterton Lake and Glacier National Parks to promote harmony, cooperation, etc…

We stopped at the Prince of Wales Hotel for a drink in the lounge overlooking the lake, and then we drove back toward our campsite, then beyond it, to the Red Rock Canyon where we walked the short self-guided trail and learned more about the geology of the park. Back at camp, I took no prisoners on the day’s sudoku while Matthias read his book. Later, I blogged while Matthias practiced his photography skills while shooting our fire, its reflection on a tree and the horizon. We intended to leave Waterton Lake early the next morning for Glacier in order to find a campsite over the weekend.