Backpacking The Rockwall Trail In Kootenay National Park (4D/3N)
Trip Details:
- Total distance: 32 miles
- Total elevation gain: 9,288 feet
- Route Type: Point-to-point on maintained trails
- Wilderness Area: Kootenay National Park
- Season: Late (End of July)
- Permits: Required per campsite
Itinerary:
Day 1: Paint Pots Trailhead to Helmet Falls (9.8 miles, 2,516 ft)
Day 2: Helmet Falls to Numa (12.9 miles, 3,747 ft)
Day 3: Numa to Floe Lake (6.5 miles, 2,746 ft)
Day 4: Floe Lake to Trailhead (6.5 miles, 551 ft)
July 2024
The Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park is packed with sweeping alpine vistas, glacial lakes, and a diversity of wildflowers. Just southwest of the much more famous Banff National Park, Kootenay is a great place to get far away from the crowds at Lake Louise and to delve into the majesty of the Canadian Rockies. The backpacker camps along this trail are specifically designated (and permitted) areas that are equipped with bear lockers, picnic tables, bathrooms, and tent pads. You need a permit for each individual campsite along your route. I was able to scrounge together an itinerary by picking up permits as they became available via cancellations on the Parks Canada website.
While this route is typically backpacked in 5 days, we needed it pack it into 4. The way the camps are spaced along the trail meant that we would have one long day (Day 2 here).
Day 1: Paint Pots Trailhead to Helmet Falls
After a stop at Sobeys for groceries and an outdoor store for bear spray and fuel, we were on our way from Calgary to Kootenay National Park. First, we dropped our rental car off at our finishing trailhead (Floe Lake) and then hitchhiked back to our starting point at the Paint Pots Trailhead. We embarked on the trail at the leisurely hour of 1:50 pm in high spirits. In true grizzly terror, we sang loudly to alert our bear friends of our presence as we hiked on through the woods. While the forest obstructed any views, it also protected us from the sun on a very hot day. I’ll be honest, I was starting to wonder if I hadn’t read enough reviews about this trail and if Canadian backpackers preferred woods to vistas. I needn’t have worried though – about half a mile from our camp (long after we’d gone silent from song) the forest opened up and we saw the first of The Rockwall in its immensity. A meadow of flowers unfolded before a massive sheer face with a waterfall tumbling through a fold. The Helmet Falls camping area was set up with undesignated tent pads throughout a forested area, 2 loos with half moon cutouts, and closest to the river, a kitchen area with picnic tables and bear storage lockers. The lockers are set up like cubbies so that each camp can have its own! Hungrily, we quickly set up our tent and brought the rest of our things to the kitchen to rehydrate our dinners (Good 2 Go Thai Curry 10/10). The lighting on the Rockwall was an orangey hue and the waterfall was shrouded in blue shadow. I sat out by the river and painted, eager to make use of all the weight I had lugged out to the wilderness with me. Eventually the bugs got a bit too annoying and I retreated to the mesh barrier of our tent. Even at 10pm, the daylight outside was still quite bright, and I read to put myself to sleep.
Day 2: Helmet Falls to Numa Creek
Compressing this trip into 4 days inevitably resulted in one long hiking day. This was that day – we would pass Tumbling Creek camp at the 7 mile mark and continue on for just another 5 miles to Numa Creek. Boy did I underestimate those last 5 miles!!!
Another leisurely start to the day. Why rush when you have endless summer sunlight? We weren’t up until around 8, after which we broke fast, had our bougie Verve instant coffee, pumped water and did a bit more drawing. We were on the trail at the bright and early hour of 10am. Pretty immediately, we began our ascent through the woods, which would occasionally open up to a grand view with thousands of wildflowers in the foreground and the mountains towering above. We frolicked through a few meadows of unreal volumes and heights of flowers until we came upon a glacial lake. I stripped down to my birthday suit before the heat of the climb wore off, and slipped my way into the slimy opaque lake. My feet slid along the glacial silt to a rock poised in breast deep water, where I climbed out to extract myself from the cold. Getting back to shore was a challenge – I had to grasp around on the ground for rocks among the silt to pull my way forward, the slippery ground offered absolutely no traction. Lunch was fresh and heavy (pack weight-wise): tortillas, hummus, and bell peppers.
After our lake & lunch break, we continued climbing up to Rockwall Pass. There were a couple of small snow fields to cross, but barely worth a mention. The flowers were turned up to full volume! I posted up and painted Mt Grey, which was super pointy and perfect.
More huge vistas as we continued along, until we descended into Tumbling Creek. Tumbling Creek was quite a nice site, very spread out and open and sunny. We took a break here at the picnic tables , pumped more water, ate some m&m’s and then set out to reel in the next 5 miles to Numa. Those handful of miles started with a huge exposed climb in the afternoon heat. I took a couple breaks to lie on the ground. The pass was again filled with pointy vistas, the Tumbling Glacier, and then worse, a descent so steep that I had to take breaks for my sad little knees. Along the way, we crossed through two waterfalls that soaked through my boots, then shot us out into a jungle chute for a few miles. I had to bargain with myself to make it to the end. When we at last made it to camp, we took whatever pad we could get, popped our tent and made dinner: Trauma Dinner Pasta Night.
Day 3: Numa Creek to Floe Lake
We woke up to hazy skies, which became increasingly palpable throughout the day and as we went up and over Numa Pass. There were a couple of snow patches barely worth mentioning, and then before we knew it, we could see down into the basin containing Floe Lake.
We made a couple of dehydrated desserts while we washed off in the lake – Backpacker’s Pantry Blueberry Peach Crisp (10/10) and a cheesecake that was reminiscent of glue. Apparently, cheesecake is not meant to be rehydrated.
There are some really stellar sites at cliff’s edge overlooking the lake, which you probably need to arrive on the earlier side to snatch. A thunderstorm rolled in and we rushed into the tent for cover. The rain washed all the haze away, and when we emerged from our tent an hour or so later, the sky was crisp and clear, the lake brand new.
Day 4: Floe Lake to Trailhead Exit
I woke up to paint the sunrise down by the lake, fully covered by my mosquito jacket. The mosquitos were quite vicious here. The Rockwall went through a series of pink, orange, and red color changes which I tried to capture as quickly as possible!
We didn’t linger at camp much after packing up and breakfast due to the bloodthirsty mosquitos, so we got back on the trail for a day primarily devoted to descending. A great portion of this day’s route was through an old burn scar, which left us quite exposed to the sun. We did get some beautiful views into the glacial canyon below. Not long after we started, we arrived at our car in the Floe Lake Trailhead parking lot and were quite happy to get our stinky dirty bodies over to our hotel in Banff!
