Castleguard Meadows (Day 3)
Waking up to the sound of the running water from the nearby creek is really soothing. It got cold overnight. Being quite high and right next to the water on exposed terrain, we knew condensation would be an issue in the tent, and our tent body was covered with a thin layer of ice. But I would choose the view over the comfort anytime. Thankfully, the morning fog disappeared fast and the sun got out, leaving us with a perfect weather to dry our quilts and the rest of our gear.
Waking up in the Castleguard Meadows.
We both had swollen feet and sore muscles. After two straight days of exhausting hiking, the morning was spent relaxing on the big flat rocks in the middle of the creek. Letting our feet float in the glacial water… eating… rehydrating ourselves… those were our morning plans.
Walking around the area I discovered some old relics from previous expeditions. Then, next thing you know… I found the sign for the Castleguard Meadows designated camping area we were desperately looking for last night in the dark. Turned out the ONLY down tree in the entire area was the one with the sign. LOL
At this point, it seemed like neither of us wanted to talk about what was next. I broke the ice and proposed we spend our day off “walking” up the pass that leads to the Saskatchewan Glacier at the north end of the Castleguard Meadows. My goal was to investigate this possible exit route. I had proposed the idea of walking out the trail this way since the beginning and even more last night after what we had been through… But we were both a little anxious about walking on the glacier without any prior glacier travel experience. It was a 6km walk to the glacier, a ∼5km walk on the glacier and lastly a 6km walk from the tongue of the glacier back to Highway 93. We decided to pack all our gear just in case we could find a spot to pitch our tent near the glacier and shave almost a third of the distance today. So off we went across the Castleguard Meadows.
The meadow was dry and while there was no defined trail up to the pass, walking on the dry creeks made for easy travel. The meadow is quite vast but it took us no time to cross it. With no berries anywhere, it became clear why there was no wildlife at all up here at this time of the year. The pass is a long hilly, rugged and exposed area. After climbing up one hill, we always thought “that was it”, but every time there was another one laying in front of us. The wind was strong. Our packs were still quite heavy with only half of our food consumed so far. The views tough… wow! Castleguard Mountain to the left, Terrace Mountain to the right and eventually, Mount Andromeda’s peak would be teasing us in the distance straight ahead.
The meadow was dry and while there was no defined trail up to the pass, walking on the dry creeks made for easy travel. The meadow is quite vast but it took us no time to cross it. With no berries anywhere, it became clear why there was no wildlife at all up here at this time of the year. The pass is a long hilly, rugged and exposed area. After climbing up one hill, we always thought “that was it”, but every time there was another one laying in front of us. The wind was strong. Our packs were still quite heavy with only half of our food consumed so far. The views tough… wow! Castleguard Mountain to the left, Terrace Mountain to the right and eventually, Mount Andromeda’s peak would be teasing us in the distance straight ahead.
Saskatchewan Glacier at the front, Mount Andromeda at the back with its glacier.
We climbed back up the moraines, grabbed our packs and found a tiny flat spot to pitch the tent. Luckily for us there was a little melted water puddle big enough for us to fill our bottles that were almost empty because of the lack of water up the pass all day. It was 5PM, we got in the tent under a hot sun. My mind was not at rest. I really didn’t feel like putting the woman I love through the dangerous and risky path down the moraine in the morning. A few seconds after we finally settled down in the tent, I looked at her and asked if she felt comfortable doing this. As I asked the question, her face was already saying “HELL NO”. I told her since we ended up joining the trail up on our way in, there was a pretty good chance we would be able to follow it all the way down and skip the bushwacking, the steep raging waterfalls and the misery that came with all this. Less than 30 minutes later, our minds were set and we were on our way back to the same campground area we left in the morning.
The sun was setting down slowly next to Watchman Peak, letting us witness a marvelous golden hour period on our way down. We made it back to camp at almost 8:00PM, yet again. So much for a rest day! The tent was up in no time, and I made sure we had the best view for dinner, laying our pads on a big rock overlooking the sunset. The clear sky meant it would be a cold night. But it also meant the stars would be out in full force which is always a bonus.
The alarm was set to 6:30AM and our morning routine for Day 4 had already been discussed before going to bed. The thermometer showed -14C when I woke up during the night. But with the stress of the glacier travel gone, we both slept way better that night despite the cold breeze.