Hector Lake

The last few days of the summer are always the perfect time to go camping in the mountains. It’s always less busy and the temperature is usually nice. Because of the travel restrictions, we were “forced” to stay close to home. If that meant going to the mountains then it was perfectly fine with me. Luckily for us, the wildfire season had been inexistent so far in western Canada. But it was another story in California and the smoke from these fires covered most of the Rockies for a few weeks. It was pointless to camp at higher altitude and have no views, so Hector Lake was a perfect destination for a 3-day trip. Having Andrea with me was making this adventure a guaranteed success, whether we’d be surrounded by smoke or not!

From Highway 93, it’s a short downhill hike to the Bow River crossing that separates the trailhead and the campground. All the low points on the trail were extremely muddy, but who cares when you’ll be fording a river right after?

Being so late in the season meant lower water level, but the river was still fast enough to make you work for it. With the views opening up, we witnessed the smoke in the air but it wasn’t that bad (for now).

The reality of filming on the trail… you always need to go back for the camera!

A short hike through a jackpine forest was necessary before reaching Hector Lake.

And Hector Lake welcomed us at last. There was absolutely no wind. The water was still and offered us a magnificent reflection of the view ahead. Quite stunning.

We walked down the beach and established camp further down. For the end of September, it was really warm outside. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon exploring around the lake, walking on the beach, wandering in the Bow River and admiring the surrounding peaks hiding behind a smoke curtain.

We wandered for hours. Looking for cool rocks along the lake and just enjoying this time together. Andrea always prefers slower mountain trips and I had promised her that we would spend three days doing absolutely nothing else than eating, lounging and enjoying the nice weather.

The beach in front of our camp was a perfect spot to cook and eat our meals. While I usually bring homemade dehydrated meals in the backcountry, I really wanted to make this adventure a memorable one and brought a ton of fresh food to cook along with a bunch of local beers.

The Six Moon Designs “Haven Zero G” was the perfect shelter for this trip. It’s the 2-person version of my trusty Deschutes Zero-G and I really like it. I’m even thinking about using it on my future packrafting trips as the extra space would accommodate my gear nicely during bad weather.

The evening was as peaceful as the day. The lack of wind made the smoke more noticeable. While one can get used to the smell, we both had itchy eyes and dry noses.

But I will admit that the smoke creates quite spectacular sunsets as it casts the light in a uniform matter. It gave everything an orange/pink hue for the entire evening.

While enjoying our campfire, we suddenly heard a big splash. Thinking a bear might have jumped into the water, I carefully made my way to the water edge with my bear spray in hand. To my surprise (and excitement), I found a beaver swimming in front of our camp, splashing its tail on the water as it was diving. I rushed back towards Andrea and told her about our visitor. From a distance, we observed it bring aquatic plants on the beach. It was so silent that we could hear the crunching noises while it was eating! lol It was adorable and came back again on the second night to do the same thing.

The first night was quite entertaining to say the least. It was the elk rutting season and wow, were these bulls loud!! I invite you to click here to hear the bugling sound that the bulls make. Now, imagine a dozen of them like this with the echo of the mountains in the middle of the night. Add a restless owl near our tent and we had very little sleep!

On the next morning, the sun was up and the weather was as calm as the previous day.

The water was even clearer and the landscape almost looked frozen in time.

Tea was consumed while still in our sleeping bags, but we were back on the beach for breakfast.

There were a few abandoned canoes on the shore of the lake and after a careful inspection, we found one that was safe to use. We paddled on the perimeter of the lake and once again spent time exploring the area. The smoke was thicker and incommoding for our lungs. So after a brief walk in the water to cool us down, we retreated to camp.

An afternoon tea was prepared before we both napped, exhausted from the paddling, walking and lack of sleep the night before.

We surely didn’t miss the stunning sunset and the beaver visit though. Once the sun was down, we gathered a few more pieces of wood to enjoy a nice fire.

The evening being a bit breezy, I set up a clothes line to make sure all our gear was dry before organizing our packs for the hike out on the next day. If there is something I can’t stand while camping it’s a disorganized camp!

Day 3 started under a cloudy sky. Nothing to complain about since we had been blessed with nothing but sun since our arrival. It is for us a tradition to eat our breakfast inside the tend on our last day of every trip, and so we did.

Everything was packed, including our garbage, and we made our way back shortly after breakfast.

Well rested, we got to the Bow River in no time. But there was no rush so we spent a moment walking in the Bow, letting the glacial water massage our feet.

Our time spent at Hector Lake was very relaxing. I rarely spend two nights at the same spot in the mountains but a slow pace trip was very well appreciated and needed. Spending time with the love of my life in the mountains is pretty much as close as I can get to pure happiness.

One stop at the Mount Rundle lookout near Banff to admire the smoky views and we were back on the road for Calgary.

Fish Lakes

Cascade Amphitheatre

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