Hiking up to Bertha Lake

Waterton Lakes National Park is the perfect weekend getaway for people living in Southern Alberta or close to it. It's located just across from Glacier National Park in Montana and is just as stunning. There is a campsite in this small town and a classic hotel, The Prince of Wales where we stayed. If you watched the show "The Last of Us" you would recognize this place as it was passed off as an American resort town.

Our hike begins at the parking lot through a lush forest. We always go hiking on the first day of weekend getaways because after something like this you just want to go to bed, then home the next day. It wasn't a particularly challenging hike but hiking to Bertha Lake and back is just over 10 km and it is 460 meters above town. You also want to walk around a bit when you get there.

The view of Waterton Lakes dominates this hike, there was a fire here a few years back and the mountain can be a little bald, it does mean you have a clear view for most the route. Off in the distance that's Montana. You can hike there if you want, there isn't much at the border except a sign.

We were considering walking to USA, it's a few miles from the split off to Bertha lake, but I've walked to USA before in Niagara falls and it really wasn't that exciting. People take day cruises to Goat Huant and get to walk around for a few hours. The bottom of the Map is USA, and the top part is Waterton, Alberta.

We followed the stream up towards Bertha Lake, its constant rapids as it cascades a few hundred meters down from the alpine lake to Waterton Lakes. Evidence of the forest fire and the new growth is very apparent. They focused on saving the town from the fire.

I'm not sure what these plants were but it was the time of year when you could still see alpine flowers at lower elevations. They get a lot of light here as the new forest was just springing up.

There's still snow on the north side of the mountains, it doesn't melt until the end of July. Berth lake is just around the corner, up a couple hundred more meters.

Many people turn around at lower Bertha Falls. They aren't exceptional as far as Alberta falls are concerned but it's an east hike to this point. After the falls, the elevation gain becomes very apparent as you head into switchbacks. If you ever come here, continue on up, it's well worth it.

A tiny stream pours down the mountain, Bertha peak is 2454 m high and I think there is route to climb it. We aren't mountain climbers but are avid hikers, I prefer seeing animals and scenery to summits. The views are great even without having to risk your life climbing peaks.

Upper Bertha falls is near the top of the trail. There isn't a very good vantage point, we saw a muddy trail getting closer to it but chose not to go close. Because of the mist, this area was not impacted by the fire.

It was a pleasant change of scenery, I love this sort of nature, it reminds me a little of British Columbia, which is a just a couple peaks, or about 10 kilometers as the crow flies west of here.

You finally get to Bertha lake and take a dozen photos. That's Montana on the other side. Looking between Mount Richards on the Left and Mt Alderson on the right, smack dab in the middle is Glacier National Park.

No one is crossing into the USA from here. Those mountains look like a formidable barrier. We didn't walk around the lake because of the snow but did check out the campsite. There are a few places to pitch a tent here, it would be a very peaceful place to spend the night.

A little foot bridge crosses the stream draining the lake. The water was too cold for swimming and it wasn't the hottest day anyways. We are going to bring our stuff to go swimming in the future, sometimes after a long hot hike, just above freezing sounds nice for a few moments.