Chester Lake was closed due to bear activity. Argh. Why didn’t we check the Park’s trail website before we left? Now what?
After an hour-long ride up Spray Lake Road, we were done with driving. What we needed was a Plan B. As luck would have it there was a B—as in Burstall Pass, just across the road. So, Plan B it was.
Mud Lake
The trail took us up an old logging road through forests and lakes to an alluvian meadow. Rivulets of water threaded throughout the terrain. as we made our way across the wet, muddy soil. Surrounded by mountains, we were captivated by Robertson Glacier as we tried in vain to keep our feet dry.
Alluvian meadow
Robertson Glacier
About 4 miles in we started our ascent. The dense forest trail opened up into an beautiful alpine meadow, filled with wildflowers and young spruce. I spotted a familiar track on the trail, which looked disturbingly kind of fresh. No worries, hahahaha. Ha, umm.
We hiked through patches of snow up to the headwall and were rewarded with mountain views in all directions. The expanse was humbling.
Windy and chilly, we tucked into a small island of trees to enjoy our sandwiches. Burstall Pass now ranks as one of our all-time favorite hikes. Not bad for a Plan B.
View from the pass.