Yes, I took a lot of pictures on this hike - there is so much to see! Apparently, Canada voted this trail hike of the year in 1983. It deserves its fame. Four waterfalls, mountain scenery, and the adventure of climbing through the tunnel on the cliff. This is a rigorous hike, 11.2 miles round trip with 2300 feet of elevation gain, so it took us a good chunk of the day to complete.
The first waterfall that we saw was Twin Falls (not to be confused with the Twin Falls we saw in the Two Medicine area.) It takes a little bit of hiking to reach this first falls - but this turns out to be a good thing - because all the hikers disembark from the boat at the same time, everyone starts hiking at the same time. But by the time we reached Twin Falls, the hikers were all spread out and we had now problem seeing the falls. Twin Falls is surrounded by trees, so there is only a couple of good spots to stand for a clear view.
The trail keeps going, and we climbed out of the forest and into the open. Much better views. It wasn't too hot, perfect hiking weather. The second waterfall we saw was Burnt Rock Falls. This is more impressive than Twin Falls. The name of course is due to the rust colored argellite rock that surrounds the falling water. Lots of people stopped here for lunch, but we kept going.
There is some climbing and switchbacks, and eventually we came in sight of Crypt Lake Falls - this is even more impressive than Burnt Rock Falls. It plunges several hundred feet off a hanging valley. At the base of the falls is a small unnamed lake. A few more switchbacks, and eventually we spotted some hikers moving along on the rock face - we knew that there was a tunnel up ahead, and soon we were close enough to see people on both sides.
According to other websites, the tunnel is naturally formed. To reach the tunnel you have to climb an iron ladder. The tunnel is not high enough to walk through, I had to bend pretty low to get through it. The exit from the tunnel is exciting - you can see Crypt Lake Falls from the exit. You can also see what a long drop it would be if you slipped off of the trail at this point. The park service has provided a cable for a few hundred feet that you can hold onto as you climb along this part of the trail - which is pretty rough - I wonder if anyone trips here? I shouldn't make this sound too frightening - on our return trip from Crypt Lake, we encountered a family still heading up, including a five year old boy who was walking the trail unassisted.
A natural wall of rock seems to surround Crypt Lake. The lake drains from a point beneath the surface - but just a short ways off the trail, you can spot the exit of the underground drain - the water rushes for a couple hundred feet out from the drain before it plunges over the top to from Crypt Lake Falls. You can stand just about at the top of the Falls and look all the way down.
We ate our lunch at the lake. It quite beautiful. The national border between USA and Canada runs along the southern edge of the lake (though we did not know this at the time). We didn't see any easy path for walking all the way around, but perhaps if the snow had melted we could have done it. When we climbed a short way up one of the slopes, and looked down, the color of the lake changed to lighter green color. There were mini-icebergs floating across the lake, there must be a current created by the exit drain on the lake bottom.
This was a terrific hike. It wasn't too crowded because the boat can only carry a fixed number of hikers to the trail head, and the distance is great enough that everyone spreads out as they go their own pace. An excellent way to spend a nice summer day!
When we hiked back to the boat dock, we took the alternate route that took us past Hell-Roaring Falls. This is the fourth waterfall on this hike. The alternate route down to Hell Roaring Falls is steep and narrow, so much better to visit this spot on the way down then to try climbing up it on the way out.
We easily made it back to the dock in time to catch the boat.
Click here to see a panorama photo of Crypt Lake. The far shore - the south shore - is in the United States. Rest of the lake is in Canada.
Click on any thumbnail to open photo in new window. My favorite photos have blue frames.
