Facts:
Difficulty:
Moderate
Distance
(Return): 11km
Estimated
Time: 4 hours
The
Bertha Lake hike is a popular day hike that starts just down the road from
Cameron Falls. The really great thing about this hike is that it has several
beautiful points in which you could make as your destination for a shorter yet
still satisfying hike or you can continue on all the way to Bertha Lake.
The
first part of the hike is a gradual climb but I find that there’s only a few
sections where you can feel yourself going up. It’s really a great hike for
someone just starting to hike and wanting to ease into it. You get great views
of Upper Waterton Lake to your left and it’s not long before you reach a point
of interest off to the left that’s a nice place to stop to get some great
pictures. The view is similar to what you see from on top of Bears Hump but
much closer up. Back
on the trail you immediately hit a trail sign that gives you a number of
options. If you take the trail to the left you can head down to Bertha Bay,
Boundary Bay or Goat Haunt. To continue on to Lower Bertha Falls and Bertha
Lake you continue straight on the trail as the sign shows.
We
decided to make the 0.8km jaunt down to Bertha Bay and it was definitely worth
the detour. It’s beautiful and would make a great little stop for a picnic.
There’s even a little campground down there. The hike back up to the trail for
Bertha Lake is steady uphill but only took us about 10 minutes to get the
elevation out of the way. (I didn’t count this in the distance facts for the
Bertha Lake Hike)
As
you continue on you hike through Bertha Creek Valley and we saw tons of bear
grass and a variety of other wild flowers. (It was the Waterton wildflower
festival June 16-25 so the trail was busy with avid flower enthusiasts with
cameras). It doesn’t take long until you reach the beautiful Lower Bertha
Falls. Many times this has been an end point for us because it’s a short hike
but still a great pay off once reaching the falls. This is a great place to
stop and have a picnic but if the Lake is what your goal is then you continue
on over the bridge that takes you over the rushing waters of the falls and you
begin the very steady uphill 2.7km to Bertha Lake.
From
the falls to the lake there is very little opportunities for flat ground
walking. The entire 2.7km is switchback after switchback until you reach the
top. It was extremely humid when we went so I was pretty sweaty by the end! Along
the way you will see Upper Bertha Falls to your left. Once you reach the top
you are rewarded with a great view of Bertha Lake and a short downhill walk
takes you to the banks of the lake. There is a bridge that takes you across to
the campsites of Bertha Lake but we went to the left instead of crossing the
bridge to find a quiet spot to enjoy the scenery. There was a few patches of
snow in the last few feet that take you down to the lake but other then that
the trail conditions were perfect. It’s a great hike and you get to look
forward to a hike back that is pretty much all downhill! Plus on the way down
you can take more opportunities to enjoy the scenery around you.
After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value. ~George Macauley Trevelyan
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