Thanks to the generosity of visiting family, Alex and I had a day to throw ourselves at any crazy adventure we fancied, without the company of a toddler. Of course, the weather forecast threatened rain. We laughed in the face of the weather forecast, and decided to go and hike/run the Rockwall trail anyway.
We’d never been on any of the Rockwall trails before, so were excited despite the rather ominous looking weather. The Autumn colours were gorgeous, and the views better than expected as we set off through burnt-out forest and crossed avalanche paths, having left our car behind at the Floe Lake trailhead.
I think we’d been on the trail for an hour or so when it started to spit. We decided that if it started bucketing down we could turn back, but otherwise we’d at least like to make it to Floe Lake – it was quite warm after all.
There weren’t many others on the trail, and those we came across were mostly heading down.
After a lot of up, we finally hit the open meadows, where the wildflowers were still blooming away.
And then, Floe Lake! Gorgeous, with glaciers, and wildflowers, alpine lake, and wonderful camping. It looked to be a perfect spot – well, perhaps with a little less rain.
We didn’t linger too long over lunch at Floe Lake – mostly because of the damp.
As we headed up towards Numa Pass we were surprised by the larches everywhere, and the relative lack of scree. And then we were surprised by the hail.
Numa Pass was the highest point on the trail though (at around 2335m), so after crossing there we thought we should probably be safe from snow (and lightning).
Not to say the rest of the trail wasn’t lovely, but the scenery around Floe Lake and Numa Pass was definitely significantly more amazing than anything we passed later on.
The rest of the trail is now a blur of wet undergrowth, creeks, rain and bridges. The rain got us from above, and then again as we pushed through the undergrowth – it’s a very planty sort of trail.
The damage done to the trail by avalanches and flooding over this year is amazing. We went out via Numa Creek, but the Tumbling Creek connector trail is still closed, as it will require too much work to get it re-opened this year. After travelling along the Numa Creek trail I can imagine why.
As we got closer to the highway, the rain got heavier, and by the time we finally emerged in the parking lot at Numa Falls, we were both saturated – although perversely still enjoying it. Within 100 metres of heading out along the highway we got a lift though, and thankfully didn’t have to run the 8km back to our car (parked at the Floe Lake trailhead) in the pouring rain. That would have been rather difficult to enjoy.
I’d love to go back again to cover the trail in the not-rain some time.
Route: Rockwall Trail from Floe Creek – Floe Lake – Numa Pass – Numa Creek
Distance: 27.5km
Elevation gain: 1400m
Highest Point: Numa Pass, ~2335m
