The Carthew Trail

We walked on around the lower Carthew Lakes and along a more woodsy trail now, out of the rock scree for a while. We found the Alderson Lake now below us, the last of the lakes along our trail. The trail brought us out on a prominence overlooking the Alderson Lake below. There we found ourselves in high wind again. It felt like it was pulling your hair out.

Brenda, Jeff and Darla stand in the high wind, overlooking Alderson Lake. Carthew Trail Map

Jeff and Darla descend the tight switchbacks in loose scree on the way down to the level of Alderson Lake. The cliff behind the lake was incredibly steep and towered above us.

We hiked around to the north end of Alderon Lake where the final leg of the hike would take us back to Waterton Village. The sunshine was brilliant on the surface of the lake. Brenda is down at the lake's edge on our last approach to one of the lakes on this hike. On the far side of the lake, snow banks remain in the shadow of the 2500 ft cliff which towers over the lake.

Now moving through woods, we went down to the water's edge on Alderson Lake before we started the last section of trail back to Waterton Village.

In bright sunshine, Brenda, Jeff and Darla have a last look at Alderson Lake. The remainder of the hike was through deep woods. It brought us back to Waterton Village near the waterfall.

The last leg of the hike was a long trek through the woods back to Waterton Village. It was nice, and we got some nice views down on the river and the road to Cameron Lake which we had traveled this morning, but we were getting pretty tired by this time. So we were glad to reach Waterton Falls, on the outskirts of Waterton Village. It symbolized the end of one of the most memorable hikes in our lives.