Tuesday, July 23th, 2024, 0700-1730
Floe Lake to Helmet Falls Campground, mm 315
17 miles, Gain: 5375′, Loss: 6310′, elevation 5740′
Well, this was the day when we all discovered our GDT thru-hike was over. I slept well and woke feeling excited for another day, especially through an area so renowned as the Rockwall. But just as I was passing Jan’s tent on my way to breakfast, he told me the news from the GDT grapevine. Another hiker told him that Jasper National Park and the town were being evacuated due to a raging set of fires that had just sprang up in the past few days. Also, the fire in section D had grown and now closed all of that section as well. We’d learn more about the extent of these fires and closures as the day progressed, but already the situation felt dismal.
We’d planned to finish section C in 2 more days, then spend one nero and 2 zeros in Golden. But with all of D closed, plus major closures in E and F, our whole schedule with permits and hotel reservations would be thrown off. Really the only part of the trail ahead that was still hike-able was G, which was only accessible by going through Jasper Town and Section F or taking a long atv road to Blueberry trailhead. Since we couldn’t go through Jasper, we would have needed to return to Calgary, fly to Prince George, then try to arrange a 6 hour 4WD ride to the trailhead….all for about just 5 days of hiking. Plus, Parks Canada was completely overwhelmed with the disasters…now wasn’t the time to be going into such a remote area since there would be no prospect of a rescue if we needed one.
All of this weighed on my mind as I climbed away from the lake and took in the stunning views of the continuous ridge above me. The jagged mountains really did present a wall of rock that stretched for miles. There were many hanging glaciers as well as ones that tumbled into the valleys. Miraculously the smoke had thinned, allowing me to see most of this specter all day. I was so grateful for one last beautiful day and feeling like I should make the most of it.
I caught up to Georgie and Vince around the time we all got to our next permitted campsite…Tumbling Creek. Since it was only 11 am, none of us felt like stopping. Also, the 2 of them were already making plans to fly to Atlanta in 2 days, abandoning the hike in favor of attending a family reunion. It seemed a little rash to already be talking about flights back home, and so soon!, but I had to admit that there didn’t seem to be much hope in sticking around, seeing if things might improve. In only a few hours, we’d gone from looking forward to a month more of hiking in Canada to cancelling the remainder of the trip. The worst part was that we were still on the trail, with over 40 miles to go before we could get service and be able to really investigate the situation and make new plans. The Strawbridges had the benefit of a very competent and concerned Momma Strawbridge (Monica) at home, who was already arranging all their travel plans. They’d been communicating with her on their Zoleo devices all morning. They sure proved to be useful on this trip!
Sticking to our itinerary no longer made any sense, so we decided to push onto the next few campsites. The Strawbridges wanted to do a huge day (25.5 miles) to make it to McArthur Creek, but I only felt like going as far as Helmet Falls. So we said our awkward goodbyes, uncertain of whether we’d even meet again, at least on this trip. I also tried desperately to get a message to Woody, informing him of all the drastic changes the morning had brought on. Our Garmin and Zoleo sat communicators didn’t play well together, so our messages didn’t seem to be getting through to his. But still I tried. It was a shitty prospect that we might all end up apart on our unexpected last night on trail. All our months of planning had gone down the drain in a matter of hours and we were no longer a tramily. A mix of hurt, regret, and longing surged through me the rest of the day. Only once had I ended a thru-hike early, but at least I was able to come back only months later to complete it. We’d only made it halfway on the GDT, barely 3 weeks into the adventure. This time it seemed like there was no coming back, at least not for a long time.
And yet still, the hiking was fabulous. In and out of the glacial valleys I climbed, constantly guarded by the sheer cliffs above. At one point, some southbound hikers warned me of a grizzly with cubs near the trail, but I never saw them. I took a long lunch break near Wolverine Pass, enjoying the views and weather. Then I hop-scotched another GDT hiker, Ryan, with his dog Oscar, much of the afternoon. It turned out that he remembered me from when he was my shuttle driver in Moab, where I started the Hayduke. How ironic that I should meet someone from my first incomplete hike (now complete), on what was to be my next incomplete hike. (For the record, I also didn’t hike all of the Bigfoot Trail, but that was my intention from the start.)
I made it to the Helmet creek valley with plenty of time in the early evening to take the mile RT side-hike to the base of Helmet Falls. It was well worth the effort. The falls were ranked as the 11th highest in the Canadian Rockies (352 meters high). I scrambled close enough to the base to get blasted by the wind and spray, feeling the power of so much water crashing down. The sun set just over the ridge, casting cool light beams across the falls. It was a nice way to end my last full day on the GDT I guess.
My last worry for the day was finding an unclaimed tent pad at the campsite. For only the second night, I didn’t have a permit for this particular site, but I was far past caring what a Parks Canada ranger might say or think. I was most likely going to be on my way home in a few days, and all our remaining permits would have to be cancelled. We’d be lucky to get any of our money back. In light of all the fires and chaos that was about to ensue, it seemed prudent to get out of the backcountry ASAP. So if we pushed ahead and were off our permits by a day, who could blame us?
Thankfully there was no ranger present (I hadn’t seen one the whole trip), and there were a plethora of empty sites. I set up, made a quick dinner, and dove into my tent. I purposely picked a site in full view of the trail and with an empty site next door, just in case Woody wandered by. To my great relief, he did make it! He hadn’t gotten my messages but he did infer that we’d pushed on. He also knew of the fiery shit-show ahead and I filled him in about the Strawbridge’s plans. We agreed to stick together for the hike out the next day, then try to hitch to Golden to take stock of our situation. I was so relieved to at least still have a buddy. And again, grateful for one last beautiful day.