Hiking The Rockwall Trail, Kootenay National Park (British Columbia) - Day 4 - Bubba's Day Off At Helmet Falls...

Day 4 on the Rockwall Trail was a well deserved day off. Not much planned other than sleeping, eating, drinking, playing card games... and visiting the nearby fantastic Helmet Falls.

Early morning at the Helmet Creek Patrol Cabin... Flora was extra lush because of torrential rains the night before. I felt bad for the backpackers hunkered down in their tents in the adjacent campground... BTW, that was Helmet Falls in our backyard...

It took a half hour leisurely walk through the riverine forest to reach the Falls.

Ahmed admiring the Falls. It looked from here that the Falls took a single plunge off the headwall...

But in fact the Falls was composed of two tiers, plunging 352 meters (1,155 ft) to the valley floor.

Tiny-looking Larry's preparing for his close encounter with the Falls.

For the last 72 hours we were treated with mindblowing vistas, but to end the trip with Helmet Falls was tremendous. The spray coming off the Falls was a bit cool, but we managed to lunch up here.

The upper tier of the Falls.

The ubiquitous Western Chipmunk (Eutamias minimus) nibbling on fireweed on the meadows below the Falls. Fauna-wise, we also observed Mountain Goats gracing the bluffs surrounding the Falls and two Golden Eagles soaring overhead.

From the Falls, we looked eastwards, down the valley towards the Paint Pots and Highway 93.

Tips of the Day...

Don't play the CIA-inspired torturous game of who-can-keep-their-feet-in-the-ice-cold-stream-the-closest. Only fools do that.

Don't carry 4 tins of pink salmon for more than 8 hrs while walking over extremely rough terrain.

Don't assume 3 grown men can chow down 10 pounds of salmon mushroom pasta in one sitting.