22.4 km. Ensign Creek Rd to South side of Cairns Creek

This morning we passed a huge Hilleberg tent. Graham is hiking with his wife and 2 kids, 4.5 and 7 years old. They are walking from Jasper to Banff. Definitely very impressive…. or crazy. He gave us some info on the 2 upcoming difficult fords. Both the creek flow into the Braeberry River. First is Cairns Creek and he said there were 2 logs across that they crossed on. The second, Lambe Creek, is often best crossed by doing 2 ford’s of the Braeberry River instead of trying to cross the Lambe. He built a 4 log bridge over the Lambe using part of the washed out bridge. He said the first half of the ford is low and slow enough to not be an issue. He also said that he has seen quite a few Nobo GDT hikers since they are hiking south. It’s nice to know there are others out here because we sure are not seeing them.

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We walked on a road almost all day. It wasn’t overgrown either which was really nice. I still felt sluggish from our long day yesterday.

Mummery Glacier

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We had some gorgeous views of the Mummery Glacier while walking down to the Braeberry River.

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After crossing the bridge we headed north up the river.

When we got to Cairns Creek we found the 2 trees across the water. It didn’t seem safe to cross. They move a lot if you stand on them. The creek is flowing high and fast. It is fed by the Cairns Glacier which we can’t see. It’s hot today. The water level should drop overnight. We sure hope it does. Walking out the way we came in isn’t something I want to think about.

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One branch of Cairns Creek.

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The tree “bridge”

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Would you walk across these trees.

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So we ended the day early and are camped in the sand on the side of Cairns Creek. The roar from the creek is loud.