How Would It Feel To Hike Up Your First Mountain At 45 or Older

Have you ever hiked up a mountain?

Imagine if you could. Would you? What’d it be like? I used to think you’d have to climb it to reach the top. There’s a difference between a climb or a hike. Now that I’ve done it, I understand it. Imagine if you could see the majestic view of a mountain range that travels for thousands of miles. Would you want to? Maybe you spy a vivid turquoise alpine lake. Do you feel like it’d enchant you? Imagine that you were up so high you touched the clouds as they linger on the peaks. Would that raise your spirit? My son inspired me to take the chance to hike up one at 45+ years old. I’m very happy I did.

The first time I peaked a mountain, I was in my forties. My son wanted me to experience it. He told me he thought it’d help me paint mountains better. I admit it excited me.

We were in Waterton National Park, Alberta Canada. It’s the Canadian side of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The first Peace Park ever established. The American side is Glacier National Park in Montana. The mountains are part of the Rocky Mountain range, which runs from New Mexico up to Northern British Columbia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountains

My son and two of his friends would take me on the hike. I figured we’d leave around 9 am, but my son had his own schedule.

He’s been this way his whole life. You have to give him at least a four-hour window. He’s a lovely man, even if I, his Mom, say so. His friends used to ask him when they were to meet up if it was in Real-Time or Clint Time. No matter what, it was always Clint Time. Bless his darling’s heart, she’s figured out a way around this issue, to some degree.

I have a strong aversion to being caught in the woods on a mountain top with grizzly bears and mountain lions roaming around. I get nervous when I think they’ll appear out of nowhere in the daylight, so nighttime is a definite cause for concern. As well, this was the final day of my vacation. I would drive back home to Ontario the next day, on my own.

And we’re on our way

Our little group of four left at 2 pm, on what was to be an 8–8:30hr 20 km hike. I was piqued. It was a quick picturesque 20-minute drive to the trailhead at the Cameron Lake parking lot.

Cameron Lake is a beautiful turquoise blue lake. The southern end is in Montana and rises quickly to the imposing Akamina Ridge. We had a quick view of it as we rushed up through the forest to the mountain switchback trail.

A switchback trail goes back and forth as you climb higher. It helps to slow the erosion of the mountain and the hike is more gradual. The forest was thick to start. The views of Cameron Lake and Akamina Ridge are gorgeous. I was blown away by its incredible beauty. As Clint promised we’d have more spectacular views of the ridge the higher we climbed. Although he did have to tell me to keep moving. I’m still that way. I get lost in the beauty of our world.

We’d done 4 km when we passed Summit Lake near the top of the path. Another beautiful turquoise lake. It does seem strange to see lakes so high up on a mountain. We paused for a quick snack and headed off.

We continued to the end of the treeline, where trees no longer grow, along the groomed trail. As you look down below it’s barren for hundreds of feet. The sweeping valleys are filled with the richest green forests I’ve ever seen. It’s incredible to stand on the mountain looking at trees so far down they look like miniatures. It’s a powerful feeling to see such abundance around you.

No ropes nor rails to guide you

No rails or ropes are around to protect you from a tumble downwards. There’s a lot of space and many feet of rocks to the forest below. It’s just a reminder to pay attention as you walk.

We kept to the path where we could still see the groomed part. The path is scree because of erosion. The rocks are flat and brittle. It’s easy to lose your footing and slide down. This area looked like such a short distance. What I thought should be a 15-minute walk took us an hour.

The final ascent through the scree up to the ridge on top of the mountain wasn’t groomed. We had to ascend straight up. My son ran up the last 50ft to the top. From on-top he turned to look at me, I was halfway up. He yelled, “Stop and catch your breath before you finish.” I yelled for him to get the hell out of my way, as I ran right up. I was too concerned that I would slide down the mountain if I stopped.

When I reached the ridge, I was so moved by the beauty, I came to a dead stop. I was spellbound by the vista. I didn’t even hear my son yell at me to move out of the way, as the other two women ascended. He laughed at me but was pleased by my reaction to the mountains.

Now we peak

Everywhere I looked I saw mountains and more mountains. Their peaks rose to touch the sky. As I looked around, a few clouds wrapped around the peaks. I could see the mountains into Montana and British Columbia. Cameron Lake shone like a turquoise gem beneath Akamina Ridge. We had gained 3270 ft. We were 8832 ft high. I still think about that when I’m 10,000 ft up in planes these days. These were ancient sea beds lifted up from the ocean floor. Their colours were light green and red on top. I could see the marks locked in the stone by waves made millions of years ago. A fierce wind smashed against my knees as it broke me away from my thoughts. The sheer power of the wind stunned me. I’m told the wind gusts can go over 100km on Alderson-Carthew. Gotta love it when you find that out way after you’ve been there! I felt like a spirit rose from the valley to ask me if I was worthy of such beauty. Encouraged by my 3 fellow hikers, they told me I owed it to myself for “peaking” this beauty. I walked out to stand on the peak, leery of the wind. I peaked Alderson-Carthew!

Its simple beauty will always have a place in my heart

You could see 4 alpine lakes from the top. The vision of the majestic mountains as they stretched up to touch the sky, the wind reminding me it was the reason for the beautiful sweeping valleys. Luxurious turquoise lakes sparkling in the sun. me to this day.

We didn’t stay long, we still had 6 hrs to go and it was already 4:30 pm. As we turned around I saw a mountain that can only be described as a natural pyramid of talus. Stunning in the sunlight, it sparkled reds, golds and greens. It was one of the most powerful ethereal moments in my life. It was surreal and profound. All these years later I still feel the connection I made with Mother Nature on that mountain. A powerful connection that lives in my heart.

https://pmags.com/talus-vs-scree-what-is-the-difference

Our descent to more ground

Taking care not to topple over in the wind gusts, we took a steep path down the north face of the mountain. My knees felt uncomfortable as I hobbled down the mountain trail. Thankful it was a footpath with grassy fields. We headed towards the first of the 3 Carthew Lakes. A stunning alpine lake, surrounded by fields of green and robust with alpine flowers.

The path turned left as it followed a meadow with smaller trees and a beautiful waterfall. There was a subtle drop in elevation. I didn’t realize how big the drop was until my son jumped up to scare me, from below the cliff. We stopped for a quick lunch at the side of the 2nd lake before we carried on into an old-growth forest of fir trees. At this point, I began with my queries of how close we were to the end. It was as if the parent-child roles had reversed. The sun was close to the mountain top, by now.

As we descended there was one more lake to pass by, but we didn’t head to it. We stayed straight on the path and the trees began to get larger. We could see the road we travelled to by car a few hours before. My knees were aching from the constant pumping of downward movement. It was so uncomfortable, I could’ve almost cried. My fingers had thickened as I swung them to and fro in rhythm to my gait. I kept my hands raised on the back of my head to keep the blood from swelling them up more. My son had told me this on the way up the mountain.

We came close to Carthew creek the further down we went the closer we came to Cameron Waterfalls. As they grew louder my excitement grew. We were almost done with our hike. The falls expose the oldest rock in the Canadian Rockies’ 1.5 billion-year-old Precambrian bedrock.

The arrival of night in town

It was as night fell that we arrived in the town of Waterton. I was sure I could no longer walk. It was about another 1/2 km walk to my hotel room. We had rushed, so we were back by 8:30 pm. We still had to drive back to retrieve my car.

At long last, we grabbed subs for supper. At last, I drew a bath to soak my sore aching limbs. As I was ready to drop into bed, my son arrived, to ask if I wanted to see the meteor shower. Nope was my answer as I slid beneath the sheets.

The next morning, I was told that I missed out on a spectacular show of the Perseids meteor showers. I said my goodbyes to my son, and my daughter (who decided she’d fly home). I left for my 5-day drive home.

As I headed down the highway with my tunes cranked, I had a huge grin plastered across my face. I had hiked up and over a mountain 20kms in 5:30hrs, at 46!

We never did see any grizzly bears or mountain lions on our hike. I have to say we were quite loud, which is a recommendation so they know you’re around.

There are a couple of things I’d do differently:

• Take a water filter so I wouldn’t have to carry so much water.
• Bring a light jacket for the temperature change.
• Use hiking poles, they give you more balance, endurance and take the pressure off your knees, especially on the descent.
• Leave way earlier.
• Make sure I carry extra batteries for my camera. I tend to take a fair amount(or maybe a million, as my partner says) of photos.

~Elle