This is Castelnau Falls, 770 ft. high. It can be seen right beside Petain Falls.
A thunderstorm rolled through in the night. It rained pretty heavily for quite awhile. We were dry but I’m not feeling too keen about the new tent: the Big Agnes Tiger Wall. I had to buy a new tent for this trip because the Durston is not big enough for two people plus a dog. This new one was put through a trial by fire (or water). The problem I have with it is that when you enter or exit the tent the wet fly flaps into the inside and water gets in. We also had this problem on the first night when it did not rain because the fly was wet with condensation. You have to be very careful which is basically impossible. The Durston is miles better in this regard.
In the morning I checked the forecast. It was going to start raining at 10am and essentially rain all day.
It was now impossible to go up to the basin and upper falls. This was a huge part of my planned itinerary but I certainly could not be up in the basin in a thunderstorm and heavy rain. I was very bummed about it but the weather just didn’t allow me to complete my goals. The weather always wins. That’s the problem when you have to make plans months ahead of time. The weather can make or break the trip. At least I made it to the lower falls.
Tara did not even make it to the lower falls. I gave her the choice. We could do a day hike to the waterfall and stay another night. Or hike out today. She decided to retreat and hike out. It was unfortunate but I think it was the best decision. In addition to the rain her sleeping pad had a leak. It was perfectly good the night before but all of a sudden it now has at least three holes in it. What the heck? She would have had a cold night.
It was gorgeous in the morning when we woke up and we had a wonderful breakfast beside the creek. Then we packed up the wet tent and then started the hike back. It started raining at 10am as scheduled. It was light at first but eventually became quite strong. I was perfectly fine with my rain jacket and waterproof gloves but Tara was hiking in a t shirt. She did not have a proper rain jacket with her. Another good reason to not stay another night.
We got back to the car at noon and started the long slow drive back on the horrible road. I swear the drive took a lot longer this time. Along the way we came across a herd of horses and mules blocking our passage on the road. Not wild but free ranging. It was rather interesting to see them. We drove back to my sister’s place in Cranbrook where we would spend the next few days. It was a cold and rainy but still very beautiful Day 3 on the Canada road trip in Elk Lakes Provincial Park.
