Pushing My Limits On A Bucket List Hike In The Canadian Rockies - Rockwall Trail

Описание: This video is a continuation of my ultimate summer vanlife road trip, and in it, I solo backpack the entire Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park. The Rockwall Trail is a 54 kilometer backpacking trip in the Canadian Rockies, and it should be on everyone's bucket list. This was supposed to be a 5 day hike with 4 nights of camping, but once the weather turned bad, I ended up just hiking all the way home on day 4. That made this into a really challenging hike, but it also made it into an experience that I'll never forget.

It all started on September 17th, 2025, at the Paint Pots trail head in Kootenay National Park. I managed to hitch hike a ride here from Floe Lake with no trouble at all. The car that pulled into the parking lot in front of me were shuttling a car, so I hopped in with him, and I gave him a $5 tip😂. Anyways, not long after I started the hike, I got lost at the ochre beds of paint pots, and ended up doing some bushwacking. Once I realized I was lost, I quickly backtracked, and got back on the trail proper. This probably could of been avoided with a little pre trip research, but I prefer to wing it. After that I finished my hike up to Helmet Falls without further issue, and total distance of about 16.5 kilometers, with 560 meters of elevation gain. Day 1 definitely wasn't the best of hiking, but it has a nice payoff at the end, and it's only day 1.

The hike on day 2 starts with a still climb out of camp, but the sing in my legs was counteracted with the epic views of Helmet Falls on the way up. After getting to the top of that I take a break to look at my newly formed blister, then immediately descend down to some glacier fed lakes for some water and some lunch. From there, I head up another climb, this time up and over the Rockwall Pass, which is absolutely beautiful. This pass is the area that gives the trail it's name, and features the massive limestone "Rockwall" on the right. I also made a little side quest up wolverine pass, but that was a waste of time, and I regretted it. Overall day 2 was absolutely awesome, and it was 13.5 kilometers of hiking, with 716 meters of elevation gain.

Day 3 consists of 8.6 kilometers of hiking with 373 meters of elevation gain, and it's the shortest day of the trip. It covers the hike from Tumbling Creek to Numa Creek, which climbs up and over the Tumbling pass. Overall, it was another beautiful day of hiking with some lovely views of the Tumbling Glacier. At camp we were able to have a fire, which was awesome, everyone was in a great mood and it was a spectacular place to recover. Unfortunately some lady yelled at us and ruined the vibes, then it started raining and everyone went to bed at 7. Not ideal.

Day 4 stared with the overnight rain breaking, and me rushing out of camp to get moving while the weather was good. I was heading up and over Numa Pass to Floe Lake, and the weather was about to get dicey. The snow started coming down about halfway up Numa Pass, and it was actually pretty substantial at the top. It was a little sketchy, but overall it wasn't too bad, but I was sure glad I had other people's footsteps to follow in. After the summit you head straight downhill towards floe lake, which is the most picturesque spot on the trail. I hid out at the ranger's cabin here to dry my gear, warm up, and to make lunch. I fully intended on camping here, but after a couple of hours on the ranger cabin's porch, I realized that I just wanted to go home. So I did. I headed straight downhill from Floe Lake, which seemed like a good idea for an hour, but by hour 3 I was absolutely gassed and barely made it. I hiked almost 22 kilometers with 900 meters of elevation, and it was too much. I almost had a mental breakdown to go with my physical breakdown, but in the end I survived, and all the adversity made for a better story. That's what it's all about anyways.

All in all, it was a great trip, and I highly recommend hiking the Rockwall trail.

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If you're interested in more backpacking content, check out this video from the Tonquin Valley last summer -
   • Fat Guy Backpacks The Tonquin Valley - Jas...  

Or maybe something from this summers vanlife road trip like this -    • Exploring An Island Of Bison - Elk Island ...  

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Have a good day!