Waterton Lakes NP - Hike to Bertha Lake

This might have been called "The Hike Through Thimbleberry Heaven," and it is true that we discovered the Thimbleberry Monster as we hiked into the woods:

However, Waterton Lake National Park calls this the trail to Bertha Falls and Bertha Lake, so that is what we must call it:

We climbed quickly from our trailhead on the outskirts of Waterton Village, so that we could see the beautiful shore of Upper Waterton Lake, with Vimy Peak in the background:

Turning up the canyon of Bertha Creek, we gazed to our left up the beautiful slope of Mount Richards.  We would be climbing through the trees over its shoulder to the right in the photo below:

Before the trail grew very steep, we passed these pretty falls --

-- and then arrived at Bertha Falls.  Here is how the falls look from above.  You can just make out the bridge in front of the falls.

From the bridge, this is how the base of Bertha Falls looked, with water sluicing down a golden-and-red chute of solid rock:

Upward we trekked, through Thimbleberry Alley (our name for it, because of the berry bushes that grew thickly on both sides of the trail) toward an unnamed peak:

At one turn in the trail, we could see east past Upper Waterton Lake, to Middle Waterton Lake and beyond:

Finally, we gained our objective:  Bertha Lake.  Here, Kathy explores the shore of the lake for a likely lunch spot, with Mount Alderson in the background:

Where we sat, a large formation of rock had been heaved up and slanted toward the top of nearby Mount Richards:

Here is a comely view of Bertha Lake.  We ate our lunch at the little point in the middle of the photo below:

This hike definitely deserved the resting and soaking of weary feet, which Kathy did as she munched her sandwich:

David's feet demonstrated how clear the glacial waters of Bertha Lake are:

As we headed back down to the base of the lake, we took one last look over our shoulder to see the dramatic cirque in which the lake sits --

-- and chose that spot for a selfie with the lake and peaks.

On our way back, Kathy had lots of time to harvest thimbleberries.  Here we find her in Thimbleberry Alley, with Mount Boswell in the background:

We think that thimbleberries must bend space and time or something, because we were so focused on picking and eating those luscious fruits, that we barely noticed the time or miles pass as we hiked back down to our trailhead.  Before we knew it, we had logged 8 miles of distance and 1,861 feet of elevation gain and loss!  As we drove home, our feet and legs told us we'd hiked.

Now to rest up for tomorrow's hike.