Bertha Peak (Akiiohtaikiistakoo)

Elevation: 2440 m
Elevation Gain: 1300 m (cumulative)
Bertha Peak was named after Waterton resident Bertha Ekelund in 1914. It is most commonly (and falsely) believed that Bertha’s notoriety arose as the result of her attempt to pass counterfeit currency, however, this event occurred over a decade after the peak had already been named in her honor. In fact, even after this unfortunate event, which occurred during the great depression, Bertha was regarded as a good citizen and was well-liked in the community. The likely origin of the name involves a potentially smitten park warden and a young Ms. Ekelund. Upon taking Bertha on a hike to, what was then called, Spirit Lake, Bertha joked that Spirit Lake was a silly name since there were no spirits present. Noting that there was a Bertha present, however, the warden re-christened the Lake “Bertha Lake”. The name was subsequently adopted for the peak immediately north of the lake as well. Prior to being named Bertha Peak, the mountain was referred to as "Akiiohtaikiistakoo" by the Blackfoot Nation, which means "Woman Spirit Mountain."
My Ascents:
August 12 2024, June 8 2013
Trailhead: Bertha Lake Trailhead
GPS Track: Bertha Peak

Earlier this summer, my spirited 8-year-old daughter Mera joined me for her first “real scramble” on EEOR. Going into it, I didn’t know how she’d handle the sustained effort and loose/tricky terrain that are associated with scrambling in the Canadian Rockies. To my delight, our trip up EEOR couldn’t have gone better! Mera was patient. She was careful (but not fearful). She was steady on her feet. She was motivated. And, most importantly, she had fun! 😁 For that matter, so did I. EEOR ended up being a wonderful bonding experience for us; one that we were both eager to repeat.

On Monday August 12, 2024, we got the chance to do just that. Having arranged a 3-night camping 🏕️ trip with friends, I’d already taken the day off work. Brianne had as well, however, her vacation day went out the window 😔 when she started a new job 1-month earlier. As a result, she had to drive home on Sunday evening and offered to take 22-month-old Lilly since she could go to daycare on Monday. Our 6-year-old daughter Penny was presented with the option to join Mera and I for a hike or to return home with Mom and Lilly and spend her Monday at a day camp. It came as no great surprise that Penny picked the latter. So, Mera and I found ourselves alone together in Waterton with a day just for us. It was the perfect opportunity for another daddy-daughter scramble! 🤗

When it came time to pick a scramble, Mera insisted that we climb something bigger than EEOR. Any number of Waterton peaks satisfied that condition, but we ended up settling on Bertha Peak for a few reasons:
• Having previously scrambled up Bertha with my wife in our pre-kid existence, I knew that this ascent involved terrain that was appropriate for Mera’s current scrambling skillset. I also knew that the views from this peak were stunning.
• As mentioned above, Mera is a spirited young woman, so why not attempt the peak that the Piikani referred to as “Woman Spirit Mountain”?
• Bertha Peak is a reasonable undertaking (19-km return and 1300 cumulative meters elevation gain). I knew this would push Mera, but if it proved too much, the approach hike to beautiful Bertha Lake would still be a worthy daddy-daughter undertaking on its own.
• Last (but not least!), the trailhead was extremely close to the campground we’d stayed at and there was plenty of space to park our hitched-up trailer at the trailhead.

So, as our friends packed up their campsites, Mera and I packed up our backpacks and readied ourselves for our biggest daddy-daughter adventure yet! 🥰

At the trailhead and excited for the day ahead!

Thanks to 2017’s Kenow wildfire, the hike to Bertha Lake is much more open than it once was. Indeed, we found ourselves stopping frequently to admire views, like this one of the townsite campground and Cameron Bay, only 5-minutes from the trailhead. While the weather forecast had promised sunshine, our day actually got off to a drizzly start. 🌧️ This dampened us somewhat, but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm!

LEFT: Despite her “go, go, go!” personality, Mera has always been good at stopping to smell the flowers! 💐
RIGHT: About 1.5-km from the parking lot, the trail split, with one path continuing along the lakeshore and another ascending the valley towards Bertha Lake and Peak. A bench and a fine viewpoint at this junction provided a good spot for a quick snack stop. Eating is one thing that Mera doesn’t excel at so, with a very long day ahead of us, I made a deliberate effort to get some food into her whenever I could!

The wildfire-ravaged view from the lookout bench. Click to see larger.

LEFT: After our first snack stop, we started up the popular Bertha Lake trail. The imposing mountain ahead is our objective for the day: Bertha Peak!
RIGHT: About 1-km up the valley, our day nearly came to a premature conclusion. Rounding a corner, we spotted 6 hikers who’d stopped dead in their tracks. 😳 As we approached them, they warned us that a black bear 🐻 and her 2 cubs 🐻🐻 were on the trail directly in front of them! Cautiously, we merged with their group and readied our bear spray. As we discussed turning around, the hiker closest to the bears reported that they’d left the trail and wandered into the thick brush below us. At this point, I felt secure enough to sneak a quick photo with my phone (while still clutching my bear spray and my daughter) – note the mother bear at center right in the photo above. With bated breath, we watched as the bear family made their way down-valley about 20-yards below the trail that they’d graciously ceded to us. As they moved down-valley, continuing up-valley towards Bertha Lake seemed like the most practical thing to do, so we all started back up, making more frequent “Yo Bear” calls as we went. While the encounter left the adults a little shaken, Mera was beyond thrilled to have come so close to a trio of wild bears.

LEFT: Only minutes after our bear encounter, we reached Lower Bertha Falls and crossed Bertha Creek on the sturdy bridge that Parks Canada has installed below them.
RIGHT: Once the trail crossed to the south side of Bertha Creek, it began to switchback steeply up towards the headwall that guards Bertha Lake. Fortunately, the combination of increasing temperatures 🌡️ and steep switchbacks did little to dampen Mera’s enthusiasm!

LEFT: As the trail rapidly gained elevation, we were treated to our first views of Upper Waterton Lake, now far below. By the end of our ascent, it would be much further still! Wanting to enjoy this view a little longer (and wanting to sneak some more calories into my little girl), we stopped here for another quick snack. Who doesn’t like a good “oxygen sandwich” 🥪 before taking on the Bertha headwall?
RIGHT: Having eaten our share of Ritz crackers and apple slices, we continued up past Upper Bertha Falls and the sheer headwall that they tumble down.

LEFT: After about 3-hours, our arrival at Bertha Lake signaled the end of our approach hike. At this point, I reminded Mera that today was all about whatever she wanted to do and asked her if she wanted to continue up the peak. To my delight, she showed no desire to stop at the beautiful lake (where nearly everyone else does).
RIGHT: Big, beautiful Bertha, still towering above Mera as she crosses the lake’s outlet stream. In 2018, we had another bear encounter on this bridge. It seems that black bears have a real affinity for this busy valley! 🤷‍♂️

A beautiful beach near Bertha Lake’s backcountry campground provided another convenient place for us to stop for a more substantial lunch (leftover hamburgers 🍔 – yum!). Mera ate some of her burger here, but she was generally more interested in skipping stones on the relatively placid lake’s surface. When a group of American hikers joined us, they congratulated her on reaching the lake and she was quick to note that the hike to the lake was “just the approach hike.” I’m not sure that they believed her when she pointed to the towering peak above and boasted “that’s where we’re going.” 😂

After our lakeside lunch, we continued along Bertha’s north shore on a much fainter trail.

LEFT: About 500-m from Bertha Lake’s beach and backcountry campground, we found the open slope that Brianne and I used during our ascent of the Peak 11-years-earlier. Back then, there was no trail here, but I wasn’t sad to have one to follow with my little girl today.
RIGHT: Mera follows the faint trail as it rapidly gains elevation amidst the matchstick timber that the Kenow Fire left in its wake.

Let the “scrambling” begin!!! 😁 By its south slopes, Bertha Peak offers much less scrambling than EEOR had, but Mera still took full advantage of every chance that she got to get her hands on some rock. For more adventurous scramblers, Kane describes a moderate route up a series of waterfalls that are closer to the beach. With an 8-year-old in tow, however, I was more than happy to keep the ascent in the range of steep off-trail hiking.

Mera takes a break from the steep ascent to admire the improving views of Lower and Middle Waterton Lakes and more proximate Bertha Lake.

LEFT: Bertha’s south slopes offer many possible ascent lines. To Mera’s delight, we still found plenty of easy scrambling on them as we hiked up. 🙂
RIGHT: After steeply ascending 400 vertical meters in about 1.3-km, we reached, what had appeared to be the top from the lake, only to discover that the actual summit was still over 250 meters above us on the other side of a small larch forest that survived the 2017 blaze.

LEFT: In addition to stopping to smell the flowers, Mera is always sure to pause to pet the larch trees!
RIGHT: The final 250 vertical meter ascent on Bertha Peak is open and easy (unless the exertion required to get to this point has already drained you). From the ear-to-ear grin on her face, 😄 it was obvious that Mera still had plenty of gas/hamburger left in the tank at this point so up, up, we went! As we ascended, we ran into a pair of young men who were coming down from the summit. These scramblers were very friendly and encouraged Mera to continue because she was “almost there.” When one of them made the mistake of somewhat patronizingly asking if this was her 1st summit, however, she quickly informed them that it would actually be her 52nd summit. Somewhat taken aback, they wished us well and continued their descent. 😂

The unstoppable Miss Mera of the Mountains!

Eventually, we reached the summit ridge where the views down towards Bertha and Waterton Lakes suddenly exploded. 😍 And taking it all in, was one happy little scrambler!

LEFT: Mera takes the final steps to Bertha Peak’s 2440-m-tall “sumitt” – her biggest mountain adventure to date! 🎉
RIGHT: My spirited little woman found a different kind of “spirit” atop Akiiohtaikiistakoo (“Woman Spirit Mountain”) thanks to the colorful summit register left by Ephraim Roberts… When Mera asked about some of the other "items" that Mr. Roberts left behind, I had to pretend not to know what they were. Fortunately, she accepted my feigned ignorance and I quickly took a nip of Fireball and changed the subject. 🤣

Having worked hard for 5-hours to reach the peak, Mera and I both enjoyed a well-earned break from its scenic summit. Despite some summer haze, the panorama was every bit as awesome as I remembered it being from my ascent with Brianne and Crux over 11-years earlier. Click to see larger.

Looking northeast as the peaks give way to prairies around Lower, Middle and Upper Waterton Lakes. Across the Upper Lake, Vimy Peak remains almost as impressive as it is from the Waterton townsite below. The townsite, however, is not visible from Bertha Peak thanks to the outlying peak in the foreground.

The premiere view from the summit includes a host of "more impressive peaks to the south" (including massive Mount Cleveland -center right). Closer still, beautiful Bertha Lake glistens in the valley below. The impressive waterfall that cascades down Bertha’s headwall is also visible as are the steep approach switchbacks that delivered us to the lake. Farther below still, Upper Waterton Lake completes the magnificent scene.

LEFT: Like mother, like daughter! ❤️ Brianne and Mera both, apparently, have an affinity for summit registers and Mera spent a significant amount of our summit time reading what others had recorded, before authoring her own entry...
RIGHT: The most heartwarming register entry I’ve ever seen… 🥰 (excuse the spelling mistakes as this little girl is in French immersion so written English is still a work-in-progress)! 😂 My favorite part: “Me and my dad did it together.” ❤️

The hazy panorama south over a sea of peaks. Those closest to us are Mount Richards (center) and much larger Mount Alderson (right). Click to see larger.

Apart from nearby Mount Richards (center left), every other peak in this photo is on the other side of the 49th parallel in Montana’s Glacier National Park.

To the north, Waterton’s rounded peaks are less imposing but still charming thanks to the vibrant green, yellow and red hues. 🚦 Click to see larger.

Looking northwest towards the peaks of the Akamina Parkway, including (from left-to-right): Buchanan Peak, more distant Mount Lineham, Mount Blakiston and aptly named Ruby Ridge.

Beyond an unnamed outlier, the peaks of the Red Rock Parkway were also visible to the north, including (from left-to-right again): Mount Glendowan, Cloudy Peak, Mount Dungarvan and Mount Galwey. On the far right, Mount Crandell separates Waterton’s more proximate Akamina Parkway from the more distant Red Rock one.

After enjoying some more lunch 🍔 surrounded by a sea of summits, we set up a quick daddy-daughter summit photo before reluctantly starting down. Mouse over to see what Mera really though about Daddy suggesting a 1300 vertical meter scramble… 😱

Mera meandering down Bertha’s upper alpine slopes on a perfect summer afternoon.

Eventually, the easy upper slopes gave way to the much steeper, looser slopes above Bertha Lake. While the scenery here was sublime, we had to be careful to watch our step here as the terrain was technically easy but mentally challenging after a long day.

Spectacular panoramic views of Bertha Lake from the steep descent slopes. Click to see larger.

LEFT and RIGHT: Still enjoying a few scrambly bits on the way down to the lake! Note the classic “five point descent technique” on the left – I’ve taught her well! 😂

Just above Bertha Lake, the steep grade finally relented and Mera and I started to enjoy a more relaxed hike down.

Mera, back on-trail, and looking forward to the break that I promised her at the now-nearby Bertha beach.

Back at “the beach” enjoying views up towards the peak we’d been on about 2 hours earlier.

Celebrating our successful daddy-daughter day with a refreshing dip in Bertha Lake. Beach party!!! 🏊🏖️🥳

As the late afternoon shadows grew longer and longer, we reluctantly left our Lake and Peak behind and embarked on our 6-km hike back down, playing the “A,B,C” game over and over and over and over and over again to pass the time.

Wonderful early evening views over fireweed and burnt forest towards Waterton Lakes and Vimy Peak. Having run into a bear and 2 cubs in this valley some 7-hours earlier, we were sure to make plenty of noise as we continued down the still-busy trail. For her part, Mera still insisted on excitedly telling every other hiker we saw that there was a bear nearby.

Long shadows grew longer and longer as we neared the junction with the lakeside trail.

With the townsite back in view, our energy levels finally started to wane. Fortunately, all that was left from here was an easy 1.5-km plod back to our vehicle. Motivated by the cold beer 🍺 and cold juice box 🧃 that I’d planted in our camping cooler earlier, we wasted little time completing this final leg of our 9.5-hour-long daddy-daughter adventure.

“Desert” for “super”!!! (as promised while she was writing her “sumitt” register entry earlier). I ❤️ Beavertails!!! 😂

A very happy little scrambler enjoying some hard-earned carbs after a long, but amazing, day out with Dad. Even with this massive sugar injection, this “spirited” little woman was soon asleep in the back of the car 😴 while Dad endured the 3-hour drive back home to reconnect with his other amazing girls.