Although it was relatively early and we had made good time to Mt Carthew's summit, we were mindful of the time we were taking out of Adam's day, and we soon began our descent.
Descending scenic ridgeline
In no time at all, we had descended back down to the Carthew Summit col (helped a bit by a faint goat path that we followed down a sloping ledge-line). Here, we parted ways with Adam. He'd descend back down to the west, to his car at Cameron Lake. We would continue eastward on the Carthew-Alderson trail, eventually arriving at the Waterton townsite. He would drive back along the parkway to the townsite, and pick us up when we arrived on foot. We sketched out a rough pickup time of 2pm, but we exchanged phone numbers in order to refine the meet time as we got closer. And with that, we split up - he heading west, and us heading east - down the trail towards the beautiful string of alpine ponds known as the Carthew Lakes.
Looking back up along shortcut
Carthew Lakes and Mt Alderson
The next hour or two of hiking was, in my opinion, the most scenic of the day: the trail wound into the valley between Mts Carthew and Alderson, then scenically along the shore of both the Upper and Middle Lakes. Everywhere the trail was easy to follow and in great condition. The views were ever-changing: lakeshore, alpine scrub, meadow, waterfalls, backed by views up to the crags and cliffs above. Although we were now on a fairly tight schedule, we couldn't help but stop and take a ton of photos.
Beginning descent to Carthew Lakes
Sun, Shadow, Snow and Scree
courtesy JInnes
Early August snow crossing
Cassándra and colorful rock bands
Around Upper Carthew Lake
Around Upper Carthew Lake
Looking back to Carthew Summit
