Day 17 - Emerald Lake

After the exertion of yesterday, today we relaxed a bit. We had a lie in and had a nice leisurely breakfast up at the lodge. After breakfast we sat in the lounge at the lodge and posted a couple of blog entries (the wifi is only accessible at the lodge).

We hadn’t explored the lake yet, so we decided we would walk the 5.5km trail around the lake shore. The weather was pleasant and the trail flat, so we thought jeans, trainers and a t-shirt. By the time we’d walked two minutes down the road we realised it was a lot hotter than we thought, so back to the lodge to change into shorts and vest.

We got going again, only for Laura to decided she wanted shorter shorts, so we went back for a second time and Laura got changed into short shorts. Success! We now were fully ready. We walked down to the lake side and got an ice cream from the kiosk and started the trail.

The trail was lovely and we got plenty of views of the lake and the red canoes that were being gently paddled around by hot looking tourists. We thought about renting a canoe, but decided that it was much more enjoyable looking out at the sight of a red canoe on a aquamarine lake than actually doing all the work involved in paddling. Plus, the rental price is about £25/hour AND we’ve already done a kayaking adventure, so we know what it’s like.

We saw butterflies and ground squirrels on the trail and lots of flowers. At the far end of the lake we crossed over the silt and moraine and read an interpretative panel about the fine glacial rock flour that is in the water and that gives it the deep blue colour (we already knew this though).

On a bridge crossing a river, we stopped and chatted to a dad and his two young girls. They had been soaking their feet in the river and I told them about how I’d swam in the lake yesterday and that it was cold.

We carried on chatting for a while. They were from Austin Texas originally but were now travelling for a few years. The two kids looked to be about 12 and 14. They joined us as we walked around the rest of the trail. The kids were lovely and got excited as we found various different berries. The dad explained that the kids are homeschooled by their mum; the dad is a software developer.

They’d been to lots of places (including Alaska) and lived on a farm for a few months. Now they were on their return journey.

They were staying in a campsite nearby and we felt a little ashamed when we admitted we’d splashed out and were staying in the Lodge for four nights.

We walked with them to the bridge, said goodbye and then decided that we hadn’t eaten for a while and that we were hungry enough for some lunch. We got a table at Cilantro (where we’d eaten on the first night), had a cool drink and shared a pizza.

The "jumping in" rock that was a 15 min walk from out lodge. About 12 min too far!

Eventually we came back to our room and sat on the balcony (more of an enclosed porch really) overlooking the lake and wrote some more blog. Sometimes the blog feels like it’s hard work, but we both enjoy writing it. Irrespective of that it’s for our own benefit as we like to go back and read the blog in the future and remind ourselves of the fun things we did.

I looked through the binoculars at boats on the lake, glaciers, rocks, trees too. It was fun. We decided that we’d earned a hot tub session by now, so we got changed and made our way to the clubhouse.

We chilled in the hot tub for a while and chatted to a retired guy from Chicago. He told us lots of things and was lovely. When he got out we chatted to the two American couples that we’d been seeing around the place for the last few days. They were aloof and we couldn’t quite work out if they were being reserved or whether they were just snooty. Whatever, we were glad when the left as they were just a bit cold and difficult to talk too.

The hot tub was really hot. 40 degrees to be precise, so there was lots of sitting on the edge and leg dangling every now and again to cool down.

The view from the hot tub

After this we went back, got changed and headed out for an early dinner. I wanted to sit on the patio, but the tables were all busy so we sat inside and waited for a table to become free. Laura said we should just sit inside, but I wanted to sit outside as it seemed nice and it was hot inside. Eventually a table opened up, and then another, and then a third all within a few seconds. Oooh, this was our chance! Except that the reason they were moving inside was that it was raining. Ah. So we now felt a little bit smug (sorry, did I say we, I meant Laura).

After a few minutes the sky got a lot darker and a big thunderstorm started. The lightning was really close. We watched it strike the nearby mountains and the flashes were really close, happening about twice a minute. Shortly after, it started hailing and the hail stones were huge (well, probably in the region of pistachio or chickpea sized).

All the guests had run in by now and were stood watching the thunderstorm and so were the staff. Apparently this is quite unusual and nobody could remember such a heavy storm. It was really impressive to watch. One guy in the restaurant said he’d seen a couple in a canoe out on the lake, vigorously paddling to the shore when the storm struck. Eeek!

Within half an hour the storm had passed and it was blue sky again. The hail didn’t melt for hours though.

We sat in the lounge of the lodge afterwards (amongst the stuffed deer heads, grand fireplaces and sofas) before retiring to bed.

Day 16 - Iceline Trail

Today we got up at 7.00am so that we could start our hike as early as possible. The hike is estimated to take approximately 8 hours so we needed to get our skates on!

We got dressed and went for breakfast at the Lodge (about 60 seconds up the hill). We both opted for the buffet breakfast and filled our plates with as much food as we could eat - we would need energy today!

After breakfast we collected the packed lunches that we’d ordered the night before. We inspected them back in our room and they were good! We had a custom sandwich each (tuna and cucumber for Laura, ham salad for me), a banana, cereal bar, trail mix, juice and a water. Somehow we found room in our packs for everything (apart from the apple juice which we left in the room).

Laura remembered to take the walking poles as we had a feeling this walk might need them (we weren’t wrong!)

The drive to the trailhead required us to drive back down to Kicking Horse pass, then around the mountain range and up the Yoho valley. After a series of switchbacks we got our first glimpse of Takakkaw Falls and it was a real “Wow!” moment. It’s so tall (284m) and after the first 100m or so it hits a ledge and erupts water outwards in a very satisfying way.

We found the parking lot, had last minute wee’s and then started the hike. The hike is the Iceline Trail: a 21km circular route that climbs from the valley floor at 1,500m, through dense woodland, up to the alpine zone at 2,000m and follows along the side of the mountain with spectacular views of 10 different glaciers, some just above you. It’s been on my to do list since my mum and dad did it years ago.

The first half a km was easy going as we walked along the valley to the ‘proper’ start – i.e. where all the switchbacks would start!

We found a pair of red chairs (part of a campaign by Yoho National Park) and stopped for all of about 15 seconds to take a picture.

We found the proper start of the trail and began climbing through dense woodland. The valley floor was at 1,500m and very quickly we began to gain height. After 20 minutes or so it was pretty tough  

going and we started taking 30 second breathers every now and again to catch our breath and have some water.

We overtook a few other hikers and after a while we reached a junction that would allow us to take a 400m side trail to Hidden Lakes. We thought, why not! So we made the detour.

On the way, the path narrowed and at one point we had to climb under a fallen tree. When we reached the lakes we found them to be really hidden, so hidden in fact that they had no water in them. They were bone dry! Not one to miss an opportunity for a wee, Laura made use of the relative privacy and had wild wee by a log. Luckily, nobody else came down our side trail so privacy was ensured. Hurrah!

The switchbacks continued for a while and it was really tough going. Both of us were huffing and puffing but the trail continued upwards more and more. 

The terrain changed a bit and was more rocky. We ate a banana and had a five minute break. The views all around us were simply amazing. At one point a group of 6 or 7 RUNNERS overtook us, chatting casually as they zoomed uphill!? Nuts.

At about 2,100m the trail started to level out a bit, but every tiny bit of up at this altitude was hard work.

See this bog rock...?

...the big rock is just right of centre in this photo

The ground changed from rocky to scree and then back to rocks (glacial moraine I expect is the correct term). To our left above us loomed the mountain and glacier. Meltwater ran off and formed streams every now and again. My long legs made crossing easy, but for Laura some crossing were less successful, resulting in soggy shoes! But she didn’t mind as it cooled her feet and they dried very quickly.

The weather so far had been almost constant sunshine and we were both very hot. It seemed daft that we were so high, yet so hot. So much for needing all the layers we’d packed. Laura even stripped down to shorts it was that warm. 

We played trail leapfrog with a British couple we nicknamed Annette and Jim, exchanging pleasantries every time we passed each other.

At one point, a big rock pile (moraine probably) allowed us to make a short detour and look like we were on top of the world. It was steep on all sides and a bit scary. Definitely not the place to lose your footing!

Just after midday we came across a lake where the trail diverges and a shorter loop goes back down the valley. At this point we decided to stop and eat our lunch. A few other hikers were doing the same, so we found our own rocks to perch on and ate lunch with a view of the glacier to our right and the mountains ahead of us and the valley below. Spectacular.

Both our sandwiches were delicious. We didn’t hang around too long and got going again. The break had made Laura cold so she layered up. After a while we reached the Iceline Summit and I climbed up the short hill to the summit. Yay me! We also saw another glacial meltwater pond (which I rememebred from my mum and dad's trip in 2007).

After that point we said goodbye to the glaciers that were near us and the trail started to descend. We walked through patches of snow (!) and after rounding a bend we found the landscape totally different. Suddenly we were back in the land of trees and flowers. I should probably mention that alpine flowers had been present all the way along this hike, with lovely yellow, purple, red and orange flowers. So pretty.

Laura needed yet another wee, so she darted off the trail to some nearby trees and did her stuff. At this point a couple of hikers appeared from nowhere and I did my best <cough> Laura <cough> warning. Laura heard (although she reckons she didn’t) and had to move, spider like and hide behind a tree. I don’t think they saw, but I’m sure they would have been amused.

We descended through the trees and eventually made it to the Stanley Mitchell Hut which sits in a pretty meadow at 2,060m – we were still so high!

We stopped and ate a cereal bar and had some more water. We’d just filled the bottle with water from a glacial stream, deciding that it was probably safe to drink. We had our Life Straw that would filter the water, but it was so clear that we decided it didn't need to be filtered.

We still had another 9km left at this point (only just over half way?!) so we carried on. We got talking to a Danish couple after we left and ended up walking the rest of the trail with them. We talked about all sorts of things, travelling, jobs, politics, the highest point in Denmark (not very high) and the most dangerous thing in Denmark (a tiny bug). They were travelling around for 3 months and after Canada they planned to get bikes from Vancouver and cycle all the way to San Francisco. Crikey!

Talking to them made the last 9km pass very quickly (probably helped by the fact that they walked quickly too!)

4km before the end of the hike we came to Laughing Falls (yet another waterfall) and it was very pretty. The path back to the car passed quickly and before long we had to say goodbye to our new Danish friends and we shook hands and wished them luck.

It was 5.15pm and we’d done the hike in 7 hours 15 minutes (including stops). We were very pleased with this. After a wee, we took our shoes off and drove back. We were both tired and Laura was in pain.

I’d already decided that I’d jump into Emerald Lake when we got back, so we ditched our things in the room and walked back down to the lake. It was busy with bus loads of tourists, some jumping off the bridge. Our shuttle bus drive Chris had said that he wouldn’t jump in near the bridge as there were poles sticking up under the water. Hmmmm. So after some pondering, I decided my jump would be more of a wade into the lake and then a flop/dive. And that’s exactly what I did. It was freezing (apparently it’s actually 9 degrees) but it felt so good. Laura waded in up to her thighs. We told ourselves this was good for muscle recovery!

I do have a video of me in the lake. But this is just a picture of the lake (and a canoe)

After a few minutes I got out and we went to the hot tub and had a soak in there to warm up, feeling very proud of our accomplishment.

We got changed and went for some dinner at the lodge. By now we were both ready for bed, but we managed to eat food and dessert and tell anyone we could that we’d just done a 21km hike.

Day 15 continued - Icefields Parkway down to Emerald Lake

When Natalie returned from her crazy sunrise viewing, she woke me up and we made our way down to breakfast at Smitty’s. 

From the sunrise shoot

By this time the clouds had started to come over and we worried that our day of driving on the Icefields Parkway might be cloudy. Boo :( 

As soon as we got onto the Icefields Parkway the scenery was awesome, even with a bit of cloud cover. We were hoping for the sun to come out but thankfully the view wasn’t completely covered by the low clouds we’d been getting during our stay at Jasper. 

Google maps said the journey to Emerald Lake would take around 4 hours, however we’ve learnt from previous scenic drives that it always takes loads longer due to stopping the car to look at the view or signposted attractions. I’d researched a few different places for us to stop off at but knew there would be lots more so we tried to be mindful of the time (and when I say ‘we’ I think I mean ‘me’ as most stops ended with me saying “ok then, that’s enough photos, lets get going”). That didn’t really last long though. 

The first planned stop was Athabasca Falls, we’d seen this on lots of lists and on Google images and it looked quite good, but when we got there it was so much better than we expected. It was an incredible waterfall, it was much more powerful and impressive than we thought it would be. I don’t think Natalie had been that bothered about seeing it, but she had to admit my research skills had again led us to a ‘wow’ place! When we walked around to the far side, we got quite close and the spray got us wet.

We had a little walk around to see it from different angles before jumping back in the car to continue. The next stop was Sunwapta Falls. Now, the main reason I wanted to go there was because I knew there was a gift shop that had a massive holographic bear which spoke and told jokes. We pulled in, made our way into the store and saw…the big plastic bear shaped screen but no projection, it wasn’t working. I was very sad. Natalie asked someone why it wasn’t on, he said it was temperamental. Stupid holographic bear. We decided to drive down to the Falls so that it wasn’t a wasted stop, again not really expecting very much, especially as Athabasca Falls had been so exciting. But again, Canada did not let us down and these falls were just as good. A different type of falls but still powerful and impressive.

Back in the car, we travelled a bit further down the road and saw a few cars parked at the side of the road, whenever this happens you assume someone has spotted some wildlife, you hope for a bear and pull up at the back of the queue. This time it just turned out to be a large Indian family who were messing around at a waterfall, so we quickly pulled back onto the road and left them to it. 

Around this time the clouds started to thin out, there was definitely patches of blue but they were to the side of us, still it gave us hope that we would get to see some of the Parkway in the sunshine. We continued to be amazed by the ever changing scenery, in awe of the different types of mountains that kept filling our windscreen. We wished it was a bit warmer so that we could take the roof off. 

We came to another waterfall that looked cool, it had a few layers and we noticed some people had climbed the short distance to the top so we thought we’d go and check it out. Near the bottom of the waterfall, sat staring into the bottom ‘pool’ was another Indian man, he looked so sad. He sat there for the whole time, looking like he was contemplating a life he wasn’t happy with; he was so still we wondered if he was still alive, we were pleased to see him move before we left. The waterfall was indeed cool, we took some silly photos and made our way back down to the car. The sun was definitely starting to come out now, I de-jumpered and we continued on the drive. 

There was more beauty along the way; I’ll let the photos do the talking for a bit, although they can not do the scenery justice. 

We eventually came to the Columbia Icefield which is the largest ice field outside of the antarctic. It feeds rivers that drain into the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean. It’s a big deal.

When the Icefields Parkway was first constructed 100 years ago, the Athabasca Glacier used to come all the way to the road. Global warming has seen the glacier, like all glaciers, retreating quickly and now the glacier is nowhere near the road.

We parked up and wandered up the giant glacial moraine (rock that the glacier has pushed) and as we did we saw markers indicating where the glacier used to be in the 1950s, the 1980s etc. It was pretty sad to think that in another couple of hundred years it might be almost gone.

As we’d done a glacier walk in Iceland last year, we didn’t feel the need to go and walk on the glacier, so we just looked at it from the tongue.

Note the people on the moraine just below the glacier and the cars in the car park

We were feeling pretty hungry and we weren’t sure how long it would be before we got to Emerald Lake so we thought we’d pop up to the Icefields Centre (opposite the glacier) to get some lunch. The place was heaving, it was as if all of the tourists in Canada had gone there on the same day; in fact it’s the only place where we’ve seen large crowds queuing, this is one place where pre-buying tickets to beat the queue would actually benefit you. The queue for the cafe was also huge, we considered just leaving lunch but then we noticed that the sandwich queue was none existent, so we picked up some food and walked straight through to pay - success! This day was shaping up to be a very good day, and it only got better when in the car park we spotted North Dakota - another one of the elusive states plates during the California trip, woo!

There was even more awesome scenery along the way, the guide books, internet and reviews weren’t lying when they said it was one of the best drives in the world. 

It got so hot and sunny that we decided to take the roof off the jeep and change into more holiday appropriate attire, so we both got our shorts, vests and caps on and continued to drive. 

Towards the end of the trip we came to Peyto Lake and Bow Lake. Peyto Lake is quite a famous lake, I think it appears in quite a lot of marketing products for Canada due to the funky shape and awesome colour. There was a short, but quite steep walk from the car park to the viewing platform and because it’s quite well known there was a fair few tourists there. There were some clouds when we got there so it wasn’t quite the colour you see in most photographs but every now and then the sun shone down and the brilliant turquoise blue came out. We stayed there for a bit, Natalie went off to get an optimum photograph location where no tourists would ruin the shot, when she returned (fifteen minutes later), we got back in the car and drove to Bow Lake.

Bow Lake was gorgeous, I liked it loads more than Peyto Lake - probably because we weren’t so high up and there was a gorgeous little meadow with flowers around it. We parked up again and went to look at it. As we didn’t have the roof on, I just ran down to the edge and looked for a little while, then left Natalie to explore a bit more. While I was waiting for her I sat on top of the Jeep and had a perfect view of everything around me, I should’ve been doing this all day!

The final leg from Bow Lake to Emerald Lake Lodge - our home for the next four days - didn’t take too long, we were surprised when the road veered right and we found ourselves on a highway which seemed to be taking us away from all of the beautiful huge mountains. That didn’t last long and before we knew it we were on a nice little road again. We stopped off briefly at ‘Natural Bridge’ which was a river that had a ‘bridge’ made out of rocks that hadn’t quite eroded at the top so you could still cross over (you weren’t supposed to, but people were doing. There were some fairly big gaps and I wondered how many people have died there. I think I would probably have died if I’d tried it).

A few minutes down the road from there was Emerald Lake, we had reached our destination. Somewhat confused as how to check in and get our stuff from the car to the cabin, Natalie ran in to ask and was told to go back to the car, drive to the lodge car park back down the road, dial 0 on the phone in the hut and a shuttle bus would come to collect us. 

We did as we were told and before long we were greeted by Robert who loaded our luggage onto the minibus, told us about the resort, let us know if we needed anything to call reception and he’d be happy to sort stuff out for us. Straight away we could tell why this resort was our most expensive place to stay, it’s a bit more upmarket but not pretentious. 

Emerald Lake is gorgeous, it’s another one of the bright turquoise lakes surrounded by trees and meadows. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the place. During check in everything sounded so lovely even I felt like I might cry with happiness! We got checked in, found our cabin, sat on our balcony with a lovely (slightly restricted by trees) view of the lake and took it all in for a few minutes. 

Then we got changed and headed down to Cilantro’s for a spot of dinner on the patio right next to the lake.

The BBQ menu was on tonight! Lovely. After dinner we had a quick walk around the grounds, we found the fire pit that’s lit every night and the club house which has a lovely hot tub in it. We were feeling quite tired so decided not to get in there tonight but to save it for tomorrow. We had a huge walk planned so we got ourselves back to the cabin, into the most comfortable bed in the world with cushions that squish in the most perfect way and went to sleep.