More Adventures

We split up today. Lee went on a hike with Ed and Marlyn, while Ken joined Wes and Jenske, Tom and Nanci, and Mike and Judy for an excursion.

Ed and Marlyn picked Lee up shortly after 8 a.m. to drive to Moraine Lake, just east of the Valley of the Ten Peaks. The lake was a lovely turquoise, and the day promised to be a great adventure, except that, oops, lee forgot her hiking stick. Fortunately she was able to find a nice branch that served her well, after she broke off a bit at the bottom to make it a good length and rubbed the bark off the handle end. It had just enough spring to be like her shock-absorbing hiking stick.

Lake Moraine

Ed and Marlyn ready to hit the trail (and no, that's not a light saber, but a weird reflection...)

They set off through the evergreens and proceeded through a series of switchbacks. Along the first part of the trail, frequent small streams run alongside and under the trail, providing the pleasant tones of running water over rocks. Most of the 370 meters of elevation gain is accomplished in this first section of the hike, and they saw lots of fellow hikers.

After reaching a bench positioned at the junction of the trail to Eiffel Lake with that up to Larch Meadow and Sentinel Pass, they traveled a relatively level but winding trail along the ridge, with spectacular views along the way of Moraine Lake, the Ten Peaks, Wenkchemma Glacier, the glacial moraine, and finally Eiffel Lake. We ate lunch sitting on rocks above the lake, listening to the cracking and thundering sounds of the glacier across the valley, as the ice is constantly re-forming itself. Ed and Marlyn saw falling ice, but Lee never managed to spot it before the fall was over.

The prize: a view of Eiffel Lake

Marlyn looking around the bend . . .

On the return hike they were rewarded with afternoon views of the sunlight on Moraine Lake, even more spectacularly turquoise than it had been in the morning. The water seemed almost an opaque blue green, because of the glacial silt suspended in the lake.

Lake Moraine in the afternoon sun

Lee’s trusty walking stick

Ken's group headed to Yoho National Park to visit Takakkaw Falls and Emerald Lake. On the way to the falls they stopped to check out the Spiral Tunnels and the meeting of the Waters. The innovative tunnels were built to reduce the grade that trains had to traverse to get over the mountains. The higher tunnel runs for about a thousand yards through Cathedral Mountain. The track makes a three-quarter circle turn inside the mountain and comes out below itself. The Meeting of the Waters is a spot at which the milky-looking Yoho River joins the clearer water of the Kicking Horse River. The Yoho River water is colored by silt from Glaciers. Lakes upstream on the Kicking Horse give silt a chance to settle out, so the water is clearer.

Emerald Lake

Takakkaw Falls

The Takakkaw Falls is one of Canada's highest. The water hits a shelf just below the top and bounds up and over into the main part of the falls. That makes the shape of the falls change a lot from moment to moment. A short trail leads to the bottom of the falls. Along the way you get great views of the stream formed by the falling water. Wes spoke to a young mother they passed on the trail. Her husband was climbing up the rocks near the falls, headed for the top. She said it takes him 6 to 7 hours to make the trip up and down.

The next stop was a Natural Bridge formed by the Kicking Horse River. The river has worked its way through a hole in a wall of rock that runs from one bank of the river to the other. They took pictures of Mike standing on the bridge with the river gushing through the rock below him.

Their last stop was Emerald Lake. It's a beautiful spot. They tried to get pictures that showed the color that the lake is named for; but the cloud cover was thick, so the lighting wasn't too good. It started raining shortly after they arrived, so they got back into their vehicles and headed back to the campground and their nice dry rigs.

When Lee returned to camp, she found Ken bubbling over with enthusiasm about the fabulous waterfall his group had seen. We shared the photos we had taken during the day.

5.6 km one way, elevation gain 370 m, 5 hours round trip

In the evening the group gathered for happy hour and then we all took our suppers over to Ed and Marlyn's to eat together and share stories of our adventures during the day.

Afterwards we went to the amphitheater program on high elevation wildlife, but it was disappointing. It was aimed almost entirely at the kids.