Bow Lake and Yoho National Park

Wow, it has been over two months already since we left North Palm Beach and how fortunate we are to be in this amazingly beautiful park.  We manage to get a little of all kinds of weather each day, cloudy, a spot of sun and some rain.  Today was no exception.

We decided to do the lower ice fields Parkway Area and then over to Yoho National Park.  Our first stop was Herbert Lake.  We weren't overly impressed with this small, shallow lake but the photos I took showed a different story with the reflection of the mountains showing in the lake. 

Herbert Lake

Nature was calling so we used the facilities at the far end of Bow Lake by the Num-Ti-Jah  Lodge. We wandered around taking some photos and decided not to take the hike to Peyto Lake as Ted wasn't feeling really wonderful.

Bow Lake from Num-Ti-Jah Lodge

Back along the the road beside Bow Lake, we stopped to view Bow Glacier, Bow Glacier Falls and Crowfoot Glacier which once had three "toes" hanging down from the main glacier.  Unfortunately, several of the toes are now missing due to the earth's warming.  We were ready to leave when we saw a car with Maine license plates pull in.  We went over to say hello to fellow Mainers (not Maniacs) and found they were from Jefferson where we lived when Ted got out of college and we were building our house.  They are on their way to Alaska.  After a nice chat, we continued on thinking to return to the motorhome.

Bow Glacier and Falls

Bow Glacier from a Distance

Crow Foot Glacier and Bow Lake

Crowfoot Glacier

Our next destination was Yoho which was named after a Cree expression meaning "awe and wonder".  The Trans-Canada Highway 1 runs through the park which is in British Columbia and crosses the continental divide at Kicking Horse Pass.  This is the route that the Canadian Pacific Railroad chose for its transcontinental train and much of the road follows or is on the grade of the original tracks.  On the western side of the pass, the original train tracks had a 4.5% grade down the mountain which was twice the maximum allowed and many wrecks occurred along the way.  In 1907 work began on spiral tunnels, one going through Mt. Cathedral which is just behind the overlook where we stopped and the other through Mt. Ogden across the valley.  The tracks make a complete figure eight which cut the grade in half.

Yoho National Park

Right before we arrived at the overlook and exhibits for the spiral tunnels, we passed a slow moving train going in the same directions we were.  We parked and found a spot looking downhill toward the two tunnel openings on Mt. Ogden.  The guy next to us was an engineer  (not train) from Toronto and knew a lot about the tracks.  We first heard the train above and behind us and then the sound disappeared as it entered the tunnel on Mt. Cathedral.  The exit from the tunnel is forty-eight feet lower than the entrance which brought it under the road and right in front of us down the hill.  It was carrying a load of a bright yellow substance that our new friend said was potassium.  We watched as the engine went around the valley, entered the upper tunnel and then emerged from the lower tunnel.  The train was so long it was still going by us just below and was going in and out of the tunnel ahead crossing over itself.  It was quite something to see.

Train Going By Just Below Us

Train Entering Top Tunnel

Train Exiting Lower Tunnel - All Three Sections Showing

Diagram of Tracks and Road

We continued on down Kicking Horse Valley and stopped to take photos of another tunnel and a concrete snowshed that protects the tracks from obvious avalanches.  On a side road leading to Takakkaw Falls we stopped at an overlook to see the entrance and exit of the upper spiral tunnel.  We then stopped for a quick look at the Meeting-of-the-Waters.  The milky colored glacial Yoho River meets the blue silt free Kicking Horse River and for a ways the two colors do no mix.  There are trees blocking the view so photos didn't come out well.

Snow Shed and Tunnel

Upper Tunnels on Mt. Cathedral

Meeting of the Waters

We continued up the mountain road to Takakkaw Falls, one of Canada's tallest at 1260 feet.  The length limit on vehicles was twenty-one feet as there were a couple of almost 180 degree switchbacks in a row to get there.  When we were coming down, we met a tour bus.  I have no idea how he managed those turns.  Pictures don't begin to show the height and force of the water as it comes pounding down.  We parked and walked the maybe half mile to the bottom of the falls crossing over the Kicking Horse River.  As we got nearer, the mist from the falls was in our face.  The fall definitely fit the awe and wonder.

Two Really Sharp, Steep Turns

Back on Canada 1 we passed the small town of Field started by the Canadian Pacific Railroad.  At this point the river is a wide shallow braided flow which we had first seen in Alaska.

Another road took us up to Emerald Lake, my new favorite lake, to paraphrase our good friend, Paul.  Emerald Lake was almost teal colored and was flat calm when we got there.  I wanted to paddle but it was getting late.  There is a little restaurant, a few places to stay and a canoe rental place but the rest is just this beautiful lake tucked in the mountains.

The last stop was at Natural Bridge.  Once a waterfall, the water eroded the rocks away and the water now flows under where the falls once were.  Eventually the water will erode the bridge and it will form a gorge.  Oh the power of mother nature!

Lake Louise Gondola

Today Is another cloudy, overcast day.  The weather hasn't been very cooperative but that is what we get for coming in June, I guess.  We decided to take the gondola ride up Mount Whitehorn (6,850 feet).  We went to the visitors center to get a $5 coupon someone had told Ted about and then bought our tickets which included breakfast.

We drove up to the ski lodge which was only a mile away from the village and had a great buffet breakfast in the beautiful lodge made of huge peeled logs.  Sitting in the lodge brought back great skiing memories and made us wish we were still skiing.  Being cold on the lift later made us change our minds, though.  I browsed the shop in the basement before going out to get on the lift.  

They made us watch a short film on bear etiquette before we could ride the lift and then we rode up the mountain unsuccessfully searching for grizzlies.  At the top we checked out the trail maps of both the front and back bowls of the mountain.  The lift that takes you to the top, which is not open in the summer, is a six person chairlift.  It didn't look big enough for six bottoms to me but that is what the sign said.  We walked past the wishing well to a viewing area where we could look down into Lake Louise and see the Chateau and Mount Victoria from afar.  We couldn't really pick out the campground because it is so wooded but could find the general vicinity.  A sign board identifying the names of mountains gave us the name of the mountain near the campground as Temple Mountain. 

Wishing Well

Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in Background, Village in Center

Zoom of Lake Louise

Spectacular Mountains

Six Passenger Ski Lift

We walked down to the visitors center which had great displays on all the native wildlife.  After reading the interpretive signs and looking at the mounted animals we watched videos taken from hidden infra red cameras of animal traffic in the park.  It was amazing to see just how much and how many species travelled through one particular spot in a years time.  

In Banff National Park a female grizzly reaches breeding age at seven years.  Her cubs (1-4) stay with her for three to four years.  She may only produce two litters in her lifetime.  In areas such as the west coast where food sources are abundant, females breed at a younger age, have more cubs per litter and have more litters.

We hiked back to the ski lift for our trip down the mountain.  The wind was in our faces and it was really cold.  When we were about halfway down, we saw two grizzlies off to our right on the other side of a row of trees.  It was difficult to get their pictures as we kept getting trees in front of them but could see one bear in one photo.  There are about sixty grizzlies in Banff National Park and a dozen of them spend time in and around this ski hill and the surrounding area.  Like the campground, the area around the lodge, lifts and parking lots is surrounded by an electric fence.

On Our Way Down

It Was Freezing!!

There are Two Bears There

Almost There

We sat at the bottom with our binoculars for quite awhile watching the bears up the hill before returning to the car.  The temperature at the car was 61 degrees F so we knew it had been much confer up higher.  We drove the short side trip to look at the Lake Louise Station.    Once a railway station built in 1910, it is now a high end restaurant.  Back at the motorhome, it was as cold inside as out so we upped the furnace and warmed up a bit.

The Bears Were in the Center Clearing

The Dots Halfway Up the Clearing are Bears