Yoho National Park

Sat 20th Aug. We survive the night without any taps on the door to move us on so that was good. We got away at 8 am on our Iceline trek via Little Yoho (8 am Alberta time - Yoho is actually in BC but since we are heading back to Alberta thought it would be easier just to keep to Alberta time - BC is an hour earlier). I had read the Iceline trek was one of the best day hikes in the rockies and it didn't disappoint. The description in the guide said "Spectacular signature hike: Glaciers, rock staircases and Alpine Meadows" and it certainly was all that and more. It started with a nice flat trail following the Yoho River, a couple of short side excursions took you to Point Lace waterfall and Duchovny Lake which was showing the effects of a dry summer. On the way we saw a small cat size animal in the trees, Doug managed to get a quick snap of it but it wasn't very clear, however a bit later in our walk we came across 2 Park rangers and asked them so we now know it is a Pine Martin (unsure of spelling but it is in the weasel family). We then got to the Laughing Falls, and after that the track started going up, It wasn't to bad of a climb, actually that's what we both liked about this hike, the climbs weren't to long or steep and then there was a lot of flat and underlating terrain. It was also very popular with trail runners and there were lots out running it today, however going in the opposite direction to us. Anyway it was nice walking through forested valley, about 10 kms in we came to an alpine hut, had a peep inside and ended up having a nice long conversation with a retired scientist who loved NZ and had done several trips to Antarctica. Not long after leaving the hut the landscape really changed and became really barren and rocky, yet you were walking alongside glaciers, lakes and waterfalls - really did feel like on another planet, I feel the photos didn't really capture how immense it felt. Then we started heading down. Took another track that went to Yoho lake, a pretty little lake, where we met a nice young couple, a doctor and teacher, who are spending around 6 months in Australia and 6 months back home in Canada, but also have spent a lot of time in the Yukon so was telling us about places to go there. Then it was the final 3 or 4 kms downhill to the van, during which we even had to pull out the raincoats for the first time, as a shower went through for about 10 minutes. There was rain overnight, and the morning was quite cloudy, the sun came out hot in the afternoon before clouding over again, but on a whole the day was a lot cooler than it has been, probably in early 20s. An excellent day, and we are risking another night staying in the carpark. Hike stats are: 26,24 km, 6:44 active time, elevation gain 974 m. Steps 41465 / 42218Lue lisää