RELATIVES, RITES and ROUTES Day 18,19 & 20 September 26,27 & 28, 2009 Lake Louise, Alberta to Radium Hot Springs, BC

I know looking back we won’t believe it but we got up, showered, had breakfast and got on the road by 8AM. Our destination today is Radium Hot Springs but there are a few stops and hikes we want to do on the way.

We turned south on Hwy 1 and left Banff National Park.  It wasn’t very far down the road that we entered Yoho National Park. The first place we stopped was the Spiral Tunnels Viewpoint. The tunnels were built in 1908 to reduce the grade from 4.5% to 2.2% and to help stop some of the runaway trains. The tunnels are actually switchbacks that allow the trains to traverse the mountains safely.

On our way back from Takakkaw Falls we were able to watch as a train went into the tunnel and come out the other end. The trains are long enough that you can see the engine coming out of one end and the end of the train that has yet to enter the tunnel. Pretty amazing.

A short time after we left the tunnels we turned off Hwy 1 and headed for Takakkaw Falls. It is one of Canada’s highest water falls and is fed by the Daly Glacier and the Waputik Icefield. We were able to walk right to the base of the falls and get some pictures.

The scenery surrounding the falls was pretty spectacular in its own right.

On the way into the falls we came across a switchback that was the hardest to navigate I have ever been on. On the second turn I could not make it without stopping, backing up a short way and they continuing on by cranking the wheel all the way over. Thankfully it was not busy.

We headed back to the main highway and carried on to the town of Field and the tourist information center. I wanted to get info on a hike into another waterfalls that we planned on doing later in the day. I was told that it was flat and a pretty easy walk and to allow 45 minutes each way for the 5 kilometer round trip.

We left the info center and turned on to Emerald Lake Road and the first stop on this road with The Natural Bridge. The bridge which is on Kicking Horse River at one time was a waterfall. However new paths were carved out so that the water flowed under the rock creating the bridge. Sometime in the future the bridge will collapse and it will become a gorge.

We carried along Emerald Lake Road until we came to Emerald Lake. We walked along the shores for awhile and of course took a few pictures. It is just another of the numerous glacier feed lakes in the area. It is called a jewel of the Canadian Rockies and I can see why.

The next stop of the day was the trail head for Wapta Falls. We had lunch and then headed for the falls. The 5 kilometer hike was fairly easy except for all the roots exposed on the trail and one moderate climb that took us to the first view point of the falls.

The falls were pretty nice from the top but we expected the view from below would be awesome. So we headed down and this is where the trail got difficult as it was straight down and the footing was not that great. However we made it and the view was worth it. A totally different prospective.

We took a few pictures, enjoyed the sights for awhile and then headed up. It was not an easy climb and our hearts got a pretty good workout. There were a couple of rest stops.

We made it back in one piece and headed for Golden. We wanted to stop and get a few groceries before heading to Radium Hot Springs. Once that was done we got back on the road and drove straight through to Radium and checked into a RV Park.

We didn’t set up but went straight to the springs for a quick soak. After spending time at Liard Hot Springs we were a little disappointed with Radium. It wasn’t that hot and we ended spending our time in the hot tub. The hot tub did feel good on these tired legs.

After the soak we went back to the RV park had a light supper and called it a night.

Saturday and Sunday were both nice days and we spent the time resting and enjoying the park. We got caught up on our laundry and housekeeping. They also had WiFi access and I was able to catch up on the blog. It took up a lot of my time as I hadn’t been able to post for the last 20 days.

We also had a few visitors. I took most of these pictures standing right outside our camper. There are a sow and her two cubs in the area but we did not see them.

We are leaving Radium Hot Springs tomorrow and we are not sure what our destination will be. We’ll decide in the morning.

RELATIVES, RITES and ROUTES Day 17 September 25, 2009 Lake Louise, Alberta

It was another warm and sunny day with temperatures hitting 70 degrees. We had a leisurely morning just enjoying the campsite before heading over to the first lake of the day. It was extremely busy so we took a couple of pictures and then decided to hike to the end of the lake towards the three glaciers that feed Lake Louise.

Even though we had both been here before it was the first time we had hiked any of the trails. The one that lead around the lake was 2 kilometers but we went another kilometer on the continuation trail. The view from this end was quite nice and you could get a nice view of the chateau.

We also came across a bunch of rock climbers during our hike. It seems that this is a very popular place for amateur climbers.

The other lake was calling us so we turned around and hiked back to the camper which was 3 kilometers and headed for Moraine Lake. This is another glacier feed lake that has that emerald or turquoise look to it. Moraine Lake is in a valley called “The Valley of the Ten Peaks” and was very stunning. We hiked part way around this lake but only went a kilometer before turning back.

On the way back Kathy had to try playing with the wildlife again. Fortunately this creature was slow moving and she was able to get away.

Once we had escaped the bear we headed back to the campsite to relax for awhile before supper. So I lit a fire and we enjoyed a cup of tea.

Brian B, you will notice that those are ribs that I am cooking on the fire. YUMMMMMM.

It was a good day.

RELATIVES, RITES and ROUTES Day 16 September 24, 2009 Columbia Icefields to Lake Louise, Alberta

We woke to another glorious day, the sun was shining and it was going to be a warm one. There was a bit of wind but I think they always have a wind here coming off the icefields.

As we were still undecided as to whether we wanted to take the large bus-like machines they use or just hike up to the glacier itself. It didn’t look like they were going very far onto the ice and they were just going onto the Athabasca Glacier. We would have been definitely interested if they were going onto the Columbia Icefield.

So we hiked up to the glacier.

It was quite a climb and certainly got the old heart pumping first thing in the morning. We climbed about 200 feet and the round trip was about 2 miles. We took a bunch of pictures.

While we were taking the pictures we realized that we couldn’t see a lot of the glacier. We then decided to take the snow machine out onto the ice. It is about an 80 minute round trip, 30 minutes out, 20 minutes on the ice and 30 minutes back in. The trip was narrated and quite interesting. After all the indecision I am glad we went.

These two machines were used from the 50’s to the 90’s before they got the big red machines. They called the yellow one “Shake and Bake” because that is just what you did.

When you are at the glacier you can also see other mountains and glaciers.

Mount Andromeda on the right, Mount Athabasca on the left. The far right glacier is Andromeda Glacier with Double A Glacier on the left.

Snow Dome and Snow Dome Glacier.

After leaving the glacier we made a quick lunch and headed down the highway as we wanted to get to Lake Louise today. It was not 2:00 PM and we had to go 130 Kilometers and we only had about 5 hours of daylight left.

The biggest time consumer was the picture taking and we did take a few today. The scenery again was spectacular as we left Jasper National Park and entered into Banff National Park.

There was a controlled forest fire burning at the turnoff to Rocky Mountain House so we had to do a detour to get a closer look.

We also ran across a herd of Big Horn Sheep, well the ewes and kids. The males do not hang with the women and children once they have done their job. We stopped and took a few pictures.

Our first planned stop was the Mistaya Canyon. It is about ½ mile off the road and again it was a fairly steep climb. This time we walked down hill on the way in which made for a hearty climb on the way out. However it was worth it as the canyon and falls were quite unique. The river ran through a canyon that had been carved out over the last 10,000 years and it was amazing to see how narrow and deep the canyon was. It also twisted and turned like a corkscrew.

Thirty two kilometers down the road we came to the turn out for Bow Pass and Peyto Lake. They said it was only a short uphill walk to the viewing platform however I learned that in Banff National Park a short walk was ½ mile and quite steep. Again it was worth it. I had just managed to catch my breath from the climb when we came around a turn and there was the lake in all it splendor. It took what breath I had left.
It is without doubt one of the nicest vistas I have every seen. Kathy gave it 5 Wowies.

The camera did not pick up the turquoise except when facing south due to the time of day and the shadows. It is quite spectacular with the glacier feeding the lakes giving them their turquoise color and the mountains as they come together to form Bow Pass. We stayed for quite awhile just enjoying the view. Finally we had to leave. The only good thing about leaving was that the return trip was downhill.

We had one more stop and that was Crowfoot Glacier. It can be seen from the road and we stopped and took pictures. At one time there were three toes of ice but on toe has been lost. It may not be long before another toe is gone.

We didn’t stop ( except for pictures ) as the viewing was sensational all the way into Lake Louise.

Crowfoot Mountain

Bow Glacier and Bow Glacier Falls

We arrived at the campsite around 7:30PM and checked for two nights. It took us 5 ½ hours to go 130 kilometers or about 80 miles. Blame it on the scenery.

Today was a truly exceptional day.