A Hiker's Life for Me
Today, we visited Yoho National Park in British Columbia. Yoho is adjacent to Banff, just across the continental divide. Because Yoho is west of the continental divide, it gets more rain and fewer tourists than Banff. However, fewer tourists is not the same as few tourists.
The GuideAlong tour included information about Yoho. Before we reached Yoho, we passed vehicles stopped along the road. We turned around and saw a grizzly bear crossing the road towards the train tracks. Later, we learned from GuideAlong that the bears like to follow the train tracks in order to eat grain that gets spilled from rail cars. As you would expect, some of these bears get hit and killed by the trains. Hopefully, that didn't happen to our grizzly.
Once we entered Yoho, our first stop was the Spiral Tunnel, where the train tracks loop through the mountains in a giant figure-eight. This design lengthens the track and reduces the steepness of the grade. Our audioguide explained that the trans-Canada railway was crucial for linking western Canada to the rest of the country, helping protect the territory from Americans who were settling in Oregon and Washington during the 19th century. We even got to see a train enter the tunnel, which was pretty exciting!
Next, our guide suggested that we visit Emerald Lake. However, the parking lot was completely full, and there was no parking along the road. We turned around and went to the Natural Bridge, where the river cut through the rock to make the bridge. Since it's early in the season, there was a lot of water flowing, and it was exciting to see. Greg took out his tripod to get some long-exposure photos.
After Natural Bridge, we tried again to visit Emerald Lake, but the parking was even more crowded than before. We gave up and went to our next destination: Takakkaw Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in Canada. At the start of the road, there was a section where you were required to detach trailers. That was a clear sign that the road would be challenging. We first stopped at another lookout for the Spiral Tunnel, but there was no train so we moved on. The next stop was at Meeting of the Waters, where two rivers meet: one regular, the other blue with glacier runoff. You could see the two colors from the parking area, but Greg hiked down a short but steep path to get a clear view and photos, of course.
Next, we reached the switchbacks, where signs indicate that large vehicles like ours have to stop and back up to navigate the tight turns. A few minutes later, we reached Takakkaw Falls, which were an impressive sight even from the road. There was a short, paved path to the falls. To our surprise, it seemed like at least half of the people only walked as far as the bridge, rather than continuing all the way to the falls. The falls were spectacular, and we could feel the cold water spray even from a ways away.
That said, one disappointment in this trip is that top sites are far apart, crowded and generally short stops. But maybe we're just spoiled after last year's trip to Alaska.
When we returned to our campsite, Greg made a campfire and cooked Alberta steaks, with fresh asparagus and potatoes. Seemed a lot better than another camper we saw who grilled a hot dog on a stick.
Bear Count
Today: 1 grizzly bear
Total: 1 bear