Northern Rockies: Day 5

In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which turned out to be the best hotel breakfast we've ever had. We don't need much for breakfast and were expecting the standard: cereal, oatmeal, maybe a waffle maker, bagels, and juice. We got all of those but also omelettes (cheese and western), sausage, pancakes, fruit, muffins, and yogurt. The western omelettes were fantastic with a little bit of hot sauce. We were happy campers when we headed back up to our room. We weren't in a rush, so we weren't planning on leaving the hotel until about 11am. Just before 11am, as we were getting ready, the power went out for much of Canmore. We took this as a sign to get going. We headed northwest on CAN-1 into Banff National Park before continuing on to Yoho National Park (BC). Along the way, we stopped at a couple of pullouts with views of Mt Ishbel and Bulwark Peak.

The day was overcast with the occasional short-term rainfall. Just east of Field we turned right onto Yoho Valley Road and headed north toward Takakkaw Falls. There were a few sprinkles coming down on us as we made the short walk toward the base of the 992' waterfall. The unnamed creek starts from meltwater from the Daly Glacier which flows into a lake before becoming a stream and quickly reaching the edge of a cliff over which it drops, hits a ledge, shoots outward, and then continues to fall to the base. Takakkaw is thought to be a Cree word meaning "magnificent." In spring this jet of water coming off of the ledge is very impressive. When we were there the flow was reduced but the waterfall was still very impressive.

We were able to get a few good pictures of the waterfall from near the footbridge and the base. We chatted with an older couple from Alberta as we walked back to the car. Across the valley from Takakkaw Falls is a much smaller and almost completely ignored waterfall--Whiskey Jack Falls. We took a quick stop to see this one from the road before heading back toward Field. After passing through Field we turned right onto Emerald Lake Road and arrived at Emerald Lake around 1:30p. The clouds had lifted some from earlier in the day which allowed a more complete view from the western shore of Emerald Lake. The tops of the surrounding mountains were still veiled but the beauty and vivid turquoise color of the lake were showing well. We walked a little onto the bridge and then back along the western shore. There were a few people around so we waited a little bit for the dock to clear before taking some pictures. Hopefully in the future we'll have the opportunity to come back here and spend a little more time exploring. As it was, we spent about 45 minutes at the lake before moving on.

We next stopped at the Natural Bridge along the Kicking Horse River. We walked the very short trail to the viewpoint below the small waterfall and interesting natural bridge. After this we walked around to the upstream side and got some cool up close pictures of the rocks and river just above the natural bridge. Next we made a quick stop in Field at the Visitor's Center before following CAN-1 east back into Alberta and Banff National Park and took the Bow Valley Parkway to the Johnston Canyon Trailhead. It was now about 4p. Johnston Canyon is a very popular paved trail (~3.2 miles round-trip) in Banff National Park that follows Johnston Creek up through a steep canyon eroded from the limestone to several waterfalls. Because it is so popular we made a point of visiting it later in the day even though it was late-September. There were a few people on the trail but not nearly as many as can be earlier in the day. Since we were hungry Z tried to take his waterfall pictures as quickly as he could while still enjoying the beauty. At the Upper Falls (after the Lower Falls, Tunnel Falls, Stella Falls, and Cavern Falls) we had to wait for a few people who decided to climb over the railing of the viewpoint (there are lots of signs all along the trail clearly stating not to leave the trail at any point) with a couple of their young kids, cross the creek, and climb all over the rocks at the base of the waterfall while their wives/girlfriends/friends? watched delightfully from the viewpoint and drank more beer. We were thrilled when after about 15 minutes they considerately made their way back to the viewpoint to crack open a few more celebratory beers. After Z took his pictures (people free) we zipped around them on the trail and headed back toward the trailhead.