This morning we looked at the weather before deciding exactly what to do. Rain and snow was forecast, although we were going to be in a pretty large National Park so I guess it would have rained anywhere really!
We decided in the end, to go to Yoho National Park – temperatures were supposed to be a little cooler than yesterday and rain was forecast in the afternoon. On the way there, we stopped by the “Natural Bridge” which was a zig-zag shaped bridge formed naturally by the water rushing through it. So much water, such a tiny hole!
We stopped by “Spiral Mountain” but we didn’t have the patience to wait for a train to come along – basically it was a tunnel where you can see long trains going in and coming out at the same time. I’m sure its pretty cool if you actually see a train going through it, but we decided we’d rather get our walk in before the weather turned. Onward we went into Yoho National Park, where we stopped by the visitors centre for me to get frustrated – yet again – at the ladies t-shirts being in ridiculous colours which don’t suit me and all the best patterns being on the men’s t-shirts.....
We headed on to Emerald Lake where we decided to walk the lake shore trail. The length was 5.2km which was just over 3 miles and the ascent was pretty much zero. Just my kind of walk! Flat but quite long (okay, long for me!) When we got outside it was warm and sunny with few clouds in the sky, so we decided to put the sun cream on and take layers and waterproofs in our bags. It started to get VERY warm with a light breeze. Quite nice, I thought.
I wore my walking shoes today AND my walking trousers. The path was gravelled and even, and there were lots of benches along the way. We passed a few places where avalanches occurred in the past and where vegetation was growing back. The Lake itself did look emerald green – a very deep green. There was also very little wind at first so the reflections were perfect in the water.
We continued on to the very end of the lake which was very sparse with trees and vegetation. This was where succession was still in progress, with vegetation still growing and establishing itself within the sediment at the end of the Lake. It was a second habitat on the same walk – we had walked through the woodland, and now we were on open gravelly, marshy land. Few trees but plenty of saplings grew by the side of small streams trickling down into the Lake from the mountains which loomed above us.
Walking over a couple of bridges, we could see at one point where the spring water mixed with the glacial water, and the place where they met, staying separate until travelling further downstream. Onward over the bridge and we were suddenly stepping into temperate, wet rain forest. A third habitat on the same walk, completely different from the other woodland side. It became humid after being cool and breezy, and now we were among the tall, tall endless pine trees, fallen dead trees, new saplings, fungi and moss. There was a path to follow but it was very muddy and wet in places, surrounded by damp, deep lush vegetation – it even smelt different here.
Many times I thought I was going to fall over but I fortunately didn’t, even after balancing on two narrow tree branches when crossing a VERY muddy puddle in the centre of the path! We had to watch our footing carefully here too, what with gnarled tree roots all over the place. Eventually we got hungry and started thinking about lunch. Just at the right time, we came upon a huge boulder at on the edge of the lake which was perfect to sit and enjoy the view whilst eating lunch. Not many people seemed to be walking on this side of the Lake. Yet again, we had found a quiet place to eat and enjoy by ourselves.
Finishing lunch, we continued our loop trail around the Lake when we heard a deep growling rumble. Mathew was convinced at first that it was an avalanche in the distance, but the more often it happened, the more we couldn’t decide whether it was avalanche or thunder – thunderstorms had been predicted for Yoho, but as I said, Yoho is a pretty big Park!
Eventually it started to cloud over and it became quite dark and it rained a little light shower, but nothing heavier. Maybe the rumble was thunder after all. Humidity came back as we pressed on and eventually came to a point where the trail climbed a little towards the end, and the path and vegetation gradually became
drier and more woodland again, as it was at the other side. We walked through “The Lodge” which must have been a collection of expensive (or so we thought) holiday homes overlooking the Lake. After a short look in the local quirky little gift shop we returned to our hotel room, did our laundry, had showers and went out to eat at the “Mountain Restaurant”.Cheap and cheerful, we filled our bellies with basic but filling food before having a look at the shop next door so I could get even more frustrated at the t-shirt issue. At this point, dark clouds were looming and rain started to fall. The clouds fell lower and lower giving the scenery a surreal look as they sat at the tree tops, low enough for us to see the mountain peaks still. It was very cold but the time we had finished, and we returned to the hotel via the “Station Restaurant” to reserve a table for the following evening at 7pm/ I wonder if we will be graced by the presence of Dominic again?
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