Day 3 – Yoho! (Part 1)

This particular day had to be one of the best and most memorable of my life. We had planned to head off to beautiful British Columbia and Yoho National Park in particular.It actually began pretty late as I took some time to actually let my family know that I was alive. I’ll never forget the view from the hostel as I wrote those emails, looking out towards Sulphur Mountain, while Tunnel Mountain rose to my left. I remember thinking that I could get used to this on the daily, and it was then that I knew that the next time I was back here, it’d be for a while.After a morning of relaxing, we finally set out for Yoho National Park. The drive took us through a variety of weather conditions, all while blasting some Kendrick. Life was (and is) good to say the least! Upon passing Lake Louise, we veered west until we passed the Alberta-BC border, as we could now say that we’d been in British Columbia! We drove on until we came across the small but picturesque town of Field, BC, which was situated in quite the locale.We had intended to make our way to Emerald Lake, but it turned out that we had missed our exit and ended up driving quite a whiles away, which I was perfectly fine with. I’ll never forget those particular sights that I got to witness. Snow capped peaks gleamed in the distance, while in the immediate vicinity, evergreens spread endlessly with towering precipices rising far above us. The sun shone brilliantly, and it was a welcome sight as most of the week up until this point was mired in wet and cloudy conditions. Realizing our error, we soon turned around before getting any further into BC’s interior and headed towards Yoho’s Natural Bridge.This was place was super cool. And even more so once all of the tourists filed out. On that note, however, it was interesting to actually witness something that I had only heard about. A busload of tourists emerged, selfie-sticks and iPads in hand, ready to document the experiences. A common occurrence that I noted was their general reluctance to venture beyond.The Natural Bridge area, situated on the banks of the Kicking Horse River, had so many cool spots to explore and run off to. I felt like a kid again. I just had to ensure that I didn’t trip and get swept off into the current. (Not a pleasant thought).While I was off running all over the place, I couldn’t help but notice that the tourists stuck to the primary parking area. To each their own though I suppose! After a little exploring, tons of photos, and a prayer squat or two, we got back into the car and made the short drive to Emerald Lake. I was extremely excited to say the least!!It was a short but of course scenic drive to the lake.Exhibit A:We soon reached the Emerald Lake parking grounds and excitedly made our way to the shores of the lake. Initially I felt a flurry of emotions and had an array of thoughts as I took in the surroundings. What stood out to me the most was how places like these were portrayed in photos and on platforms such as Instagram for example.Take this picture for instance. The surroundings make it appear as if these lodges are completely isolated in the deep backcountry of the Canadian Rockies, requiring an extensive hike to arrive in. However, if you were to pan the camera to the right, you’d see a rather large parking lot with a fair number of tour busses and loads of tourists. In a way, it almost takes a bit away from the feel of the place, which is also how I felt at Lake Louise (more on that in a later post).So when I arrived at Emerald Lake, a slight part of me thought “this is it?”. Fortunately, that thought quickly dissolved. We crossed the deceivingly large bridge and hung out on a dock right near the lodge. We spent a fair amount of time here, marvelling at the sights. We were fortunate that it was a random day in the middle of the week in late April, as there were very few people aside from us and this badass Asian family that took the most amazing squad pics. Wish I had an example to show you, but Steph can attest to it. Anyway, I digress.After a multitude of photos on the dock we decided to see if we could actually get some hiking in around the lake. As we made our way back to the parking lot, we found an interesting little trail by chance. The signs indicated that it led to the Peaceful Pond, whatever that was. Our curiosity was piqued. We soon found ourselves opposite of the main bridge, headed into the woods. Initially, the trail was primarily muddy, interspersed with patches of ice and snow, reminders of the winters endured by this high altitude lake. The further we went, the deeper the snow became, though we had hardly experienced anything yet. Within a couple hundred metres we eventually came across the aforementioned Peaceful Pond. It lived up to its name to say the least. It was such a beautiful place, and I love that we stumbled upon it by chance.The greenish-turquoise waters were completely still and the whole area was silent and tranquil. I was mesmerized by the beauty of the place and by the peaks overhead. I particularly fell in love with Mt. Burgess and the sheer size and immensity of its rugged peaks. After a few moments of skipping rocks and laughing at all the Elk poop (am I 12 or something?), we headed back onto the trail.To be honest, part of me was hoping we’d turn back the way we came and head to the car, not because I didn’t want to hike, but because of the possibility of running into bears. The further we went, the more I worried about encountering grizzlies. It was a bit unnerving to say the least, but Steph pressed on. The path carried on until it consisted of solely knee deep snow.It reached a point where this was basically how I was walking: Struggling, to say the least.All jokes aside, finding proper footing was paramount if you didn’t want to end up sinking into knee to waist deep snow.This particular hike was somewhat reminiscent of those I had done in Gatineau Park, what with all the snow and evergreens glowing in the sunlight. But again, one quick glance up towards the sky reminded me that this was most definitely not Ontario or Quebec.We reached a junction where we had to decide between two pathways. After much deliberation on my part, we had agreed to turn left, which fortunately, took us towards the lake. I’ll be completely honest, I was terrified of running into a grizzly, especially cause the bear spray we had on us was not readily accessible. It didn’t help that we spotted fresh foot prints from an animal that neither one of us could identify. At that point my mind was all over the place, which is completely unlike me.Steph and I made a point to talk as loudly as possible, interspersed with booming but clearly nervous laughter from myself.I never knew hikes could be so nerve-wracking. I was so accustomed to nice and easy walks through Gatineau and the woods of the Greenbelt back home. The most you would see in those parts were deer and coyotes, if even. Being on edge added a different element to this hike. It truly felt like we were alone in the wilderness at this point, even though the lodge was not too far off, which was reassuring. It’s amazing how one can feel this way by simply taking the time to explore the surroundings beyond the touristy spots. It felt much more authentic, with real risk involved. I loved it.On we went, and my racing mind calmed greatly as soon as I saw Emerald Lake in the distance.A few moments later we made our way through a little path and arrived at a clearing on the shores of the lake. Of all of the places I have seen and will ever see in my life, this one will, without a doubt, always be one of my favourites.We hung out here for a while. It was completely still, silent and breathtakingly beautiful. Eventually we noted the echo, which led me to start singing (i.e butchering) that song from the Sound of Music, something about the hills being alive with the sound of music or something. You get the idea.I’ll never forget what happened shortly afterwards. Once the photos were taken, we both stood on the ice relatively close to the shore. Directly below me I heard ice cracking and I immediately thought  ‘oh god, here we go’. Down I went, praying that I’d quickly hit the bottom. Very fortunately, I had only fallen into knee deep water. But MY GOD, that is the coldest thing I have ever experienced. It completely turned me off from the idea of jumping into one of these alpine lakes. Yeah, no. Counting my blessings, I immediately jumped out of the holes I had fallen in and receded back to actual land.Saying goodbye to this place, we headed back onto the trail and made our way back to the lodge. The sight of signage pointing us in the right direction was a huge morale booster for myself. I was a bit tired, and extremely soaked and wanted nothing more than to dry myself off.A short hike later we made it here:We spent a good amount of time here, basically silent, just in awe of the sight. It was incredibly hard to leave, but eventually we had to.Back to the car we went, off to the next adventure.As always, a huge thanks to anyone reading this. It means more than you know!P.S Please go visit Emerald Lake and Yoho in general at least once in your life. You won’t be disappointed.Steven