Banff and YoHo/Emerald Lake.
Today I headed back to Banff for my 10:50 Gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain, named for the hot springs on the lower part of the mountain. But today, unlike lovely and sunny, despite some wind, yesterday, this morning was wetm, rainy, and cool, with temps in the upper 40s, not so good for going up a 7,000 foot mountain in the clouds.
On the wet and misty drive to Banff, I saw a good omen – a rainbow, rising out of the fields in front of the mist covered mountains. That rainbow stuck around for quite a while, and re-appeared from the top of Sulphur Mountain.
So wet weather and all, I picked up my ticket, but was a little heartened to hear the woman at the ticket counter say this was a great day to go up for a range of views, in the clouds, in the sun, and maybe even in the snow. She was right, but it was cold up there.
In fact, if there was ever a time I should have put on my wool socks, worn a wool hat, and had gloves, this was it… except I left them all in the car. Nevertheless, it had stopped raining, and actually started to clear up a little in the 90 minutes or so I was up on the mountain, at 7,486 feet.
The ride up was fun, with some great views, but cloud shielded. It reminded me of the gondola ride up Whistler and Blackcomb, when Kaye, Bev, and I were there in 2018.
Definitely cool at wet up there, but it had stopped raining and started to actually warm up an little, and even the massive cloud coverage started to thin out for some better views, although the clouded views were pretty dramatic in their own way.
It’s quite a set up at the top of the gondola station, at about almost 7,500 feet, with restaurants and an inviting interior, and 360 degree views around the decks on multiple floors of the station, going up to a fourth floor deck. It’s also possible to walk up the mountain, about 3½ miles and about a 2½ hour walk, and pretty tough s its long and steep, with many switchbacks. I know this only because I walked a short way on the trail from the summit, thinking about walking down, and met several hikers just reaching the summit. Some were really huffed, and others seemed like they’d just finished a stroll in the park, and I even saw a couple of children with their parents who had hiked up. On another day, had I been wearing warmer clothing (or it had been a warmer and less wet day) and I had hiking shoes on, I might have walked down (but not up).
There was a very nice and well maintained boardwalk of maybe a quarter mile or a little more to the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station, where there once was a research lab, that offered great views as well, and also had a gravel and rock trail going around and down the mountain. The walk there, on the trail, and back to the gondola station was probably around a mile, with plenty of steps to climb, and a fairly steep hill to negotiate coming back up the trail around the cosmic ray station. The rainbow was still there, waiting for us.
Just as I headed back to the gondola for the ride down, it started to snow, although a fine and wet, snowglobe-like, snow.
I took the gondola back down, and once down decided to head back toward Lake Louise, and a little further west to Emerald Lake, which is in Yoho National Park in British Columbia. The four parks that make up the national parks in this region are contiguous, so where one ends the next begins, and, again, unlike the US national parks, there are communities and towns contained within the Canadian national parks.
Actually, in color, Emerald Lake is much like Lake Louise, and I think they’re similar in size. The color is really incredible, that creamy or milky green, and apparently the result of rock flour, or fine particles of glacial sediment spread throughout the lakes, and the way they reflect light. At any rate, it’s a gorgeous color, and I realize not unlike the color of my car. It is also seems about as popular as Lake Louise, with many visitors in the area, on the water, hiking, and milling around.
By now, the weather had definitely improved, although still not as warm as yesterday, so no need for especially warm clothing, but nevertheless on went the wool socks, and as I wasn’t sure what the hiking would be like, hiking shoes.
I took the scenic lake loop hike, around the lake, which was about 3½ miles, and quite lovely, of course. On the west side of the lake, the hike was easy and straightforward, on a flat and well maintained path, directly alongside the lake, but that changed at the north end of the lake, where the well-maintained and flat trail ended, and as you headed toward the the east side of the lake. Here, the trail was completely in the woods, even though still running close to the lake edge of the lake, and it quickly and increasingly became muddier and muddier, with never ending water filled mudholes and wet and slippery tree roots characterizing the entire length of this part of the trail. That must have gone 1½ miles or a little more, and made the trail more challenging than the other side. Happily, I was wearing hiking shoes for a change, which were definitely needed. Anyway… good walk.
And that was it for the day. In hindsight, although my hotel in Cochrane was only an hour from Banff, when you add the extra time to places further west or south of Banff, even though they weren’t far from Banff, it makes the cumulative distance back to the hotel too long. So, it was a two hour trip back, and too long. So, in hindsight, It’s worth the extra dough to stay closer.
On the way back, I decided to visit Moraine Lake, but the road was closed to personal vehicles due to construction, so I turned around and continued back toward Banff. Maybe tomorrow, when I drive the Icefields Road from Banff toward Jasper.