Second Anniversary - Iceline Trail

 

Tom and I on the Iceline Trail.

With Tom returning from Norway on Wednesday, and then leaving for Fort Mac on Monday, we decided that we would celebrate our second wedding anniversary with a weekend in Yoho National Park at the Cathedral Mountain Lodge. We did not know that this lodge existed until we hiked to the Burgess Shale in 2010, and camped beside the lodge.

The lodge is a really beautiful place, set beside the Kicking Horse River. They offer cookies and tea in the afternoon, and s'mores by the fire at night. The lodge is ideally located for hiking, and has close access to multiple trails.

Our only complaint about the hotel was that our bathroom seemed to be attracting a lot of spider activity. After our first night, we woke up to find six spiders trapped in our bathtub. When we came back from our hike, there was another spider stuck in our sink. And the following morning, there was another spider in our bathtub. But... We were staying in a cabin in the woods. If there are going to be spiders, it's going to be there.

Six spiders hanging out in our bathtub.

On Saturday, Tom and I hiked 12-14km of the Iceline Trail. The trail starts near the base of Takakkaw Falls, and heads up a set of winding switchbacks.

Takakkaw Falls.

For the first few kilometers you find yourself mainly enclosed in trees, with an occasional glimpse of the falls when there are breaks in the foliage. As you climb higher, the trees become more sparse-- until the tree line is behind you.

A backwards glance at the thinning trees.

You emerge from around a bend in the trail, and BAM! You are faced with views of glacier after glacier. Some of the terraced rocks reminded me of the travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. 

First view of a glacier.

From there, we wound up and down over lateral moraines of glacial till for more views of glaciers. We passed over glacier fed streams, and ate lunch by a small (freezing cold) glacial lake.

Melt water draining from a glacier.

A small glacial lake.

Tom and I enjoyed the sights of the twisted and deformed peaks of neighboring mountains.

Glacier moraine and folded mountain top.

We could see more moraines in the distance, and after three, "We'll just go over this last ridge and see what's on the other side," we decided it was time to turn back.

Although the descent was not technically challenging, it was all downhill, and very hard on the knees! I was glad that I wasn't carrying a heavy overnight pack as I would be during one of our backpacking trips.

The weekend getaway was a nice way to spend our anniversary. We look forward to repeating this kind of weekend in the future!

I'd also like to point out, as an aside, that I am less than 200 page views away from 10,000 views. Maybe I'll hit 10,000 by the end of the month?

Thanks for reading!