Yoho National Park

Soak it! That's what my mind echoed all the time... yet heart juggled upon leaving Banff and the splendor of the ten-peak valley. We routed our journey towards Yoho where we first got a physical/scientific explanation of having spiral tunnel system for the cargo trains routing thru the mountains. I will leave the understanding part of it to you, but the crux is that it was established after having tragic accidents of the rail workers. The steep grade in Kicking Horse Pass posed a serious challenge to complete the railway, Canadian Pacific (CP) was not in a position to carve a gradual descent. Hence a solution was reached that was Spiral Tunnels allowing a much lower grade of 4.5% of descent. Although the mountains were a complication for CP, they were an inspiration to the many tourists who started to arrive by train. In an effort to preserve the landscape and encourage tourism, CP prompted the creation of Mount Stephen Dominion Reserve in 1886. The park was renamed Yoho in 1901. They say history backs your understanding of the present and in this case, it certainly did!

Spiral Tunnels Overview

Train in Motion via Spiral Tunnels

Emerald Lake ( a.k.a Lake Louise in olden days)

Yoho National Park lies in the eastern British Columbia, Canada. Park is primarily studded with turquoise colored gem of glacial lakes a.k.a Emerald Lake. Trust me, it was more of viewing a jewel in natural state for me. Never adorned an Emerald but having watched this one, I now feel I have. Drowned all my desires to be called beautiful, I won't fish for any compliments for beauty as I now understand the definition of the word beautiful!

Takkakaw Falls

Other highlights in YOHO include the Takkakaw Falls, snow topped mountain peaks and the Kicking Horse River. A 0,5 Km hike did not deter us from viewing the higher falls, especially when someone says you need to drench in its mist from the closest view. Did I just say drench? Yes, I did! So, the story that goes behind these popular falls is that one must feel the mist of these falls on the face so as to bestow himself/herself with forever youth. Now who would deny that! And now you know the secret of the youth as well.

We really don't need to plan our retirements if we have visited Takkakaw Falls. That's the secret I was trying to whisper in the last post and here my friends, I bring it to you in this post. You actually feel revived by just being around its aura. The falls have a total height of 373 meters, making them the second tallest waterfall in Canada. And its mist drifts you away with gravity when you get closer. The main drop of the waterfall has a height of 254 meters. "Takkakaw" translates to "magnificent” in Cree (a dialect spoken by a few in Canada). Your heart smiles around it and the gusting water running down sends ton of horsepower in your body for another hike! By now when we had seen both the Yoho water and the Kicking Horse River. Yoho water appears to be greyer than the kicking horse river, reason being Yoho waters are filled with the Glacier silt whereas Kicking Horse River is clear, snow topped mountain peaks and the Kicking Horse River.

I went delirious when I heard the name of 'Kicking Horse River 'for the first time. You too? It's pretty obvious for a layman to have that reaction. Well, so here is the story, the Kicking Horse River was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, reported being kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector named the river and the associated pass as a result of the incident. The Kicking Horse Pass, which connects through the Rockies to the valley of the Bow River was the route through the mountains subsequently taken by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

By this time anyone must have encountered at least one of the wild big moose who are so adapted to being clicked by the egotistical visitors

The next day is going to be too busy for you to spend with me. Be prepared with a cup of coffee. And yes, don't forget your favorite muffin with it :)