our first night arriving in Yoho National Park, BC, we had planned to "car camp" and i'd picked a campsite that sounded good on the website and the girl on the phone when i'd called to make reservations said it was great. well we drive to where this site at Takkakaw Falls is and to our surprise, we discover...it's NOT car camping. you have to lug your stuff about 5 minutes to your campsite. well...it totally threw us. we weren't ready to go hauling our things into camp...i wanted my cooler nearby in our car! so we drove around to other campsites nearby and none of them were too great - very RVish. so we came back to Takkakaw Falls, packed up our packs and hoofed it into camp. it turned out to be a beautiful campsite with all the luxeries of car camping with bathrooms (well...a double stall outhouse but clean) and running water (that you had to pump from a well) but no ridiculous drunk campers or RV generators whirring...just nature with quiet families nearby. i'm officially addicted to walk-in camping and will be looking for such a thing nearby to the lower mainland because it's the only way to go!
anyways, no pics of that night because i forgot the camera in the car and didn't want to walk the few minutes to get it. the next morning we were up, packing our bags and heading off for the "Iceline Trail".
tim's pack held our food, pots, cooking fuel, sleeping bag and pad, tent, his clothes and a couple of paperback books to read. i physically could not lift up his pack. we'd meant to get trekking poles before we started our hike to help him balance but didn't so when he found this stick, he held onto it for the entire 3 days that we were out. 
the views as we climb up through the forest. it was a steep start to our hike.
stopping for a rest.
after awhile, the forest started to thin out, the higher we climbed.
and then we figured out why this trail was called "Iceline"...we came upon a glacier.
we hiked across this glacier bed and while it's hard to tell with this photo, we're pretty high up. see in the bottom left-hand corner? that little black speck? that's a person. there are a few other people in this photo too but too small on this screen. it was a long ways across.
stopping for lunch.
there were glaciers every direction you looked.
there were quite a few "rivers" to cross up here by the glacier. some were easier than others but this one was tougher then it looks. jumping from rock to rock isn't that bad if you knew that those rocks were stable but often you would reach your foot out and tap a rock and it seemed stable but then when you put your weight onto it, it wasn't. by then it was too late and your foot was in the glacier-cold water. your pack also messes up your balance a little too. i slipped a couple times but my boots were amazing and i had not even a little bit of a wet sock. (side story here: the first time i had to cross a creek when hiking way back when, i jumped and slipped and got my foot in the water and i cried. look at me now!)
finally leaving the rocky plains into the the green forests again.
we made it! setting up our first campsite.
now, if you've been wondering about bears...here's one way we had to help us keep them away. these things were at each backcountry campsite and you string your bag of food and anything that has touched food way up on one of these. this one was empty when i went to take a photo because people were packing up to head out in the morning but at least you get the idea.
we had MEC dried meals in packages that we brought with us which were great. this night's meal was turkey and gravy in one pot and mashed potatoes in the other. the turkey pieces were a little chewy but the potatoes were great. the good thing about this type of food is that you've been hiking all day so just about anything is going to taste great.
just after we took this picture, we had to run and get our rainjackets because it started to storm. it was an early night into the tent which can get a little claustophobic but it's no fun to sit around in the rain.
and then it got serious. it hailed the biggest hails i have ever seen. i thought for sure they were going to rip through the tent. this is the view from inside our tent looking out at the door. they eventually got smaller until they turned back to rain but it thundered all night. when you're outside and high up during a thunder and lightning storm? it's loud.
finally leaving the rocky plains into the the green forests again.
we made it! setting up our first campsite.
now, if you've been wondering about bears...here's one way we had to help us keep them away. these things were at each backcountry campsite and you string your bag of food and anything that has touched food way up on one of these. this one was empty when i went to take a photo because people were packing up to head out in the morning but at least you get the idea.
we had MEC dried meals in packages that we brought with us which were great. this night's meal was turkey and gravy in one pot and mashed potatoes in the other. the turkey pieces were a little chewy but the potatoes were great. the good thing about this type of food is that you've been hiking all day so just about anything is going to taste great.just after we took this picture, we had to run and get our rainjackets because it started to storm. it was an early night into the tent which can get a little claustophobic but it's no fun to sit around in the rain.
and then it got serious. it hailed the biggest hails i have ever seen. i thought for sure they were going to rip through the tent. this is the view from inside our tent looking out at the door. they eventually got smaller until they turned back to rain but it thundered all night. when you're outside and high up during a thunder and lightning storm? it's loud.but morning eventually came and we'd survived. our tent had held up. our sleeping bags weren't too wet. and it wasn't raining in the morning so we were able to dry out our tent a little before packing it up.
but the storm had done some damage and the bridge across the Little Yoho River was out. and that was where we were headed. so off we went anyways...
we jumped some rocks across part of the river and then found this log down across the other part of the river. tim went first and then i followed. the river was splashing up against it so it was slippery...and like i said...the backpack can tip you...
but i made it.
at lunch, we stopped by this waterfall - Laughing Falls.
auto timer.
chili.
and our next campsite was closer then we'd expected. it was called "Twin Falls" and we could see the Twin Falls in the distance and thought we were hiking up to them. then all of a sudden, our campsite appeared and we were still quite a ways from the Falls.
but the storm had done some damage and the bridge across the Little Yoho River was out. and that was where we were headed. so off we went anyways...
we jumped some rocks across part of the river and then found this log down across the other part of the river. tim went first and then i followed. the river was splashing up against it so it was slippery...and like i said...the backpack can tip you...
but i made it.
at lunch, we stopped by this waterfall - Laughing Falls.
auto timer.
chili.
and our next campsite was closer then we'd expected. it was called "Twin Falls" and we could see the Twin Falls in the distance and thought we were hiking up to them. then all of a sudden, our campsite appeared and we were still quite a ways from the Falls. we wanted to set up camp on this beach by this river but after we'd started setting up the tent, it was just too hot so we moved back into the forest where the designated camp spots were.
we took off our packs were so pumped to be hiking without them as we went on our way to Twin Falls.
we came across this cabin up near Twin Falls. What? we could have been staying HERE? it's a cabin that the CPR built in the early 1900's for people to stay in and they apparently still serve lunch and tea and you can stay here too. next time...we'll look into that!
and here are the Twin Falls. they don't look that great in this picture. it was a weird time of day so the sky was too bright and the valley where the falls were was dark so it made the sky here look white when it was actually blue. oh well. it was amazing and SO loud. definitely worth the extra hiking time to see them.
another view from our extra hike.
that night we played San Juan (card game) by the river and ate the best dried meal yet and then the next morning, we had a fairly leisurely hike out from Twin Falls campsite. it was mostly downhill and flat so that was a nice change. there was no cloud cover on this morning though and during the hottest part of the day, we were hiking in no shade and were desperate to get out of there. and finally we made it.
back at the car from where we'd started.
we took off our packs were so pumped to be hiking without them as we went on our way to Twin Falls. 
we came across this cabin up near Twin Falls. What? we could have been staying HERE? it's a cabin that the CPR built in the early 1900's for people to stay in and they apparently still serve lunch and tea and you can stay here too. next time...we'll look into that!
and here are the Twin Falls. they don't look that great in this picture. it was a weird time of day so the sky was too bright and the valley where the falls were was dark so it made the sky here look white when it was actually blue. oh well. it was amazing and SO loud. definitely worth the extra hiking time to see them.
another view from our extra hike.that night we played San Juan (card game) by the river and ate the best dried meal yet and then the next morning, we had a fairly leisurely hike out from Twin Falls campsite. it was mostly downhill and flat so that was a nice change. there was no cloud cover on this morning though and during the hottest part of the day, we were hiking in no shade and were desperate to get out of there. and finally we made it.
back at the car from where we'd started. (yes, wearing the same clothes as when we'd left...you get a little smelly out there on the trail)
WE DID IT!
2 comments:
You guys are my heroes!
what a fabulous story! My favorite parts were you crossing the river, when tim carried the tent, and when you set the timer while you were setting up the tent. Good work!
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