Tak Falls
We spent the weekend at the Takkakaw Falls campsite in Yoho National Park. It’s a bit of a tongue twister so everyone simply calls it Tak Falls. The campground looks onto Takkakaw Falls, which at 254 metres, is one of the tallest waterfalls in North America. And although the campground isn’t a backcountry site, it’s the next best thing. The campground is tents only and is about 1000 metres from the closest parking lot. And although there is a cart for helping transfer your gear, the distance means that you tend to only get people there that want to camp and hike. Contrast that with most of the other campgrounds which are half filled with young, drunk fools. Yes, we’ve all done it, but at some point you just want to go somewhere without campers, trailers and RVs and where most of the liquid being drunk is water (with perhaps a couple beers or glasses of wine over dinner).
On Saturday Ali and I (along with a handful of friends) did the Iceline Trail, which is an absolutely fabulous hike. The first few kilometres are steep switchbacks through forest which bring you up to the top of the tree line. You then continue up along a rocky path until you find yourself higher than Tak Falls, which can be clearly seen across the valley. Then out of nowhere the Emerald Glacier appears, which makes you forget whatever miserable weather you are battling; in our case, looming thunderstorm clouds and near freezing temperatures.
We opted for the shorter loop route (17.7 km) which takes us past Laughing Falls via Celeste Lake, but if you have an extra couple of hours you can extend your hike another four kilometres and head up to the warden’s cabin and then back to Laughing Falls to meet up with the shorter trail. Then it’s back to the Tak Falls campground. Your time may vary but we did the hike in just over six hours, including several quick breaks, lunch at the top and stop at the Celeste Lake beach.
I think the only downside to this hike is the number of people on it. Unlike the Kindersley Pass hike I mentioned last month, on this hike I think we encountered 40 or more people. That’s great for deterring the bears but not so great for pausing and just taking in the scenery and the sounds of nature.
Tue, 06 Sep 2005 03:18 Posted in General
