Rockies Trip Itinerary

Day 8: Hoodoo, you do

Woke up to 2 degrees Celsius and overcast. Weather forecast is for snow today in Yoho National Park. We have a busy agenda for our last full day in the Rockies:

1. pack up our suitcases and backpacks
2. drive west to Golden for windshield repair for 10:30
3. hike on the Hoodoo trail located between Golden and Field
4. check in early to Cathedral Mountain Lodge
5. drive to Lake Louise for Lana's spa treatment (yayyy!!) at 17:00 and then dinner
6. return to Cathedral Mountain Lodge for our last night in the Rockies

Not a great start to our day as we didn't get good news from Vandenbilt in Golden as our windshield crack is larger than their smaller windshield chip repair device. There are no other similar places open in Golden. For tomorrow, there are no open windshield repair shops open in Cranbrook. Oh well, the car rental place will figure it out and we'll have to pay the damage. 

On the way to Golden, the signs for Hoodoo Creek Campground had a CLOSED sign going east and west. Doesn't look promising for our last hike? We decide to pull into the Hoodoo area regardless of the sign and discover it appears the camping areas are closed. We don't know why they would close the hiking area so we park our vehicle and get ready for our last hike in the Rockies. We are pretty excited about seeing the Hoodoos!

What is a HOODOO? 

A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.

Hoodoos are found mainly in the desert in dry, hot areas. In common usage, the difference between hoodoos and pinnacles (or spires) is that hoodoos have a variable thickness often described as having a "totem pole-shaped body". A spire, on the other hand, has a smoother profile or uniform thickness that tapers from the ground upward. An example of a single spire, as an earth pyramid, is found at Aultderg Burn, near Fochabers, Scotland.^{[citation needed]}

Hoodoos range in size from the height of an average human to heights exceeding a 10-story building. Hoodoo shapes are affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and softer rock layers. Minerals deposited within different rock types cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height.

We will see hoodoos on our Hoodoos hike:

Hoodoos Hike

Length: 5.2 km
Hiking time: 2.5 hours
Elevation: 325 m
Trailhead: Hoodoo Creek Campground, 23 km west of Field, B.C. on the Trans-Canada Highway. (map)
Habitat: Watch for goat licks in the dry, light coloured soil here under the roots of trees.

Description: A steep, dry, exposed trail leading to hoodoos or capped pillars of glacial debris. 

We are out of our vehicle to begin our hike from a parking area around 11:05. Firstly, we have a longish walk on a service road for the closed campground. Then we come across the sign for the hike. 300 metres elevation is pretty good, although it will be a shorter hike in length. Good weather as we start given it is not raining. Good temperature. We will be on our own for this hike due to the CLOSURE signs on the Trans Canada. Lana has our bear bell on her hiking pole. I have the bear banger ready in my jacket pocket. We are at this trailhead by 11:23 am. 

Good warning sign for casual hikers at the beginning of the trail.

We find these signs on other trails where there are switchbacks as some of the younger and more aggressive hikers will simply go straight up or down? On this trail there are a number of switchbacks given the steepness of the hillside.

We loved the hard-packed brown soil trail! Very soft on the feet. Not many tree roots and certainly no rocks on the trail. Very eerie though hiking in the woods with the knowledge you are on your own. Not raining which is good. Very quiet in these woods. Lana has her music playing.

Not sure of this type of bush growing close to the soil? We love the blue coloured berries!

This is the Hoodoo river which flows below our trail. Of course, most of its course below is in a gorge. Good to hear the river below.

This is where you can go up to the better vantage points for the Hoodoos. We take the upper viewpoint of course. From here various sections are very steep and long drop-offs to the river below. Wondering if there are grizzly bears or black bears around in these silent woods?

Trying to show just how steep the upper part of the trail is. There must have been a huge forest fire through here some time ago with all the charred trees and roots and deadfall. We come across chipmunks. Our only wildlife sights on this hike. 

We make it to the hoodoos formations by 12:05! Incredible views of the hoodoos! Can't get too close to the edge as it could give way and for certain you drop/fall to your death as it is that steep and deep. Eventually after taking pics we do climb to the end of the trail which isn't too much farther. 

We love the hoodoos and you will find a lot of pictures from different angles and viewpoints as you can climb/walk above and beside these unique rock formations. 

Check out how this tree has rooted itself into the hoodoo. 

On trail down and wanted to show the Hoodoo river gorge below and the Trans Canada Highway in the distance. Didn't really work. We finally encountered other hikers on our way down and about five minutes from the trailhead. Two Chinese hikers on their way up eager to see the Hoodoos! We arrive at the trailhead around 13:30. In effect, about two hours on the trail from start to finish. 

It is slightly raining (sprinkling) and we decide to simply eat our lunch (which I carried in my backpack) in our rental vehicle. Then, driving east towards Field and our Lodge accommodations. We decide to take a turn off the Trans Canada near Field to finally see the "Natural Bridge"on the Kicking Horse River near Emerald Lake. We find parking and get out before the next tour bus parks. We are super impressed with what we find. Lookout for tourists carrying umbrellas as they like to clip your head!

The sign says it all.

Lana on the 'natural bridge'. Quite an accomplishment to get there. 

This is the natural bridge over the river. Check out the beautiful colours of the river below. 

This is just above the natural bridge. As you can see it is slightly raining. 

I love the colours of this pool 

OK, we arrive earlier than our check-in time. Check in for Cathedral Mountain Lodge is 16:00. We arrived around 14:30. They indicated about 30 minutes wait for deluxe cabin #1. We grab a comfy couch across from the huge natural fireplace in their main dining room area to wait for our cabin. Hot chocolate for Randy and a tea for Lana. Voila, our cabin is ready. They have a small bottle of bubbly in a bucket of ice ready for us. We haul our stuff to our room and first thing is to get in the large soaker tub. 

Lana's spa appointment in Lake Louise at The Post Hotel & Spa is 17:00. We don't have too much time so back in our vehicle and into the rain on the Trans Canada Highway. Closer to Lake Louise Lana is checking the "Starbucks" and it closes with 8 minutes. I gun it and we get up to Lake Louise's ski hill lodge. We race inside to discover it really isn't a Starbucks! As well, they served their last chai latte moments before we arrived and are now OUT of chai mix! Yikes!

We drive down to the town of Lake Louise and Lana returns her micro spikes as they were too small. We check in to the spa about 30 minutes early. I return to the Mens room of a jacuzzi and steamer while Lana gets ready for her hot stone massage treatment. Plus, Lana has scored a couple of newspapers at the front desk of The Post hotel. Very relaxing for both of us! This time I didn't have the facilities to myself as a fellow from Austin, Texas had just finished his massage treatment. 

We need to decide where in Lake Louise we want to eat? Reviews of The Timberwolf Pizza & Pasta Cafe are pretty good and they allegedly have the best pizza in town. Need to wait for a table as it is busy on a Friday night. We get a booth so that is excellent. The Caesar salad starter is OK and the pizza is OK. Service is good, but the pizza takes a while to come to our table. 

Raining harder now as we return to Field in darkness on the Trans Canada. Our room is comfortable and Lana is pretty tired and quickly falls asleep after trying a crossword puzzle. I am completely frustrated with the crappy wifi/internet tonight at the Lodge. It takes me forever to begin and then finish our blog for today. In fact it is now 23:00 and I still haven't completed it! Yikes!

Hiking Stats for today:

Randy  6.4 kms  11,200 steps and 93 floors

Lana  9.0 kms 11,700 steps (her iPhone was mostly with me)

Not a long hike in distance or duration, but plenty of elevation gain in a relatively short timeframe. We would recommend this hike for the views of the hoodoos. 

Day 7: Laughing Falls

Out of bed around 08:30 and the temperature in Field was -1 degrees Celsius! The forecast is for clouds in the morning and 40% chance of rain in the afternoon with a high up to 10 degrees. Our plan is to stay within Yoho National Park and Lana is looking for a simpler hike with not much elevation. Our choice is Laughing Falls hike advertised:
Laughing Falls

Length: 8.8 km
Hiking time: 3 hours
Elevation: 125 m
Trailhead: Takakkaw Falls parking lot, 17 km east of Field via the Trans-Canada Highway and Yoho Valley Road. Note: Yoho Valley Road is open seasonally from mid-June through mid-October. Due to tight switchbacks, RVs and trailers are not permitted. (map)
Habitat: Typical Yoho forest with moist groundcover. Watch for the very large fallen tree en route.

Description: A forested trail to a waterfall at the confluence of the Yoho and Little Yoho Rivers. 

Backpacking: This trail leads to the Laughing Falls backcountry campround and is an access point for popular multiday backpacking routes.

___________________________________________

Fairly easy drive along Trans Canada Highway and then turnoff towards Cathedral Mountain Lodge. Then a drive through the forest and valley and some interesting switchbacks which result in traffic stopping to negotiate one of the hairpin turns. I have to say Alberta drivers are uniquely careful when it comes to the 'speed limit'. By this I mean, 50 kms/hour is an alert to drive 30 to 40 kms per hour along a perfect road. OK, enough said. 

Our first stop was the "Spiral Tunnels" viewpoint. We parked and then tried to find where the railroad spiral tunnels were located on the side of the mountain? Some more tourists showed up and one guy found them up the mountain across the river. Very much hidden by the surrounding forest. Pretty cool history though. Check the link on the name above. 

Signage at the parking lot.

The other side of the same sign.

Our picture of the spiral tunnels located on the side of the mountain. 

We park in an area which has easy access to famous Takakkaw Falls and good signage for the trailhead. Courtesy of Wikipedia: Takakkaw Falls is a waterfall located in Yoho National Park, near Field, British Columbia in Canada. Its highest point is 380 metres from its base, making it the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada. However its true "free-fall" is only 254 metres. 

Our picture of Takakkaw Falls!

We are out of our vehicle around 10:25 and beginning the walk to the start of the Laughing Falls hike.  The beginning part before the official trail is a packed dirt road probably for Fire and Park vehicles. 

Sign at Parking Lot so you know which direction to start heading in. 

Another valuable sign at the Parking Lot. 

OK, we are finally at the official start to the trail taking us to Laughing Falls. Very easy trail start as it is hard packed with no tree roots or stones. More of a stroll at the beginning than the usual hiking trails. 

This sign marks the official start of the trail. 

Along the way we found food lockers in order to keep the black bears and grizzly bears from staying in the area and feeding off human's food. Lana wearing her mitts as it is still somewhat of a chill in the air. 

Example of the beginning trail being so easy to walk on. Rocky peaks in the background. No snow at this point. 

OK, follow the signs! Go right hikers! Around here is where the ascent starts to cover most of the 125 metres of elevation. Long ascent and good for the heart and warming both of us. 

Yup, this is a small part of the ascent. Lana is negotiating the trail using her zig zag technique. The pic doesn't do justice for the steepness. 

This is the Yoho River and its beautiful milky greenish blue colours. 

The river starts its run through a very narrow gorge. 

Laughing Falls! We speculate it is called "Laughing Falls" because of the roar from the water cascading and then hitting the pool below? This section of Yoho river runs through a small crack in the rock. We arrived here around 11:30ish so around one (1) hour to get here. Different from the advertising of a three hour round trip. By this time there is a light sprinkle of rain falling. 

Yup, an outhouse in the middle of the wilderness. Not really... There is a campsite area very close by. Campsite is a little misleading as you simply pitch your tent on a spot that is flat. No toilet paper as you need to bring your own toilet paper when hiking/camping. 

We find a trail leading away from Laughing Falls and it takes us to this sign. Problem is the sign has zero indication of mileage. We have the urge for more hiking/exploring so decide to find Yoho Glacier. Decent trail with some more elevation although minimal. Continues to sprinkle rain and the temperature has dropped. We hike 1.3 kms and find a spot along the Yoho River to eat our lunch. We create a path down to the water's edge and find a log to sit on. Good we have our rainproof gear as it is raining harder now. 

Lana is getting cold and wet. As she is waiting on the trail while I finish my lunch a couple of hikers come along. They indicate the Yoho Glacier is quite a distance. Easy decision to return to our car. Continues to lightly rain. As we are hiking though the sun comes out while the rain is falling. This picture tried to capture the rain drops with the sun behind. Hmmm, didn't work!

On arrival back in Field, it was a beautiful sunny and warmish day! Quite a surprise given there was light rain where we were hiking east of the town. We decided to finally visit the Tourist Information Centre in town located beside the Trans Canada Highway. Mostly for tourists visiting Alberta though. There was a great exhibit on the Burgess Shale and we got some more pictures. As you can tell I love this fossil stuff. 

For an experiment, Randy carried Lana's iPhone as well as his own cellphone to compare our hiking stats.

Randy  11.5 kms  19000 steps   41 floors

Lana    15 kms     19000 steps

As we can see in terms of steps we believe her app counts properly, but the mileage being recorded is really inflated. 

Out of curiosity, I wanted to know how my iPhone Health app measures "floors"? This is the answer:

Answer is BAROMETER

• Barometer has the role to measure air pressure. This reading is important because it helps your iPhone determine altitude, as well as relative elevation changes. This way your iOS device can track your vertical movement, without the need of GPS assistance. More, it transforms your iPhone in an actual barometer, because air pressure reading is used for weather forecasting!
• Step counters have already implemented iPhone’s barometer readings and are now able to keep track of your physical activity, even on the vertical. This was possible prior to iPhone 6 and iOS 8 only with the help of the GPS. But using this system around the clock, significantly reduces battery life and exposes the user to additional electromagnetic field radiation. Now, with the help of the barometer sensor, this extra load is removed from the A8 chip.
• So this is how it works.

The power in our basement suite apartment cuts out every now and then? Very weird...

Early dinner at Truffle Pigs Bistro. A very short walk. We got a table right beside the window looking westward towards the Rockies. Decent dinner which we finished with a piece of blueberry pie. Some blue sky and decent temperatures tonight. 

Tomorrow, we need to pack up as tonight is our last night in the Guesthouse. We have our window shield repair at 10:30 am in Golden.

Day 6: Grizzly Bear Sighting!

A sunny blue sky day this morning! This is a first since we arrived Friday afternoon.

We needed to do some laundry and there is only one place in Field. It is in the basement of the Truffle Pig's Bistro & Lodge. Fortunately on our arrival none of the machines were being used. There are two washers and two dryers. They only take loonies and quarters. Lana's task this morning = laundry and Randy doing our dishes and researching the various trail options we have for our trip to Golden, BC very late this morning. Lana says there's great irony in the fact that the Asian person is doing the laundry on this trip especially given the fact that Randy does 99.9% of all the laundry when at home!!

Blog teaser--Great grizzly bear story to follow...

View from Field of the Rocky Mountains in the nearby distance. Railroad just below us. This picture is facing northwest. As you can see a beautiful day!

Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden has a gondola that you take up to the top and there are seven (7) hikes you can choose from. The resort is about a one hour drive (?) from Field, although construction delays may impact travel time. 

Lana found this bird near the laundry facilities. She thinks it was a Magpie!!

Given we were running late after doing the laundry and then getting our hiking gear on, we were hoping for a smooth drive to Golden. No luck as there was a very long and slow CPR train on the tracks so no hope today. We waited about 15 minutes for the train to pass. Lots of semi-trailer trucks travelling on the road, recreational vehicles and other slow drivers. Once we were on the Trans Canada we made pretty decent time to Golden. 

Google Maps screenshot for trip from Field westward to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort on Highway 1 mostly. 

We were on top of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort by 13:15, but the gondola stops running at 15:30 so we have limited time for hiking on top of the mountain. The gondola ride up to the top cost about $81 for the two of us so not cheap. The positive result was bring up so high on an incredibly beautiful sunny blue sky day. You could see forever and it was relatively warm when hiking or walking. This is probably a busy ski/snowboarding hill during the winter. We spoke with the liftie at the top of the mountain and he confirmed the best route for our time and scenery results. 

Gondola lift ticket and summer trail maps brochure.

Map at the top of the mountain mainly for winter customers, but also covers hiking, mountain biking and a new climbing route. Elevation at the top 2,347 metres! Lana is trying to figure out if we were higher in elevation yesterday than today. 

Lana on our first trail. What a view of the valley below and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Some snow on the perimeter of the trail. No snow on any of the trails. You can see the gondola cars. Lana takes the opportunity to clean off the dirt and mud from her hiking shoes--dirty shoes make her crazy--even her hiking shoes!!

Great pic of a ridge and then the mountains in the background. Shortly, we will be walking on that ridge as our first trail takes us there below the gondola and along the bowl. 

These were our two options for our hike this afternoon. 

Lana on Terminator Peak trail and some idea of its steepness and its rock steps. Lana had a bit of car sickness from the windy drive up the mountain. She had to remind me that the goal was to get to the gondola parking WITHOUT throwing up!!  Guess I better slow down a little for her. 

Panoramic picture from the ridge towards the south. 

Panoramic picture from the ridge towards the north. 

We thought to try the Terminator Peak first, but within about 3 minutes of being on the steep trail it was apparent to Randy too scary! Lots of stone steps with a drop-off on both sides. Where I stopped there was a rope to hang onto - no thanks! My fear of heights got the best of me. 

Consensus to hike the T2 Peak trail given the difficulties with Terminator Peak trail. Lana has some challenges with dizziness still after our twisting car drive up the mountain. This was not the type of trail to have dizziness--she said she felt like her internal gyroscope was off balance! The estimate of duration was between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes. 

T2 Peak trail vertical challenges as you can see from Lana carefully managing her way up the trail. Fortunately, rocks to grab onto. 

Another example of this technical hike/climb. This hike is easily the most difficult in terms of sheer verticality and risk of slipping and plunging down a steep rocky slope to your death. 

The view from T2 Peak was worth the effort! You can see Golden, BC down below and the Rocky Mountains behind. The main road is the Trans Canada going east towards Field. Lots of snow up top and at this elevation. 

Believe it or not this is a caterpillar! This is at the top of the mountain with nothing but snow around crawling across the snow! Lana picked it up in a handful of snow and moved it so it wasn't on the trail at risk of being stepped on anymore. 

View from top of T2 Peak and looking at the Trans Canada below snaking its way east towards Cranbrook. 

The view south towards the majestic mountains from the top of T2 Peak. 

Lana made it to the top of the world! Well, its seems like it.

The descent on this trail is much scarier than the ascent. Trying to show the steepness although not really captured. For both of us, this was very steep, scary with huge drop-offs and many stone stairs. I prefer stepping on the trail itself rather than stepping on stones. 

Fortunately, the trail was dry and fairly hard packed. 

Lana dancing down the slope--if you can find her in the picture! When we returned to where the trail started it was 70 minutes duration which included waiting for Lana. The minimum estimated duration was 90 minutes. I had speculated that the estimated times were much more than needed. These hikes are probably not used much by experienced hikers. 

Very beautiful and weird lichen on the rocks on this steep slope. 

Burgundy coloured rocks!

View south from the top of Kicking Horse Mountain. 

Can you see the marmot in the middle of the picture? Huge member of the squirrel family that we saw down one of the steep slopes. Lana guessed that it was  marmot based on the sign at the Manning Park gate. For years every time we would drive the sign she would ask "what the heck is that animal" until finally she googled it and found out it was a marmot. She thought that the large sign was a terrible rendition of a marmot until today. Now she says the sign is pretty accurate and takes back what she's been saying all these years. 

OK, yes indeed there was a grizzly bear sighting! From the safety of our gondola as we were gliding over its refuge located on the slopes of Kicking Horse Mountain. The grizzly bear's name is Boo! He was orphaned after a hunter shot his mother. His brother was orphaned as well, but he is no longer alive. Boo is originally from the Grouse Mountain bear refuge--and was moved here 15 years ago. We asked the lift at the bottom of the gondola ride about him and we were told that Boo has actually escaped from his refuge twice.  Once for 7 days after which he was found in the local area. Another time for 28 days when he came back on his own. Lana figures he needed a holiday!! Turns out that during his 28 day escape he didn't lose that much weight which would indicate that he was able to hunt for his own food (or check out the local restaurant scene LOL!).

Great picture by Lana of the beautiful Autumn colours on the slope of the mountain as we were gliding down the mountain. 

When we got off the gondola at the bottom we had a long conversation with the liftie about Boo the Grizzly Bear. He (the liftie not Boo!)was from Maple Ridge, BC so almost a neighbour. In addition, he told us about his favourite brew pub in town: Whitetooth Brewing Company. Lana used her Google Maps to confirm directions once we were off the mountain. Everything in Golden is pretty close. Extensive list of craft beer to choose from and all are made in house. Lana chose a craft black current cardamom cider from their fridge. Too much cider for Lana so we both finished it off and by the time we departed we had enjoyed enough drinking and Lana was a bit tipsy :)

Picture taken from our stools looking into the actual brewery. My grandfather George was a brewmaster trained in Chicago in the 1920s. Everything was very clean inside. 

Hanging on the wall.

Randy's choice was their Speed Metal Stout and it tasted exactly as advertised below. I really enjoyed this chocolate stout. 

Our goal was to find the highly rated Sarah's Kitchen in Golden for dinner. We found Sarah's Kitchen inside a gas station, but it was closed until the end of September. Lana accessed her internet and we decided to head for Q's Restaurant given it had both Korean and Japanese cuisine. Myself, I am always dubious about a restaurant which offers more than one cuisine. In this case, my inclination was correct. 

We were both hungry and there was only one table being used when we arrived. Not a good sign. We arrived around 17:00 so it should have more traffic. Plus, the Trans Canada is right there. Got our orders in and took longer than expected. I ordered the Korean beef bulgogi and Lana ordered Korean kimchi ramen. Plus, an appetizer of Korean fried chicken. I won't go into too much detail, but our food was mediocre at best and disappointing. 

Q's Restaurant in Golden. 

 

Oh well, we gave ethnic food in Golden a chance. Our windshield picked up a rock on the way to Golden and we will need to get it repaired before we return the vehicle to the Cranbrook car rental. We believe the car rental will charge us more than us getting it fixed. Lana sets up an appointment in Golden for Friday morning at 10:30. There were no windshield repair places open in Cranbrook on Saturday so that was not an option. 

Lana was not interested in an extensive or exerting hike today. Our stats:

Lana    9100 steps  5.5 kms

Randy 8700 steps  5 kms