The breakfast buffet was pretty decent. Lots of hot food choices inclusive of blueberry pancakes. Service was good. Many people eating with a number of younger couples and only one large family. Back to the room to get everything packed and dress in our hiking clothes. Check out time is 11:00 and we make it just on time. Lana had pictures of the unsatisfactory room and the front desk clerk didn't seem too surprised. She was apologetic so that helped. Also, Lana was told we could cancel our Friday reservation and we would be refunded the entire amount. That is good customer service.
We decide to stop at the park entrance near the Lodge parking lot to purchase our Canada Parks pass. Still raining hard. The older woman working in the tiny office couldn't get the hand-held credit card terminal to work after at least two tries. We paid her cash amounting to $125.60 for both of us. You hang the cards from your vehicle mirror. Our passes are good for one full year from date of purchase.
Yes, that is hail on our windshield! This is mid-September!
Our decision is to hike the Sherbrooke Lake/Paget Lookout Peak trail(s) in Yoho National Park. Just east from Field, BC off Highway 1. You park at the Great Divide Lodge/Wapta Lake Lodge parking lot and the entrance to the trail is pretty easy to find. Neil Campbell emailed us with some good feedback on the hike and described it as "short and flat". He hiked to Sherbrooke Lake and then up to one of the lookouts. We arrived at the parking lot and got our bear spray ready and our bear banger. I brought out our new bear bell which Lana put on her travel bag. It was lightly snowing which is pretty cool.
Signage at entry point. We started on the trail at 11:50.
This is at the beginning of the hike. As you can see fairly good snow on the trail. Crunchy to walk on. Continued to lightly snow on the trail on the way up. Lana has her fleece gloves, but shortly after has them off as her hands are warm.
Lana's first picture! At points on the way up you could see the mountains although we were in the middle of the forest so not many good vistas off the trail.
Another good vista on the trail towards the lake with Randy walking across a narrow wooden bridge.
We think this is Cathedral Mountain in the distance towards one end of the lake.
We reached Sherbrooke Lake after about 1 hour and 5 minutes. Some blue patches of sky. The lake is crystal clear water with a greenish hue. Very quiet up here as we are far away from the #1 freeway.
Sherbrooke Lake. Lana captured the reflection of the trees off the water.
Another great picture which shows the lake then just above a bank of clouds and then the Rockies peak above the cloud bank.
We decided to take the trail towards the other end of the lake. Not much elevation as it winds along the side of the lake. Towards the end we came upon Fred, Elaina (?) and their barking dog. They live in Golden, BC about one hour drive away. We had a good chat. They returned and we decided to go forward as they mentioned some falls about "10 minutes away"... We sat on the rocks they had used and had some snacks given we did not have lunch. To get to the falls it took us about 15 minutes.
These are the falls that we hiked to along the trail which rose in elevation. It was virgin snow so that was fun. On the other hand, we could have used snowshoes as it was deep. The falls weren't too impressive.
Decision to return from the Falls all the way to the parking lot. I believe it took us about two hours hike. Very slippery in many parts and Lana slipped a couple of times. Plus, her left knee was painful. On the way along the lake we ran into an older German couple for another chat. They were on their way to the Falls.
Lana relaxing along the trail. Lots of fresh snow. At many places along the trail the trees released some of their snow onto our heads. Pretty funny.
We think our hike was about 3 hours and 45 minutes. My iPhone app showed about 13 kms distance and 18,000 steps. For flights climbed it showed 45 floors so not a lot of elevation. The first 30 minutes seemed more in elevation though. The weather was not cold especially when exerting yourself. Not too much new snow either.
Lana's comment is the forest smelled "like sage". Like being surrounded by turkey dinner! I didn't smell this, but it was refreshing to be outside in clean mountain air!
We drove back to Field and then stopped at the only gas station in the small village. To refill the tank it cost about $35. The RAV is powerful and very good in the snow. Weather forecast is for rain and snow and chilly temperatures for most of the week.
We check into Mount Stephen Guesthouse as we reserved our room a couple of months ago. Check in is after 18:00 and we arrived around 18:40 pm. At first, nobody answered the door and then a younger fellow answered and looked confused. We guess he is the son of Kim? Anyway, he indicated down the stairs and door to the left and the key would be inside. I think the room is costing us about $165 per night. Clean and simple with a nice sized kitchen and a kitchen table. We can finally bring in our groceries! We need to dry out socks and our hiking shoes. Put away our clothes and get organized for dinner out. Lana runs a bath for both of us to warm up.
We decide to go to a restaurant in Lake Louise, Alberta tonight. We know that places in this area seem to get much busier around 19:00. Our googling finds Bill Peyto's Cafe in Lake Louise and the reviews are excellent. This casual place is located in the Lake Louise hostel. Weird encounter while driving through Field. As I reached a stop sign the young fellow walking across the street stopped and motioned. I rolled down my window and he said he thought I was moving too fast. I was going about 30 km/hour.
Anyway, Lake Louise, Alberta is about a 20 minute drive from Field on Highway 1. Lana's iPhone Google Maps helps navigate us to the destination and we find parking near the railway. Chilly, but not cold. Short walk to the restaurant that is indeed located inside the very busy hostel. We are seated quickly. Menu is extensive and the prices are cheaper than any other restaurants. Randy orders an elk burger and orange creamsicle float. Lana ordered a regular burger and we took 1/2 home. The meals were good, service good and the place was comfortable.
Bill Peyto's Cafe - online picture.
As I am close to finishing the blog around 20:43 Lana has retired to the bedroom. She is super tired from a very good day of hiking. The hike itself was longer than we expected, but a good start. We didn't want much elevation. The guesthouse room is in the basement and it seems pretty quiet.
No comments:
Post a Comment