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.