The Iceline
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2011
1
47
113
Trip End
Jun 11, 2012
Field, British Columbia, Canada
Saturday, August 6, 2011
I raced home and got my backpack ready and rode into town to meet the group at the Community Hub at 8am. We ended up being a group of seven including Otiana and Anya from the Grand Nature Club and our driver took us out onto the highway to British Columbia. It took over an hour to get there so I had a nap in the van. The van turned off the highway near Field and drove up the narrow and tight switchback up to the base of Takakkaw Falls which is the second highest in Canada.
After a short pitstop, we hiked 3.9 kms along the Yoho River to Laughing Falls past the Angels Staircase Falls. It was pretty easy with a steady climb and we stopped for a snack. The sun was out so I made sure to put on some protection as it was a warm 23 degrees. From there the trail climbed up a few old horse trails past the wildflowers in the forest to the Little Yoho River. We crossed the bridge and past the small Marple Lake to Celeste Lake (apparently named after the First Canadian Prime Minister's wife's secretary!).
We stopped for lunch and were only disturbed by a few mosquitos (there are plenty in this country!). Continuing on, the group eventually came out in a lush alpine meadow with a view of the mountains in the background. After crossing the meadow and a small stream, the group climbed up and along the base of the lateral moraine until we discovered a few glacial lakes where the water had melted down. The trail became rocky as we traversed the upper trail along the base of the Emerald Glacier and down past rivers that seemed to disappear off the cliffs. Eventually we descended into the treeline to a nice snack spot overlooking the Takakkaw Falls and the Daly Glacier that feeds it from above.
The last section was through lush green undergrowth almost reminiscent of rainforest as we steeply descended to the valley floor whilst glimpsing the huge waterfalls growing ever larger as we closed in. We returned to the van at 4pm and I promptly fell asleep for the ride home. I managed to crawl into bed at 6pm and have 4 hours sleep before coming to work.
This was such a cool hike because of all the different sections. I definitely will be relaxing tomorrow!
Iceline Trail (elevation gain 695 m)
via Celeste Lake - 17.5 km circuit
Time: 7 hours
Takakkaw Falls: 384m (254m true freefall)
