Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park: The hike

What's buzzin Ladies and Gents!

Sooooo much love on my last post!! 😍 Thank you to all of the Hive community members and curation teams that made this such a nice mountain of support and engagement, it certainly warmed my heart with your reception, I swear, emerald Lake does good things to the heart!! Haha.

Obviously with 4 days spent at the resort, although sitting there staring at the lake all day and taking the same photos from a few perspective or on the balcony of my cabin wouldn't have disappointed me one bit, we did move around a little and explore once all the "too much food" dilemma was somewhat under better control after a little bit of practice and the novelty had slightly worn off.

The lake isn't only famous for it's gorgeous romantic dream destination and setting in a historic venue and fine dinning experience, most visitors with a more humble cost friendly budget do have an alternative to enjoy it's charm and serenity wtih a nice backcountry walk. Year round, countless visitors and trail enthusiasts flock to it's shores for more picture perfect reflections around the 5.1 km loop with only a 122 m elevation gain for a full 360 view and a taste of it's true wilderness.

The main hike around the lake isn't overly intimidating as it appears at first glance takes about 1 hour and a half but if you are me and stop for pictures at every bend as the landscape changes, it took me around 3 hours. I wasn't exactly in a rush since that was our ONLY plans for the day outside of food, food and more food and of course proper alcoholic drinks to wash it all down. This time I had a lighter breakfast and worked up an appetite towards a food coma later instead.

After getting covid a few years ago, it did decimate my stamina and an easy hike like this one have become more in order as I build back better on my own new found limitations. The trail is pretty popular year round and well groomed along with pretty wide to accommodate such activity. Snowshoes and cross country skiing are other popular winter activities on the trail. If on foot, I would recommend having spikes/cleats to maintain stability and grip on the sometimes icy conditions that may build up but not a necessity to enjoy fully considering the hike is mostly flat. Any age or fitness level should be able to get thru without any difficulty.

Avalanche area

The start of the hike has many side mini-trails to get closer to the shore and capture the resort in front of a gorgeous mountain setting and reflections in all it's glory, offering a different perspective than the more popular quick photographs from the bridge area. What a view!! The trail tends to disappear into the woods obstructing the lake view as it continues but many side viewpoints do reveal themselves all along the hike.

Being a glacial lake, as the glaciers begin to freeze in the fall, the water levels in the lake tend to get lower and walking directly on the shore is possible for much of the hike where it wouldn't otherwise be possible in the warmer summer months for yet another vantage point without any trees obstructing the sight. The further we get into the trail, the less popular it becomes since most enjoy the beginning and only the explorer spirited venture into it's depths, it is still bear country so being vigilant is an asset with a can of bear spray easy to access and a watchful eye.

About half way into the trail, there is a trailhead for much longer hikes that disappear behind the mountains to other coveted sights but they do require more preparedness like snacks, longer sunlight, additional water and perhaps like mentioned in the last post, better suited before the snow rolls in as there are additional avalanche risks and limited ways to call for help in the event of an emergency with no cell or internet reception compared to the lakeshore trail. Roaming the Rockies and complete wilderness does require a heighten awareness on surroundings and safety, rescues can become difficult, self rescue is always an asset and something to keep in mind.

During the winter months, it's easy to differentiate the trail and not end up lost in the forest taking a wrong turn given the less visited trail is hard to identify with lack of travel on the specified path. The lakeshore trail is commonly visited and the snow is well packed with footprints making it almost impossible to get lost as long as you just follow the path already established so even the freshmen can get adventurous without any orientation concerns.

In the colder months, the lake doesn't have quite it's emerald color that it's known for, simple explanation is as follows and quite simple. As any other glacial lake found in the Rockies, as the snow melts in the spring and summer months, a substance called rock flour gets carried and deposited into the lake. Dry it looks rather bland and boring being a light gray almost white in color fine dust but once in the water, it absorbs most colors in the light spectrum as the sun rays enters the lake and only refracts back it's green or blueish hues back to our eyes. In the fall the rock flour has time to fall to the bottom of the lake and settle, undisturbed changing it's refraction qualities. Nature is full of curious phenomenon for us to learn if we take the time.

Another scientific oddity, given the lake's water is warmer than the climate and being surrounded by mountain ranges from all sides, it creates an area specific phenomenon called micro-climate, in other words it's own climate outside of the rest of the area as moisture doesn't really have anywhere to escape so the temperature or conditions may vary from other surrounding locations and predicting the weather can be a little more unstable or inaccurate and it can be colder with unexpected snowfalls so proper clothing and a shell jacket is better suited for taking this endeavor around the lake.

As any area of the rockies various animals cab be spotted along the trail from big to small, the larger predators are generally kept at a distance as the day progress with the increasing number of hikers keeping them at bay. some of the larger predators to watch out for especially early morning or late afternoon/evening are the Grizzly bear and black bears alike along with cougars and wolves & cayotes. Elk can be seen in the area, although a herbivore, they are not looking to eat you like the others but can still be a danger. A rather large animal, larger than it's deer cousin, can get territorial, a surprise encounter can become dangerous as they tend to charge with their horns and do not fear humans.

Proper trail etiquette is to report sightings to Parks Canada along with checking the website for potential animal activity in the area before getting on the trail as an additional safety measure to avoid dangerous encounters or incidents.

Once the small bridge is reached, it's the halfway point of the hike and the rest of the trail becomes a little more "hilly" but it's not bad at all. The path appears to narrow a little going around rocks and a cliff, limiting how wide it can be. Some areas can still be walked off path and directly on the shore like the first half but some areas is better to return to the path as accessibility becomes an issue with obstructions to come to a close walking thru the resort before you finish back to the main bridge to complete the loop. You do get a complete experience of the common areas and the lakeviews we get to wake up to as cabin temporary residents...a small glimpse of the pie nonetheless!

It was my second time doing this specific hike and I enjoyed it just as much as I did the last time when we visited earlier in the fall season with little to no snow a few years back. As mentioned before, the difficulty level is minimal making this a great choice for a stunning family friendly hike suitable for children, adults and the still somewhat limber more aged visitor alike at any time of year.

Of course by now, I was starting to get a little cold despite my warm clothing, especially my feet and had worked up quite an appetite in anticipation with thoughts of the delectable menu of wild eats, desert included being the only thing on my mind at this point. We retired the explorer spirit and it was time to warm up with a nice hot shower and get ready to head over to the dinning hall by one of it's many breathtaking antique fireplaces for additional warmth. The term Beautiful British-Columbia Didn't come from nowhere. The scenery is second to none in so many locations, this is just one of many prized landscapes.

All images are taken with Nikon z6 mirrorless camera

That's it for now, Hive on! xox