Yoho

Sat. 20 August:  Yoho:  Twin Falls and The Whaleback

Another classic hike in the Canadian Rockies.  Or perhaps that should be the Canadian Pacific Rockies.  For it was the CP railway which opened up the Yoho Valley to tourism long ago, and it is those well-graded trails which make this such a treat for today’s hikers.  To say nothing of the more dramatic changes the railway company has made, such as blasting out one of the channels of the Twin Falls when it stopped flowing!

Today my hiking colleague J joined me for this adventure.  Another early pre-dawn start from Calgary had us passing Banff as the sunlight caught the peaks.  The sun was shining brightly as we crossed the Alberta-BC border and headed up the Yoho Valley.  This road has a couple of very tight hairpin bends, but the road was empty at this early hour.  The car park at Takakkaw Falls, however, was full of cars.  There is a nearby campsite here, and these cars belonged to the campers.  So we were actually one of the first arrivals of the day.  We had no expectation of being alone on this popular route.  As it turned out, the trail was not particularly busy, despite its widespread fame.

At the car park were some two-wheeled luggage carts, thoughtfully provided for the use of the campers in the nearby campsite, which we passed through on the way up the valley.  The trail is initially a wide gravel path, heading northwards along the valley floor.  After about two kilometers we passed the signs to some waterfalls which we would explore on our return down the trail.  The path, now a narrower trail, then started to climb gently up to Laughing Falls.  Here, beside the milky Yoho River, sits a tiny campsite, perfectly positioned across a wooden footbridge.  Just round the corner was the Laughing Falls, an impressive waterfall of about 30m height.  The trail continued up the valley, past another small campsite, and a smaller waterfall coming through a narrow gap in the cliffs.  From here the trail was steeper as it climbed towards the base of the Twin Falls, which we could now see above us.  But where were the twins?  Only one of the falls was working!  But it was spectacular enough. 

There is a perfect viewing place for the falls, which tumble down from the horizontal cliff-line high above the valley, then down a series of smaller falls to the riverbed below us.  The valley seemed to be full of waterfalls, large and small.  We later learned that, above the falls is a valley which is called Waterfall Valley, which summed up today’s whole trip.

Just down from this ideal viewpoint of the falls sits the famous Twin Falls Chalet.  Here they serve tea from noon to three in the afternoon – a taste of the old days of the CP Rail Grand Tour where wealthy English people would come up here on guided tours.  The lady who runs the chalet, Fran Drummond – whom we did not see – has been doing this job since the early 1960’s.  “Remove your Boots” proclaimed the big sign on the front door of the chalet.  A couple of guys were busy filling large containers of water from the creek and probably boiling it up in readiness for tea-time!

Our original plan was simply to hike up to this point and then hike back down.  But it was such a perfect day, and we were feeling in good shape, so we decided to tackle the Whaleback on our return journey.  The Whaleback requires a strenuous hike up steeper trails to the top of Twin Falls and then further to a spectacular viewpoint high above the Yoho Valley.  Thanks to the CP Rail trail builders, this was a wonderful hiking route.  The path was never too steep, and by multiple switchbacks it climbed up past a cliff-band and eventually up onto the high land above the falls. 

We eventually came to the falls themselves, where we could stand right on the edge of the precipice and enjoy the view back down to the earlier viewpoint at the base of the falls.  Here the lively river simply headed straight for the edge of the cliff and immediately dropped 80m (260 ft) to the rocks below.  Above the falls was one of the most scenic corners of the Rockies that I have ever visited.  A narrow footbridge spanned the river, and upstream was a valley down which the waters flowed, through a huge area of snow.  We had fun taking pictures of ourselves below the huge drifts, which looked more like icebergs, breaking off into the river.

From here it was a steady, gentle climb up to the Whaleback through high meadows and scree slopes, with stunning views across to the sharp Yoho Peak, and a series of glaciers and snowfields ranged across the head of the valley.  On Whaleback summit we met four young people who were relaxing after climbing up the steep path from Little Yoho Valley.  From here the whole Yoho Valley was displayed for us, surrounded by sharp mountain peaks and glaciers.

We were very glad to be heading down, not up, the precipitous switchbacks into the Little Yoho Valley, and offered encouragement to the young couple coming up the hill, who were looking very over-heated.  Across the valley we could see the Iceline Trail, and readily agreed that this would be a separate hike at another time.  The trail dropped down and down the Little Yoho Valley until we finally came out at the junction above Laughing Falls.  From here it was a pleasant stroll back down the trail, this time stopping to take a quick look at a couple of nice waterfalls on side trails.  Even now, there were relatively few people on the paths, so we were able to enjoy the incredible scenery.

And to finish it off was the most spectacular waterfall of them all, Takakkaw Falls, at the start of our hike.  These falls drop 380m (1246 ft) to the floor of the Yoho Valley, and are a huge tourist magnet.  Not surprisingly the car park was now full.  We had been on the trail for eight hours, during which time the temperatures had risen from just a few degrees above zero to a very warm afternoon in the twenties degrees C.  We made steady progress east along a busy Trans-Canada Highway, stopping for a welcome meal at Craig’s restaurant in Canmore.  The sun was dropping towards the horizon as we drove into the city, feeling very satisfied with yet another amazing day out in the Rockies – with grateful thanks to CP Rail!

Statistics
Twin Falls/Whaleback
Sat. 20 August
Total Dist.	21.2 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,300 ft.
Max. Elev.	7,250 ft.
Time	8 hrs. 1 min.

Other Stats.
Start hike:      8.17 am Chalet Jn.:    10.37 am Whaleback:     1.31 pm Ret. to car:      4.18 pm	Temp: rising from just above zero to the low 20’s C. Sunny, light breeze, perfect hiking weather.