It was a clear, cool morning but as we were having breakfast we could see the cloud starting to build and we left the house prepared for a wet day. Our first stop was 'Natural Bridge' where there is a rock formation which almost dams the Kicking Horse River, causing the water to gush through a very narrow gap in spectacular fashion.
It was very windy and large spots of rain were starting to fall, but we headed on to our next destination, Emerald Lake. Wrapped up in our cagoules we set out to walk the 5.5K circuit around the lake, which, despite the cloud was a striking blue/green colour. The walk around the lake was easy and enjoyable, especially as we started to see glimpses of sunshine.
Just over halfway round we sat and ate lunch admiring the lake and the incredible mountains which surround it, then headed off again. I was just starting to think we were almost back when Jon spotted a sign to Emerald Basin, distance 3K. After a short discussion and many reassurances from Jon that it was not going to head up a mountain we set off. The first 10 minutes or so were level, but then it headed off....up a mountain! By now the sun was out and the temperature had started to climb. The first half of the hike was steep and rocky, but it levelled out after a while and we eventually fought our way through the undergrowth and made it to the 'basin'
Not sure I'd bother next time but it was good exercise and once Jon had told me to man up I quite enjoyed it.
Our final stop of the day was at Takakkaw Falls.
This is an absolute astonishing waterfall and we both loved it. Even though we did get quite wet!
The "Man up Rach!"stimulus certainly gets results! Might try that myself......
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