Banff to Revelstoke

We had a leisurely breakfast, packed the car and headed off. Back on to the Trans Canada Hwy heading west, our first stop was the spiral tunnels just over Kicking Horse Pass. We waited for quite some time before  heading on again. Just enough time for a cup of coffee. No luck seeing a train. It would be an amazing sight to see a train disappear into a long loop tunnel and reappear out the other end whilst still seeing the rear of the train entering the tunnel above or below.

This is an engineering feat completed in 1908 to avoid the steep downhill track which caused so many trains to crash.

Look carefully - can you see the tunnel entrance and exit

We entered Yoho NP and drove up to Takakkaw Falls, one of the highest in Canada. The name means ‘magnificent’ in the Cree language and they certainly were. There were two mountain climbers who were about 2/3rds of the way up the rock face adjacent to the falls; just about level with the second section of the falls where the volume of water increases.

Downstream from Takakkaw Falls

The marmot in this photo was hopping from rock to log. I just caught it in this photo, in flight as it were. He found himself a patch of snow and flopped down on it to cool off. After having the animal identified at the info centre in Field they told us they are the laziest of the forest animals, doing very little but eat and sleep.

Can you spot the marmot - right of centre. 

And this is mid-summer!!!!

Next stop Emerald Lake. We had gained an hour crossing back into BC, it was still not quite midday. We decided to do the circle lake walk and take our lunch with us. This was such a pretty spot and obviously very popular with holiday makers. It was also busy because it was the weekend, but we fluked a spot not too far back along the road from the main car park.

Emerald Lake

 It was a long walk and it was also very warm, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Spot the dot in the middle of the lake - it's a Labrador having the time of his life!!!!

Driving from Yoho NP, we travelled through some very rugged territory. When we entered Glacier NP, we were still spoilt for choice in the view stakes. Before we arrived at Rogers Pass we drove through a series of tunnels cut into the side of the mountain.

There were the funny little ground squirrels again. This time, however, they were at the visitor centre at Rogers Pass and obviously very used to the human traffic. This little fellow had his hole below the steps from the cafe to the info centre!!!! But he still stood up and whistled his warning.

After a stop and a cup of tea at the Rogers Pass Information Centre, we continued on through more stunning scenery with towering peaks up to 3000m high with water gushing down every possible course it can find. This area is part of the Columbian Mountain rang., As well as mountains there are many lakes in this part of BC.

We arrived in Revelstoke around 5pm and checked in to our lodging for the night. A lovely place, which was quite a surprise as the town is only very small. We walked into town and had a lovely pub meal and took a different route back to take in some more of the town which is known for its history and restored early 20^th century buildings. It is also a very popular ski town with a big heli-skiing industry and the highest snow falls of any of the major ski resorts, including Whistler/Blackcomb.

Next post will be …. Well not quite sure as it is only a short hop to Kelowna. That may give me time to catch up.