Sat 7/10 - Mountains, Lakes & Waterfalls

Today's tour (starting and finishing in Banff) promised mountains, lakes & waterfalls and it didn't disappoint. Our first stop was at Lake Louise (which we had visited the previous day) but the weather was much improved and I got some better photos this time ..

Our next stop was the Spiral Tunnels in Kicking Horse Pass. The coach driver had said if we were lucky a freight train would be using the tunnels .. and we were. The tunnels are the way that trains make their way up and down Kicking Horse Pass because of the large difference in height. Early attempts to drive straight down the pass met with derailments. The solution (built by Swiss engineers) was a pair of spiral tunnels that allow the train to gain or lose height in a safe manner. The photos below show a diagram of how the tunnels work and (because we were lucky that a train arrived while we were stopped), the front of the train emerging while the back is still entering the tunnel (I did mention these freight trains are very long trains didn't I?) ..

After the Spiral Tunnels we made our way to Takkakaw Falls. The road to the falls includes two hairpin bends and the driver explained (and then proceeded to demonstrate) how coaches navigate these bends by approaching the 1st one then reversing up to the 2nd one before moving forwards again. Here's a photo the falls ..

We visited a natural bridge on our way to Emerald Lake in Yoho national park where we had lunch. The first non-indigenous person to see this lake was a Canadian guide called Tom Wilson and he named the lake because of the vivid turquoise colour of the water caused by glacial sediment aka. rock flour. Tom had discovered another lake the previous year which he had given the same name to - but once he had found this lake, the original lake was quickly renamed to Lake Louise.

After lunch we walked to where the driver had suggested was the best spot to take a photo. The resulting photo is below and from this viewpoint you can see the area where the Burgess Shales are found (a world-famous site where many early fossils have been found) ..

Our last port of call was Moraine Lake. By now the weather had deteriorated with snow beginning to fall. We had a very quick walk along the lakeside path before returning to the coach and being taken back to Banff.

Later, back at the hotel, I decided to treat myself to a red Banff hoodie which will come in useful in the coming months (if its good enough for Canada ..)