Hiking, Exploring, Travel & Adventure
This trail is about as spectacular as it gets! With magnificent views across a steeply cut valley, a drop dead gorgeous glacier-fed, silt-grey river tumbling over boulders to hike along, tremendously heart-stirring waterfall vistas to take in, and toes of an ancient glacier, glinting blue, winking in and out of the clouds at you, it is truly unforgettable. This is a hike that we did this past summer, and I thought I’d revisit it here in my blog, in case there are any people planning a trip to our wonderful Rocky Mountains next year.
The Iceline trail is an iconic hike in Yoho National Park, just across the Alberta-British Columbia border, high in the Canadian Rocky Mountains near Field, B.C. It takes you up quite high, following the feet of the Emerald Glacier as its blue toes creep down the smoothly worn rock of the flanks of The Vice President and The President mountains. With the Yoho Valley far below, and views of Takakkaw Falls and the gorgeous Fairy & Daly Glaciers across the valley, it is a magnificent trail and a fantastic experience. If you are ever in the area, DO NOT miss this hike.
The trail summits at 2230m (7,316′). We took the longer route that takes you past the Stanley Mitchell backcountry camping hut, so it was a 22km day, and well worth every heart pounding, breath catching, knee straining step!
The day we went, the weather forecast looked good for the Field, BC area, so we headed out early. But, this is the mountains. Weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable and can turn in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for us this day, there was a lot of cloud, so the views played hide & seek with is, but it was atmospheric and incredible, nevertheless.
Come along with us on the trail and see what it was like that cloudy, atmospheric day in July of 2016….
It was so neat, emerging up top through the clouds. The cloud mist was like a heavy fog that gently wafted through, billowing quite thickly at times. As it passed through, thin openings would appear, revealing the treat we were in for: glimpses of the glacier’s blue toes.
We walked over rock, scratched and scoured by the movement of the flowing glacier over time. It was historic. It was epic. It was landscape that revisits me in my dreams.
One word of warning for any tourist visitors out there… the road in to Takakkaw Falls from the main highway is narrow and has very steep switchbacks. There are signs posted on the cliffs showing people in campers how to maneuver through the tight turns, with warnings to downhill vehicles to yield to the uphill traffic as the sight lines are tricky. If at all possible, take a normal vehicle in on the road up there and don’t stress yourself out with the drive because it is spectacular, and you’ll want to take it all in!
One more thing: 2017 is the year that the Canadian Government is giving free access to the national parks to all Canadian citizens. This will make the parks… and trails like this popular one very crowded, it will make roads very busy and it will see parking lots very full and possibly closed off by parks staff if overflowing. That isn’t a reason NOT to come, but you should definitely plan early morning starts to ensure that you can do what you have set your heart on doing on a given day.
This particular spot is popular because you can do a very short, two minute, exceptionally easy and flat walk from the parking lot to Takakkaw Falls and its viewing area without doing an arduous hike. As a result, it sees a LOT of tourist traffic (95% of which stays right there and doesn’t go on to do the Iceline trail). Also, there are ways to make the hike shorter than what we did, so doing the Iceline doesn’t mean having to do 22 km. It can easily be a comfortable day hike.
For a detailed account of the trail itself, and directions to the trailhead, should you want to attempt it yourself, go to Trailpeak or Hiking With Barry (a blogger that we rely on heavily for inspiration, information and hiking ideas here).
Click here for more terrific hikes in Yoho National Park. And check out more hikes from Canada and our adventures around the world here.
Beautiful pics! And it’s great that the parks will be free, but if only there were more of them to accommodate more people! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the beauty of this place. There is a TON of parkland, but it is the mountains. A lot of it is wilderness … inaccessible wilderness. And sometimes the beautiful things that people want to see are features like spectacular waterfalls that naturally occur in difficult to build road, or no room for big parking lot places. So that seems to be the bulk of the issue.
LikeLike
What a gorgeous place. I am envious. 😍
LikeLike
Thanks. We love it so much!
LikeLike
I re-read this post again after adding Iceline Trail to our list of hikes to do…weather and physical condition permitted. Such a beautiful hike.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is really spectacular. The first switchback part to get up there is sloggy, but I think it’s the best way (best direction) to do it because it gets you in the views so quickly.
Park in the main parking lot, but then walk back down the road about 300m to the hostel. The trail head for this direction begins there.
There are also ways to make this shorter, so it doesn’t need to be the 21km+ that it was for us.
We plan to head back there this summer to do the Whaleback. http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Takakkaw-loop-via-Iceline-and-Whaleback-near-Golden-BC-1181
Just be warned that this is a very popular spot… if only to get out of the car and walk 200m to Takakkaw Falls. And the parking lot is not huge. So get there early to get in. Field, BC is about 25 minutes beyond Lake Louise.
There is really no place to park, once it’s full. And don’t drive your RV in there… there’s one switch back on the road (with big instructions on how to drive it in the cliff wall) that requires a multi-point turn if you are in an RV… a nightmare, with people on the road ahead and behind you waiting for you, I think!
Have fun! I’m quite excited for you & David & for your trip here this summer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Adventuring on Snow Pillows: Emerald Lake Part 1 – Trail to Peak: The Adventurous Path