Day Three - A Saturday for Whitewater Rafting down the Kicking Horse River

On our third day we woke up a little early, we had to be at the rafting place for 8:30ish as it all began at 9AM. The drive was very scenic, lots of cliffs, beautiful rocks and more trees of course. I took some shots along the highway of cool things. Above is a picture of the rafting place we arrived at. Inside the garage was where they hung all the wet suits and other equipment for rafting. The guys working were really funny, very successful at making us all laugh and enjoy our time throughout the day. So the first shots below are the drive in, there were a few bridges and rocks to drive through, the final shot is a shot of all the gear we were suited up in. We left our camera and phones in the truck so we weren't able to take shots along the way, but there was a photographer Jacq bought some of the pics from.

We chose to do the day long raft, so we stopped at lunch time for a BBQ along the river, it was really good. The only part I didn't enjoy was the outhouse that was not cleaned for weeks, it was disgusting to pee in it, I think I gagged the full 30 seconds I was in there, and the worst part was that our wet suits were wet and they were hard to peel off our butts to actually pee! hahaha (tragic I know) I should have just peed in my suit and jumped in the river.

 

This was our group. The guys in the back of the raft were travelling from Italy, Mauricio and Richardo, I nicknamed them Maurice and Ricky. They were bouncing the raft in this shot which is why we're all laughing so much. We were a bit of a rowdy crowd (suprised?) I can't remember the other two guy's names, however they were from Sasketchewan/Winnepeg and Beaverton. We had a great crowd, the day was so fun. Perhaps the best part was doing cowboys off the front of the raft and watching the guys loose their balance and fall in. At one point Jacq and I jumped off the raft with Maurice and floated down some rapids without the raft. The water was soo cold as the river is glacier fed, I was the last one in the water but my hands were pretty much numb, I couldn't really feel them when I tried to pull myself up on to the raft.
When rafting was over we went back to the lodge, had a fire outside after stripping down and putting our dry cothes back on, had a beer and chatted with everyone. I so meant to get the other two guys names who rode motorbikes across Canada each summer but somehow forgot to do so.
Jacq and I left, we went back built our own fire, made yummy sausages and relaxed. It was hands down one of my favourite days. Here are some more shots. The next day we packed up and headed to Jasper, stopping at other major highlights along the way. :)

Action shot - we were in front on the first part of the trip

 

Going under the Bridge

Emerald Lake Pt. 2 - Long and overdue

So sorry for flaking out on these posts. I haven't had time since I've been back to actually write, spent last week in Penetanguishene, ON for a job (I know, the luxury!).

Continuing on, Day 2 in the rockies. I left off at Emerald lake, and some of the shots from the hike around the lake. Still, probably my favourite "scenic" days of all. We also canoed around the lake - here is a pic of Jacq with her canoe club skills :)





On the way back from Emerald lake we stopped at Takkakaw Falls, we had to climb this ridiculous road/mountain on the way in the truck, it was literally terrifying! The road zig-zagged up the mountain and it was full of hair-pin turns (So tragic) I think it would be super fun in a mini, but not in a big truck, you feel so high off of the ground. Truth be told, I may have discovered a little fear of hights during this drive that I never knew about. Kudos to Jacq for driving it, I would have parked and walked it - LOL. Below are some of the shots from that portion of the day.


Tunnel in the mountain along river



Takakkaw Falls



Takakkaw Falls



Bridge you walk across to get to the falls.



Crazy drive up the mountain!

After our adventure to the falls, we drove back to Lake Louise campground and set up our camp, it was spitting a little bit so we quickly put the tent up (tried to smash the pegs in but it was more rock than the first camp ground so they went half-way - LOL). I chopped a bit of the wood for later or the next night as we were staying at this camp ground for two nights. We sat back for a bit under the tent's fly that pulled out from the door, had a Twisted Tea and planned out our next move. Jacq was much happier because this campground was fenced in, no bears getting in! We regrouped, got our bags together for a nice hot shower, got dressed up and went for an amazing meal at the Emerald Lake Lodge. There was a wedding reception at the cafe (next to the lodge), so they had nice flower baskets hanging. Here are some shots of our amazing meal, some canoers on the lake and the river we crossed to get to our campsite.

At reception when you walked in to Lodge (beautiful!)

 

My Appetizer -Roasted King Scallop, Cucumber, Fennel, Citrus & Watercress Salad

 

               Jacq's -  Heirloom Tomato, Warm Goat Cheese Tart, Arugula & Basil, Olive Oil, Aged Balsamic



Jacq's main -

       Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Roasted Shallot Potato Mash,Charred Spring Onion, Morel Mushroom Veal Sauce



Mine -

                       Seared Northern Caribou, Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Terrine,Summer Fruit Game Glaze

Bow River - running along our campground at Lake Louise

As you can imagine, this was a full day for us. LOL - so after our grand meal we crashed. We rose early for white-water rafting in Golden, BC - Stay tuned.... :)

Emerald Lake - A true Gem in the Rockies

Our second day in the Rockies began early. It rained over the course of the first night so when we woke up we had to pack our tent up somewhat wet and get on our way. We stopped at Two Jack Lake to take a few photos as well as Lake Minnewanka.

Two Jack Lake

Mama and Baby Big Horn Sheep

Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka

Fairmont Banff

Our intenerary was to hit Emerald Lake, do some canoeing around the lake, leave, set up our camp at Lake Louise Campground then go for a small hike or sight-see and then head back to Emerald Lake Lodge for a mouth-watering meal. Since we had a bit of a drive from Banff, we stopped at Starbucks in Banff for a latte, went up to Fairmont Banff to check it out, and were on our way. You can stay at the Fairmont in the summer if you want to pay $499/night. I'm not really a hotel person, so it's not an option for me when I'm in the outdoors, but for those who need the fresh linens, showers and hot meals I'm sure you can't go wrong here.
We stopped at the Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park (the full day was spent in this Park). For a description of the falls you can visit http://www.field.ca/yohonationalpark/naturalbridge/ it's on the Kicking Horse River in Field, BC.  Below are some of the shots of the mountains on the way to the Natural Bridge as well as the Natural Bridge - this was one of my favourite places. We ate our breakfast on the rocks - Yogurt Parfaits (delish). Beat the traffic and busy people by going early to see the falls, you'll get better shots for sure.

Top of the Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge, Field, BC (sorry for the smudge on the lens)

Looking through part of the bridge

watching the plunging water through the rock

Most beautiful shot for the morning

So after we hit up this amazing splendor of the morning, we went right to Emerald Lake. I have a lot of shots from the time we spent there so I will try to keep them to a minimum. We first hiked around the lake which took approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours, the sign says about 3, but we're quick because we were blessed with long legs (LOL) Jacq may be the only girl of my friends and fam who has longer legs than me :P They can come in handy, but also be somewhat of a challange haha (like being couped up in vehicles for longstanding periods) I don't know how super tall people do it.

Anyhow, here we go, please enjoy these shots as much as we did by being there. It did rain for part of the hike, it quickly cleared. The weather changes almost with the drop of a hat in the rockies, which is nice. Theses shots are from the walk around the lake (very flat, not much elevation) as well as the lodge view, canoeing etc. There were some pretty neat species of berries and mushrooms along the walk.

Jacq figuring out the distance and where we are headed :)

 This was by far the most impressive of all the lakes we had visited. I know there are more to come, but just the colour and the stillness. All the wildflowers and everything encompassing the lake really takes your breath away. You could grab some fold out chairs and just sit watching the lake and it's surroundings all day. Well I could anyway (lol) and I'm not really one for sitting.

 

 The above are shots where we were just getting started. The benches have a really rustic feel, very suiting to the lake :) On to more shots.

Indian Paintbrush

Woodpecker

Thimble Berry - first time seeing these!

One of the lodges you can stay in at Emerald Lake Lodge

Ok so on second thought I will need to split this day into two posts. There are so many beautiful pictures and I want to add them to the blog. They are a bit time consuming to go through and pick out which ones to add/upload. I have too many VIP things to do today and I don't want to rush my day (my last day with Amanda...boo hoo)! Stay tuned for day 2 in the Rockies...