{"id":257,"date":"2015-03-26T07:46:18","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T13:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2019-04-09T21:49:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T03:49:32","slug":"iceline-trail-high-point-yoho-national-park-canada-7-26-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=257","title":{"rendered":"Iceline Trail High Point, Yoho National Park, Canada (7-26-14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iceline Trail above tree line high up on the south side of Yoho Valley in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada features tremendous views of glaciers, 260 meter high (850 feet) Takakkaw Falls<\/a><\/span><\/strong> from across Yoho Valley, and a splendid assortment of impressive peaks of the rugged Canadian Rockies.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP both strongly recommend this wonderful medium to long day hike.\u00a0 Be prepared for plenty of company on\u00a0pleasant days.\u00a0 The Iceline Trail is deservedly very popular.<\/em><\/p>\n

On this day’s hike\u00a0Lupe and SPHP started from the Takakkaw Falls parking lot off Yoho Valley Road.\u00a0 The Yoho Valley Road is accessed from Trans-Canada Hwy 1 a few miles NE of the little community of Field along the Kicking Horse River.\u00a0 Yoho Valley Road is paved, but has a couple of exceptionally sharp hairpin curves.\u00a0 Taking long vehicles (motorhomes, trailers) up this road is inadvisable.<\/em><\/p>\n

A mist hung in\u00a0the air when Lupe arrived at the Takakkaw Falls parking lot around 8:30 AM.\u00a0 Temps were already comfortably into the\u00a040’s F.\u00a0 Lupe headed N on the Yoho Valley Trail and was soon out of the mist.\u00a0 Away from the mist of the falls, the sun was shining in a brilliant blue sky between puffy white clouds and quickly warmed things up.<\/p>\n

The Yoho Valley Trail starts in the forest, comes out into a bit of open rocky ground, and then disappears into the forest again as it heads up the Yoho River valley.\u00a0 Although the trail parallels the river, it is far enough W of it so that the river is seldom visible.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near Laughing Falls on the Little Yoho River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe stopped by Laughing Falls for a couple of photos.\u00a0 Not far beyond Laughing Falls she took the Little Yoho Valley Trail heading W in the direction of the Stanley Mitchell hut.\u00a0 This trail climbed through the forest much more steeply with numerous switchbacks.\u00a0 Lupe passed the Marpole Lake Trail and before too long again came\u00a0upon the gorgeous icy blue Little Yoho River.\u00a0 A\u00a0short hike in the forest above and along\u00a0the river brought Lupe to the Celeste Lake Trail, which crossed the Little Yoho River via a good bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe takes a look at Celeste Lake in Yoho National Park, Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across the river, the Celeste Lake Trail headed SW towards Celeste Lake.\u00a0 The Celeste Lake Trail continued climbing, but without many switchbacks. \u00a0Celeste Lake proved to be a pretty emerald green color and a larger lake than it first appeared.\u00a0 It had two parts to it hidden from each other by a peninsula jutting out into the lake.\u00a0 The trail passed just E of Celeste Lake and offered some nice views of it.\u00a0 Once past Celeste Lake, the trail turned to the SW again and continued climbing.<\/p>\n

\"Along<\/a>
Along the Celeste Lake Trail above Celeste Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually the Celeste Lake trail turned NW as it started to get near tree line.\u00a0 Soon it took another turn to the SW where the trail left the forest and came out into a fairly level area of green meadows full of wildflowers. \u00a0Thin forests rimmed the meadows.\u00a0 Just beyond and above them to the W were huge piles of loose tan rocks below the solid rock and glacier-covered slopes of The Vice President<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(10,095 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The trail headed down a bit into the meadow, turned NW again, and working its way to the W edge of the meadow reached the base of the loose rock piles.\u00a0 From there the trail headed SSW steadily climbing the rock piles.\u00a0 Before long it turned W and reached the intersection with the Iceline Trail.<\/p>\n

Down along the Yoho Valley Trail there had been some hikers, but along the Little Yoho Valley and Celeste Lake Trails there had been very few.\u00a0 There were hordes of people along the Iceline Trail though.\u00a0 Among the throng Lupe met a 74 year old man from San Diego whom she had seen twice before in the past day or two.\u00a0 He was quite friendly and had suggested the Sherbrooke Lake<\/a><\/span><\/strong> trail the previous day, which Lupe had taken.<\/p>\n

This man\u00a0had left San Diego in April or May and was traveling (apparently alone)\u00a0in his RV and hiking trails all over the western USA and Canada.\u00a0 He said he wouldn’t head back to San Diego until November.\u00a0 (Now that is a mighty fine way to spend half a year!)\u00a0 SPHP dawdled along the trail chatting with this interesting gentleman, but never had the presence of mind to get any contact information from him.\u00a0 While Lupe waited for the conversation to end, at least other doggies came along the Iceline Trail for Lupe to sniff with.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the rock pile which is the high point along the Iceline Trail. Mt. McArthur<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,911 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> (center left) and Isolated Peak<\/a><\/span> (9,262 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> (center right) are separated by a huge snow\/ice field.\u00a0 The Little Yoho River valley is also in view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The high point along the Iceline Trail was not far to the N from the intersection with the Celeste Lake Trail.\u00a0 A relatively short walk took Lupe over there.\u00a0 A spur of the Iceline Trail climbs up on a tall pile of loose rock a short distance to the E of the main trail.\u00a0 This tall rock pile was Lupe’s goal for the day and she was soon there.\u00a0 A\u00a0few people were up there when she arrived and\u00a0more kept coming and going.\u00a0 Lupe rested, had some Taste of the Wild, plenty of water, and relaxed while snapping at a few annoying flies.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
View to the S from the Iceline Trail towards the mountains in the Lake O’Hara\u00a0and Lake Louise region.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mt.<\/a>
Mt. Balfour<\/a><\/span> (10,774 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> (center) looms above Trolltinder Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,554 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> (sharp peak below and to the\u00a0left).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The views from the high point were splendid in every direction. \u00a0Immediately to the W were The Vice President and The President<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(10,246 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0although their summits were out of line of sight. \u00a0To the N across Little Yoho Valley were Mt. McArthur, Isolated Peak, and Whaleback Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(8,586 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0To the E across Yoho Valley were Mount Balfour, Trolltinder Mountain, Lilliput Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (9,449 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, Mount Daly<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (10,039 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> and Mount Niles<\/a><\/span> (9,751 ft.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Parts of the Emerald Glacier, Yoho Glacier and Daly Glacier were in view plus many other snow and ice fields clinging to the mountains.\u00a0 To the S down the Yoho River valley and across the Kicking Horse River Valley were the high snow-capped peaks W of Lake Louise and Lake O’Hara.<\/p>\n

\"Mt.<\/a>
Mt. Daly (left center),\u00a0Mt. Niles\u00a0(right center)\u00a0and Takakkaw Falls from the Iceline Trail, Yoho National Park, Canada.\u00a0 The Daly Glacier (far left), part of the Waputik Icefield, feeds Takakkaw Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe stayed at the high point enjoying the views for at least an hour, while others came and went.\u00a0 Sometime between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM, it was time to head back down.<\/p>\n

On the way back, Lupe took the most direct route back to Takakkaw Falls, which was to follow the Iceline Trail past the Celeste Lake Trail and Ridgeline Trail (which goes to Yoho Lake).\u00a0 Instead, she just headed straight on down a steep trail with many switchbacks that leads to the Whiskey Jack Creek area, and the hostel near Yoho Valley Road. \u00a0Lupe was back to the Takakkaw Falls parking lot before 6:00 PM.\u00a0 Another day well spent in the Canadian Rockies!<\/p>\n

\"Takakkaw<\/a>
Takakkaw Falls and the Yoho River, Yoho National Park, Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In July, 2013, Lupe had previously\u00a0reached the Iceline Trail high point via another route, approaching from Emerald Lake and Yoho Lake.\u00a0 Click here<\/span><\/strong><\/a> to see Lupe’s post on that adventure!<\/em><\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Takakkaw Falls, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada (7-25-13)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Emerald Lake, Yoho Lake & the Iceline Trail High Point, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada (7-24-13)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2014 Canadian Rockies & Beartooths Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Iceline Trail above tree line high up on the south side of Yoho Valley in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada features tremendous views of glaciers, 260 meter high (850 feet) Takakkaw Falls from across Yoho Valley, and a splendid assortment of impressive peaks of the rugged Canadian Rockies.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP both strongly … Continue reading Iceline Trail High Point, Yoho National Park, Canada (7-26-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[105,79,30,31,106,237,104,58],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2014-canadian-rockiesbeartooths","tag-american-dingo","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canadian-rockies","tag-carolina-dog","tag-iceline-trail","tag-lupe","tag-yoho-national-park"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SDC11758.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21768,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/21768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}