Yoho National Park

In which Moominmama finally arrives in the Canadian Rockies and enjoys a land made beautiful by its proximity to glaciers...

Moominmama's first hike in Yoho National Park was to Emerald Lake, pictured above. Like much of the water here, it's a piercing blue-green, sometimes clouded by glacial silt, known as rock flour. That's thanks to this guy here, Michael Glacier, barely visible through the clouds, which feeds Emerald Lake. 

Moominmama is on the western side of the Rockies, staying in a town in the valley between the Columbia range and the Rockies, where the Kicking Horse River (popular for its rapids) merges with the grand Columbia.

The Kicking Horse also has the mark of glaciers in its waters, the milky green of fast-moving water that keeps the pale rock flour churned up as it flows. Moominmama has seen this on the eastern side of the Canadian Rockies in the famous Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise areas east of the Continental Divide.

This time, the goal is to see some of the national parks on the western side of the Divide, which included Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks last week, now Yoho and next Kootenay.

Enjoying a landscape once full of glaciers is awe-inspiring each time. There are times I can scarcely believe my eyes. Take Takakkaw Falls, named from the Cree word for "magnificent." It gives Yosemite Falls a run for its money, even if it's only half as tall.

From below, you don't see the rocky folds or the water's source: the Daly Glacier at the top. I took this picture while climbing a trail opposite the waterfall, one called Iceline Summit, that took me close to what remains of the Waputik Icefield.

This trail traverses an area where glaciers have only recently retreated so it looks like a barren Martian landscape once you get above tree line. But the meltwater is pooling in impromptu blue-green ponds, and the piles of scree and rock form ridges so you can see where the glaciers pushed the landscape as the ice grew and shrank over the years.

Moominmama happened to be on her way back when she saw a group of college-age hikers filing up one of these ridges. I snapped a picture and then found one of them who had an Airdrop feature to share the image via our phones. Technology has its advantages!

Not long ago, this trail took hikers right alongside the glaciers. Not anymore. But it's still a spectacular hike because they are still close by. 

The landscape is rocky and barren in most spots, but Moomminmama found dwarf fireweed, which is one of the first flowers to take root in a post-glacial landscape, fixing nitrogen and helping to build a soil that will allow other plants to grow. 

Once these and other hardy plants and bushes take root, hemlock trees are typically the first trees to find a home, and over time, the barren rock will be covered in greenery. Moominmama sees this transformation with mixed feelings! The glaciers have to retreat to allow it to happen...

Nonetheless, fireweed is one of Moominmama's favorite flowers. The much taller variety of fireweed is also found in forests after a fire, again bringing life and beauty back to an area, contributing to its regrowth.

It seems foolish to try to put words to most of these images from the Iceline trail. They speak for themselves. So I'll leave your with a few favorites from the Iceline trail. At the bottom is a photo of the more common fireweed, in an area now recovering from fire.