After the Rockwall and a night in Banff, with a much needed visit to the hot springs for some, the gaiter girls were ready for more action. Iceline – quite a name to live up to – would it deliver?
True to form, after pitching at the trail head campsite with spectacular waterfall view (more later), we tucked into a fine supper and then bolted for safety in the tents as another massive thunderstorm struck. A couple of hours reading and, for Andi and I, a game of tent basketball with Snowy. A late night walk to the Takakkaw falls. This translates from Cree as ‘It is Magnificent’. 7 times as high a Niagra falls, again, the name was no exaggeration.
We set off up the route in overcast weather, catching some good views of more glaciers, lakes and extraordinary stepped rock formations with wonderful colours, hoping desperately for a clearer day tomorrow to see it all in it’s full glory. a very soggy lunch under the tarp and possibly Little Yoho turned out to be one of the few campsites to disappoint. By this time we had been quite spoilt, and this one, having no view of spectacular waterfall, lake or glacier, seemed a little ordinary. And it was chilly and damp. In reality of course it was beautifully remote, set among the trees on the banks of a mountain stream.
And yes, better weather greeted us the next morning, hardly blue skies, but the cloud had lifted, and Iceline showed us what it was made of. Ice and rock. A walk along a wide open glacial moraine shelf, reminiscent of the Tongariro crossing, lunar landscapes with glaciers filling the bowls only 100 years ago. 710m ascent/descent to a high point, the Iceline summit at 2230m and 13km each day.
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