Yoho – August 12th – 13th, 2016

On Friday morning, we headed into Yoho National Park and saw Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge on our way to go white water rafting on the Kicking Horse River. The immeasurable mass of tourists at Emerald Lake was just a taste of what was to come at the rest of the famous lakes the Canadian Rockies offer. White water rafting was a blast! Being a glacier-fed river the water was very, very cold but felt very refreshing in the hot and beating sun. Being a princess in life, we thought it only appropriate that I take a turn being the princess on the boat. The princess is a person who sits in the very front of the boat and stretches beyond the bow, just like in the Titanic. Although you don’t have to paddle, you do get blasted in the face with all of the waves. Leaving the roaring river unscathed, I figured it was only appropriate that I eat shit getting out of the bus, resulting in a properly bruised arm.

Natural Bridge in Yoho.

Rafting the kicking horse. I am the princess in the front and Andy is hidden behind the guy to my right.

Photo taken right after the previous shot, I am engulfed in a wave.

The raft company, Alpine Rafting, has a piece of property along the river that they let you camp at for free. So after getting some ice cream, we set up camp and relaxed for the afternoon/evening. Handy Andy fixed an assortment of things on the van, while I watched a horrible movie (if you haven’t seen 10 Cloverfield Lane, DON’T). The intermittent windshield wipers, windshield washer fluid pump, driver’s side door handle, and air vents now work. GO ANDY!

The next day we took in more of the sights Yoho has to offer. There is the tallest waterfall in the Canadian Rockies (Takkakaw Falls), a pretty amazing freight train spiral loop cut into the mountains, and a historic walk through the old Trans-Canadian Railway “Big Hill” which existed before the spiral tunnels (this walk included seeing an abandoned train from the 1800’s that helped build the spiral tunnels), then returned to the free campground for the night.

Tukkakaw Falls in Yoho.