Canadian Rockies - Day 6

After 5 nights in Banff, we decided it was time to hit the back country.  Kind of like going from Lake Powell to the Canyonlands.   Trading in noise and cars for solitude and foot traffic.  The Emerald Lake Lodge is less than hour from Lake Louise, up and over the Continental Divide and back into British Columbia.  Technically, we were now in Yoho National Park.  We tried to find a sticker for Yoho, but failed to stop at the only town/store in the park. 

Emerald Lake is about 10ish miles off the TransCanada highway on a nicely plowed road.  The final approach was something out of Alice In Wonderland.



The bridge may have led across the river to the south shore, but the FJ stayed behind in the overnight lot a mile back down the road.  Several nice Aussie kids loaded up our massive amounts of luggage and quickly installed us in a cabin beyond the trees to the left of the building in the above photo.

The Emerald Lake Lodge is really several lodges and cabins placed throughout the shoreline of the lake, devoid of cars, and surprisingly people.  The main lodge certainly had guests for the evening meal, but this place made Lake Louise seem chaotic.

The star attraction in the winter time is nordic skiing and hiking/snowshoeing.  Trails extend from the bridge out towards the lofty peaks in the background of this photo.

We ventured out shortly after arriving, and immediately felt "tough" when we heard a another couple jabber about us, "Don't those people know it's going to get dark."   Yea lady, it will eventually get dark, but the clock on my phone says it won't happen for a while yet.  Besides, we had head lamps in the Camelback.  After skiing across the lake, we skied up the alluvial flow towards the base of mountain to a nice rest stop with a view.  Okay, maybe the bench costs us a few points in the "toughness department".

We're glad to report that we made it back before dark, but not before Amy took a short cut by the bridge and sunk up to her thigh in slush.  We just haven't figured out this whole "water floats on top of the ice, even though its 20 degrees, so stay on the tracks and trails" concept.

After the Old Man flamed out in backgammon beside the roaring fire in our cabin, the hot tub called out to us.  We enjoyed a nice soak, and Wilson saved the day by laying a towel over the super slick path back into the bathhouse.The highlight was the super hot and very dry real wood sauna inside.  There's something about a real sauna that makes you forget about the snow covered trail that must be conquered to get back to the cabin.

The main lodge hosts the dining rooms and bar.  Upon check in, the nice girl told us to make reservations if wanted to dine in the main room, or we could just saddle up in the bar and pick from the same menu at a time of our choosing.  I know its hard to fathom, the two of us being comfortable in a bar, but we went that way.  This place is like a beach vacation, minus the warm temps and water, thus who wants to be told exactly when they can dine?

After a fabulous dinner of chicken and bison pastrami, we retired to the expansive lounge upstairs in the main lodge.  Snooker, anyone?  If so, can you teach us to play, or at least rack up the balls properly on the red super sized pool table.  Perhaps, it was the wine at the cabin, or maybe the wine at the hot tub, or maybe it was the beer with dinner . . . not exactly sure, but we do know that neither of us could comprehend the rules of Snooker, even though they had a handy guide.  Our insistence on playing Snooker scared off the other couple, thus we had the entire upstairs to ourselves.  It was fun to look at the old time photographs on the wall showing glimpses of the glamour days, when people accomplished something just to get to this remote place, and then revelled in it.

We read about the Emerald Lake Lodge on Sunset Magazines "Top 10 Coziest Lodges" list, and after visiting we agree with the rating. The scenery is stunning, the facilities were both nostalgic and comfortable, the food and service were exceptional. You can picture families coming back here year after year. Like a Norman Rockwell painting, or the old school resort in Dirty Dancing.

For Amy, it rates very high on the 'Oh fer Cute' scale.