Day 11: Yoho National Park

We sleep until 8 o'clock, then we pack our things and move on. After a few minutes, we reach Peyto Lake, a lake fed by glacier water. We walk the 600 meters uphill to the viewpoint and are rewarded with a beautiful view of the lake. Unfortunately, we are not alone and many tourists are crowding the platform with us. After a short time, we are back at the car. Then our path leads to Yoho National Park and back to British Columbia. Just before the town of Field, there is a small feature called the Spiral Tunnel. A railway track with a special design. The train comes from the east and wants to go west, but because the incline is so steep and the trains are enormous in length, a normal track cannot handle it. That's why spirals have been built into the rock. The train enters the first spiral tunnel, turns around and enters the second spiral tunnel to go in the right direction. We observe the spectacle from a viewpoint. Since the train is about 1 kilometer long, you can see it from almost all directions. After that, we stop at the visitor center of Yoho National Park. There, the children receive their booklets for the Junior Park Rancher. About 15 km away is Emerald Lake. We secure a spot in the front row of the crowded parking lot and start our hikes around the lake. Initially, there are many tourists again, but only a few people walk the path around the lake. The blue of the lake is once again fantastic. Exhausted, we arrive back at the car. Just a few minutes drive away, there is a Natural Bridge. We stop briefly and admire the natural spectacle. Unfortunately, the bridge cannot be seen clearly. Nevertheless, the power of the water is spectacular here again.
Afterwards, the children purchase their badges as Junior Park Ranchers.
It's shortly after 3 pm and we are running late. Our destination is Kootenay National Park. It is more convenient to make the detour to the national park now than to drive for several hours from the other side next week. After 15 minutes, we reach the path to Marble Canyon. We want to walk the 1 km to the canyon here. We get out of the car and are immediately warned that a bear is nearby, right on the way to the canyon. We don't have to wait long, as the bear appears and we see it in all its glory. It's a black bear. We observe it. The tourists who want to return to the parking lot have their path blocked, they wait together with a safe distance. But the bear takes its time and eventually the group moves forward armed with bear spray. The bear is not impressed, but it is not aggressive. It continues its walk and the tourists can pass by. We now decide to skip the hike and move on. 2 kilometers further, there is a trail to Mud Pools. In the parking lot, we find out that the route is set for a 2-kilometer tour with 40 minutes and a high difficulty level. We also decide not to do it, it is too late for a two-hour hike. So we reach the camping site in Banff shortly before 6 pm. We are exhausted from the day and retire early.