Lake O’Hara and Emerald Lake

A few weeks ago, I read that you can hike to a lake in Yoho National Park that only a few people visit. As a hiker or camper, you can reserve a bus that takes you to the lake. There are about 60 seats on the bus, and they are fully booked for the entire summer within 5 minutes of the reservation opening. You can also stay in a lodge or a small cottage by the lake, in which case you can also take the bus. The night costs a whopping 995 (Canadian) dollars, and you must stay for at least 2 nights. At least it includes full board. A real bargain 💰💰💰 However, the high price doesn't bother anyone here, as there are plenty of wealthy Asians, so the rooms are immediately fully booked.

The third option to see the lake is hiking. This is allowed, and if you feel like it, you can do it. Cycling, for example, is not allowed, only walking. Somehow, this lake had stuck in my head. The reports about the hike that I had read beforehand also sounded good. It's a steady uphill climb, so it should be doable. Besides, there is the option to take the bus back if it's not fully booked. Since the high season hasn't started yet, we were optimistic. And if there's no space available, we'll just have to walk back. Then it's all downhill... ⛰🏔🚶🏻‍♀️ The lady at the Visitor Center looked at Sandra and me somewhat doubtfully when we told her about our plan, but I wasn't worried. At the beginning of the trail, there were already various warning signs: the trail is long, the weather can change, and you have to be prepared to walk back as well. Off we went. The first 4 km were right on schedule, one hour. But there was already no such thing as a steady uphill climb. Up and down, sometimes steeper, sometimes less steep. The 11 km ended up taking quite a while, the km pace couldn't be maintained, but that was because of me being a bit weak. Sandra would have been much faster up there. But at least the trail was beautiful, with many views of the mountains and clear streams and green forests everywhere. Unfortunately, we didn't see any animals.

After what felt like an eternity of 3.5 hours, we finally made it. The lake is beautiful! Unfortunately, the mosquitoes also think so, and there were more than enough of them. So we had a piece of the famous carrot cake, took a short break, and hoped for our luck with the bus back. If we really had to walk 😱😱😱 We were allowed on the bus, it wasn't fully booked 🍀😄

We now believed that we deserved a reward. So we went to Emerald Lake and had a coffee in the lodge there. The lake is also simply beautiful, and the emerald green color is almost surreal. And since it was already around 6 pm, we had no problem finding a parking space and a seat in the café.

Canada is fantastic, and if you have the opportunity to visit places where hundreds of tourists from all over the world don't fight for a parking space at 8 am, then it's worth the effort. I'm happy that we hiked to Lake O'Hara 👍⛰🚶🏻‍♀️