Renowned Emerald Lake

Our first lake visit during Rocky Mountains tour was Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. The lake which was one of the premier tourist attractions made me stunning with its beauty of vivid Emerald-coloured waters. Fine particles of glacial sediment, also referred to as rock flour, suspended in the water caused the remarkable emerald color.



A wooden bridge would brought us to the hiking trail circuits, the hike around the lake, clocking in at about an hour, is one of the least strenuous but most rewarding in the park. Emerald Lake Lodge, was on the edge of the lake by the bridge, provides local accommodation. A couple was paddling a small boat/canoe when we took picture. During summer canoe rentals are available while in the winter, the lake is a popular cross country skiing destination.


An incredible breadth of geological features can be viewed from the lake, the Michael glacier, an avalanche slope carpeted by meadows where moose often graze which were created a beautiful frame to the lake. It's fall season, so the grass and bush on the hill looked more colorful. It's also enclosed by mountains, Mount Burgess and Wapta Mountain which showed snows on their peak. The lake's low elevation and its moist produces a unique selection of flora. Wet interior forests, such as western red cedar, western yew, western hemlock and western white pine could be found here.


The first European to set sight on Emerald Lake was famed guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. The lake had an impression on even the most seasoned of explorers who enjoyed the rare, peaceful beauty of the scene.


On the other side of the wooden bridge where was a small waterfall in distance, flew from river to the lake, the water color was not emerald. Anyway the scenery was still beatiful, decorated by the falling branches on the lake and the influx pines surrounding the lake mirroring beautifully to the water. Its picturesque look was made me wanna stay longer, unfortunately our tour leader was not allowed it as we still had agenda for some interesting places to visit. If I had a chance to visit Canada, surely I'll love to enjoy this place again.

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