Emerald Lake Lodge

We just returned from a brief holiday at Emerald Lake Lodge, about 2 hours west of home, near Field, British Columbia. We traveled there with friends, Paul and Gail Murphy to enjoy the rustic charm of the lodge, its serenity and the splendour of its surroundings. The Lodge is located in the heart of what is known today as Yoho National Park. Legendary guide Tom Wilson first stumbled across this small gem of a lake – famed for its emerald-coloured waters – in 1882 during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Today, the area remains one of North America’s most outstanding, year-round accessible wilderness settings. It offers a true break from one’s usual lifestyle. If you’re expecting to remain in contact with the outside world via the internet or cellular, this may not be the place for you. One of the staff described the experience to Paul as “cyber detox”. But, if you wish to enjoy a quiet few days in a natural paradise, enjoying the outdoors and the lodge’s fine cuisine, it fits the purpose nicely.

 

The resort consists of a main lodge for dining and relaxing indoors, and about twenty-five guest cabins for sleeping. Today’s first photograph shows a typical guest cabin. This is one of the small cabins, intended for a single couple or a small family. I chose to photograph it because of it’s appealing setting and because it’s a good example of the architectural style of the guest cabins. Very cosy.

Enough about the resort itself. It’s really about the scenery; as good as you’ll find anywhere in the Rockies (my opinion). This next photo was taken looking down one of the many pathways that meander throughout the complex, leading from the main lodge to the guest cabins. You can see the faint outline of Mount Burgess in the background, looming over the resort. As you can see, it was heavily clouded while we were there and I had very few opportunities to capture good shots of the surrounding mountains. Having said that, I’m not disappointed with this picture. That’s how it looked!

I think the most scenic part of the resort is the arm of Emerald Lake on the backside of the lodge and the small creek that flows into it from nearby Peaceful Pond. It is particularly beautiful in winter. The picture was taken from the bridge that crosses the lake to reach the resort. The bridge you see in the photograph is a foot bridge, part of the Emerald Lake Circuit hiking trail.

This is the only area of the lake that remains ice free most, if not all of the winter. I couldn’t determine why, so I’ll speculate that there may be warm springs entering from beneath and that its relative shelter among the trees affords some protection from the cold. More interestingly, this open area of the lake does have ornately decorated patches of very thin ice. Atop the ice are ice crystals and crystalline formations of snow.

This picture was taken along the creek, upstream of the footbridge. It’s a very impressive accumulation of snow, clinging tenaciously to the trees, particularly the conifers. The snow clad evergreens are often referred to as “snow ghosts”.

After an active day of photography and snowshoeing on and around the lake, it seemed like time for a pause. I misjudged the reach of the bar service, so I had to trek back to the lodge before getting any refreshments. Oh well!

 

That wrapped it up for our outdoor activity at the lake. After a pleasant evening in the main lodge, we made our way home the next morning.