A cloudless sky was the reward for an early start to the longish drive to Yoho. En route we espied an elk beside the fence west of the Banff park gates, he was showing off his fine set of antlers as he grazed on the lush grass. At Takakkaw Falls we were joined by the 5th participant and proceeded from the hostel trailhead in the welcome shade of the forest for main ascent of the day, trading position with the various other groups also on the trail. Eventually we left the trees behind and the trail flattened onto the post-glacial desolation below the Emerald Glacier, with views to the peaks across the Yoho Valley:

Above us the Emerald Glacier loomed on the slopes of the Vice-President with lots of meltwater pouring from it:

When we stopped for an extended lunch in a small meadow we heard a roar and looked upslope to see a chunk of the skyline cornice had broken off. It cascaded like a waterfall down the upper slopes before running out of energy above the glacier. After a nap break we went a little further to the Celeste Lake junction, crossing one of the many rock step creek crossings:

With the hot day the water was flowing strongly and on some of the crossings one had to carefully check out the sometimes unstable boulders to avoid wet feet (or worse!). We ascended a small moraine and had fine views to the south of more splendid peaks:

Eventually we sauntered back the way we had come and had more fine views of the falls and the Daly Glacier above:

On the Yoho road out we saw many tourists pulled over to get a picture of.... a coyote (a.k.a. "song dog"). It was skulking around in the area we had seen some elk in the morning.

On the drive home the "Drake effect" became very strong near Canmore so a delightful dinner (including a very delightful beer!) on the deck was enjoyed by four of the group. Participants were Barbara, Jean, Dave, David and Ron (scribe).

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