Another great Sunday Hike with some friends, along the ridge to the north of Kicking Horse Resort.  We first took the gondola to the top which saves a lot of grunt work.The  trail is an old one  that was certainly built before the resort. At a few points it is hard to tell where the trail is. After about 45 minutes  the trail basically disappears. I think a small slide wiped out the trail. From there we climbed up a slope of moss and rocks for about half an hour to the top of ridge.  The views are spectacular.  We just basically followed the ridge back to the top of the Resort and ended with a nice lunch at the Eagle's Eye Restaurant. Overall the hike is about 2 and a half hours with a few stops a long the way. 

We get a lot of wildlife in our area.  Bear have wandered through our yard at Vagabond Lodge, Deer, coyotes, as well as a number of smaller critters.  But now we can lay claim to a moose in our yard.  I was shocked the other day when I looked out our window about 9pm and saw this.  I grabbed my camera and was able to get this video.  Pretty cool.  I have been here for almost 10 years and have only seen a moose once before.  And to see one wander through taking his time was amazing. 

Another Great hike off the top of the mountain yesterday.  I went to the top of T2 which is the second peak to the south of the Resort.  It takes about 30 minutes or so from the top of Gondola. I had noticed a trail that continued along the ridge and then down and up again and decided to see what it was like.  Well it turned out to be outstanding.  I ended up on what is known as "TFar" and the views are incredible in every direction.  Overall it took me about 2 and a half hours there and back and ended up in the Eagle's Eye Restaurant for a cold beer.  
Here are a couple of panorama views I took. 
If the resort ever gets around to improving the trails this will be a "do not miss" if you are into hiking.  There are a few spots where you end up scrambling but nothing serious.  It just limits the number of people would be be comfortable on the trail.  There are no major cliffs or anything but the trail is narrow in a few spots. 

We did a great hike yesterday to Twin Falls in Yoho National Park.  This hike begins at Takakkaw Falls parking lot which is about a 40 minute drive from Golden.  You could call this hike..the "hike of waterfalls," as Takakkaw Falls is spectacular by itself...one of the highest waterfalls in North American.  An easy 40 minutes down the valley you come to Angel's Staircase Falls and Point Lace Falls(more cascades than falls) and then about 15 minute farther Laughing Falls.  We had lunch there and then it was about an hour and a half  up to Twin Falls which was pretty spectacular this time of the year.  We could have come back the same way which is somewhat easier and quicker but we took a Marpole Connector over a big rock slide but gives you a new view and a better view than through the trees.  Overall it took about 6 hours to do the round trip and we stopped for lunch for half and hour and spent about half an hour at Twin falls.  Great day.  At the base of twin falls is a old log lodge that was built by CP Rail in the early 1900s to house hikers.  It is still in operation but very rustic with no running water or electricity.  I think they have 4 rooms. 
Here are a few photos from our trip.  Along with Lori, son Kori and his fiancé Elaine were on the trip. 

One of my favorite summer hikes  at Kicking Horse is to the top of T2, which is a peak to the south of the Gondola and Eagle's Eye Restaurant. For the most part it is a relatively easy hike except for a couple of steep sections that involve more or a scramble up a dirt and rock slope.  Going up usually isn't an issue but coming down it is easy to loose your footing and go down on your butt..which I did yesterday at one point.  Hurt my pride. The views up there are so stunning in all directions and you can walk on the ridge for awhile at the top.  There is a hike you can do, that will take you back into Golden from the top too.  
Here are a few photos from yesterday.  I went with Son Kori and his fiancé Elaine.  This was after a great lunch at the Eagle's Eye Restaurant at the top of the mountain.  

One of the most amazing thing I have seen since we came here 10 years ago happened a few days ago.  Lori spotted something at the top of a huge tree across the road from Vagabond Lodge.  It turned out to be 2 tiny black bear cubs playing at the top.  They were chasing each other up and down like little monkey's.  They were up there for quite awhile while another cub and mom were somewhere in the trees feeding.  After they came down they hung around for quite awhile before moving on.  The mom and 3 small cubs have been around here off an on for the past month or so.  This video was shot by one of our guests Phil Laplante.  Thanks Phil. 

I know it is the middle of the summer but we are thinking of the Ski Season already and many of our guests and wholesalers are doing the same thing.  February is already over 40% booked with some dates sold out completely as well as some dates in January with group bookings. 
I just want to remind you we have a 10% Early Booking Discount in effect until October 31st.  Give us a call at 250 344 2622 international or toll free in North American at 1 866 944 2622 if you want to make sure you get the dates you need.  Or you can email me at ken@vagabondlodge.ca. I have posted a video I did last year to get you in the mood.  Sorry for this!!