Yellowhead Mountain ...

Yellowhead lake from the causeway crossing the lake

The visitor information centres in Canada's national parks are fantastic.  The staff have a seemingly never-ending knowledge of the parks and always offer great advice on the huge number of hikes available.  After doing our own research into possible hikes, Mum and I dropped into Jasper's information centre to get approval for our chosen hike.  We had chosen the Edith Cavell Meadows hike but were met with a very definite marking on our map by the park staff - GBW ... Grizzly Bear Warning.  Okay, so that was off the list.  I had already done many of the other popular hikes recommended, so we decided to take the ranger's suggestion and head to a smaller trail in Mount Robson provincial park, which is actually in British Columbia.

Railway tracks near the trailhead

The trailhead

I'm not sure of the history of Yellowhead Mountain and Yellowhead Lake, but a reasonable guess may be that it is related to the stunning yellow autumn colour of the trees in the area.  We arrived mid morning and the lake was still and quiet.  The reflection in the water was beautiful.  The trail was short, just 1.3 kilometres up to the lookout but fairly steep.  We were the only people on the trail and no one had signed the register for a month.  This made us slightly nervous, given that we were in prime bear country.  Despite this, we continued on, speaking in loud voices and keeping the bear spray handy.  We paused at the lookout for a snack while we admired the view, before heading back down the trail, confident that we'd scared all the bears away.

Spindly trees on the hike

Little creek

Scouting for bears

Autumn colours and blue sky

Looking down from the view point

Admiring the view

Mother and daughter on the mountain

Looking down towards the railway

And another view

Heading back down the trail

Back at the trail head

Another view of the lake