For me the highlight of Alice's visit was going camping at Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park. All the guidebooks explain that Yoho is a Stoney word expressing awe, basically it's aboriginal for "wow". Going to Lake O'Hara made you see why it's not spin.


Although the weather was wet at the start, it meant snow on the mountains (and occasionally on us) which gave things even more of a Himalayan look I thought. And with our waterproof trousers of course we had nothing to fear from the elements. Truly there's no such thing as bad weather: just the wrong clothes.


On our first full day we did a beautiful hike to Lake (Dame Ellen) Macarthur. All the trails are beautifully constructed and constantly interesting whether going through the trees or up in the alpine zone. There we were joined by a number of animals particularly pika, marmots and a heard of mountain goats. Lake Macarthur is another turquoise glacier-fed lake and even on an overcast day the colour was stunning.


The campsite we stayed at was lovely. 30 sites set amidst the trees, with loos and benches and warming huts (thank god!). There were wood burning stoves in the huts and it was a nice social hub as people gathered in there to warm up, cook or dry clothes. Stories were told and advice dispensed on how to stay warm. Good advice as it turned out because temperatures dropped to -3 that night but we survived.


The temperature had dropped because of a clear night which turned into a clear day affording us a perfect opportunity to tackle the Lake O'Hara Alpine Circuit. This is a sequence of expertly constructed highlevel trails connecting the hanging valleys above the main lake. Getting up that high looked like quite an effort however. I'd changed my mind about 10 times on the previous day but folks in the hut the night before said we should go for it. So we took the direct route up to Wiwaxy gap - 1500 feet up in just over a mile! It was hard work but the payoff was fantastic. For the rest of the day we were on a fairly even trail along rock ledges, beside more fantastic mountain lakes and hemmed in by majestic snow-capped peaks

We did about 3/4 of the alpine circuit, ending on the Opabin plateau which had perhaps the most stunning view of all: Mounts Hungabee and Biddle and the green of the valley below.


If you ever think about a trip to the Rockies please think about some days at Lake O'Hara. There's the campsite, a bunkhouse and a posh lodge to choose from so there's something for everyone.