After a good night's sleep, I awoke at 5:30 a.m.  I was feeling quite cozy in my sleeping bag and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep until 6:00.  But it wasn't going to happen; minutes later, I was forced to bolt from my sleeping bag and run to the pit toilet.  "Aunt Flow" had arrived, several days early, on day two of a three-day backpacking trip.  And I was not fully prepared for it.  Oh, this was not good.  This was not good at all!

When I say that I was not fully prepared for it, I mean that I had packed only a few tampons in my backpack - after all, I wasn't expecting it to start until after the backpacking trip was over.  I wasn't even going to pack any at all; I only packed them as an afterthought.  It was a good thing that I did; otherwise, I would have been totally screwed.

Having started my morning like that, I could only imagine how the rest of my day was going to go.  I was going to need plenty of coffee to motivate me...

Unfortunately, my coffee was delayed.  The stove still wasn't working right - in fact, it was even worse than it had been during dinner.  John ended up taking it apart so that he could make some adjustments on it.  After he put it back together again, it worked a little better, but it was still wasn't quite working to par.  Perhaps, I thought, taking it apart to clean it wasn't the best idea after all.

Eventually, I had my coffee and life was good again...for the time being, anyway...

Our morning may have started off on the wrong foot, but it did get better from there.  We were very efficient in our packing and managed to have everything ready to go by 7:30 a.m.  It was a good thing, too, because we had a very long day ahead of us - six and a half miles, with over 1,600 feet of elevation change, as we had to climb up and over the Whaleback.  The sooner we got started on our hike, the better...

We set off on the trail at 7:45 that morning.  Right away, as we left the campground, the trail began to climb steadily, until we were high above the Yoho River.  The climb certainly got our blood pumping; within a half an hour, we started shedding layers.

After forty-five minutes of hiking, we arrived at the Twin Falls Chalet and Teahouse - one of many backcountry hostels in the Canadian Rockies.  We had actually considered staying there but decided that tent camping was more our style.  This hostel, like all of the others in the mountains, was built during the 1920's as a refuge for backcountry explorers and railway workers; now, it is home away from home for backpackers.

Although the teahouse was open for business, we didn't bother to go inside.  Instead, we dropped our packs next to a tree then hiked a short spur trail to the bottom of Twin Falls.  We had seen Twin Falls from the distance the day before, but this was the first time we would see them up close - which, of course, would give us a much better perspective on just how grand they were.

When we reached the bottom of Twin Falls, we were amazed at just how grand and beautiful they were.  The water fell in two chutes and tumbled down a sheer cliff face, hundreds of feet to the river below.  From there, they continued to zig-zag down through the rocks, another few hundred feet, until they reached the Yoho River Valley.  As the water poured over the rocks, they filled they air with a fine mist.  In the early morning, this mist was cold, and it kept us from lingering there too long.  We spent only five minutes at Twin Falls - long enough to take a family picture on the self-timer; then, we returned to the main trail.

Our break over, we put on our backpacks and continued along the Yoho Valley Trail.  At that point, the trail began to its long, steady climb to the top of Twin Falls.  Now, instead of climbing up the sheer cliff face (which, I can imagine, would not have been a good place to put a trail), the trail took us away from the falls and sent us up the mountainside, by way of a series of switchbacks.  At times, the trail was steep and strenuous, and it seemed like we would never make it to the top of the mountain.  However, the view from the trail was simply incredible...and it wasn't even a clear view!  The morning fog was still lingering low over the Yoho River Valley, and it looked as though we were walking above the Heavens. 

After twenty-one switchbacks (yes, we counted them), we finally reached the top of the mountain.  At that point, the trail flattened out as it led us back towards Twin Falls.  It took us about fifteen minutes to make our way through the forest, but as it was almost lunchtime, it was the longest fifteen minutes.

Our persistence paid off, and we soon arrived at the top of Twin Falls, where the water gushed forth from a glacier and tumbled over the side of the sheer cliff.  We hiked right up to the banks of the river, climbed on the large, flat boulders, and looked out at the Yoho River Valley from the edge of the cliff...or, as close to the edge of the cliff as I would get.  From that vantage point, we could see the Twin Falls Chalet below, but the rest of the Yoho River Valley was still shrouded by that morning haze that had not yet burned off. 

We took our lunch break on the boulders near the river.  While we were cooking our macaroni and cheese, we were joined by a pair of backpackers - a French couple - who sat down nearby - on the very edge of the cliff - to take pictures and to eat their lunch.  They stopped to talk to us about the haze in the air; they seemed to be disappointed by it.  Yes, it was obstructing the view, but I still think it was beautiful.

After lunch was over and the dishes were cleaned and repacked, we put on our backpacks and started hiking again.  We still had a lot of mileage to cover, including the hike up and over the Whaleback, so we needed to get moving. 

From Twin Falls, the trail took us over the bridge - where we had an excellent view of the glacier that fed the river - then immediately began the long climb up to the Whaleback.  The climb was not steep, but it was steady and seemed to go on forever.  At times, it was also deceiving; every time we crested a ridge and thought that it was the top, we would find that there was still another fifty foot climb ahead of us.  Eventually, it became very discouraging; after more than an hour of that, we were getting frustrated.

Although the hike was frustrating, the trail was very beautiful.  As we hiked along the ridgeline, we had some incredible views of the Canadian Rockies and all of the glaciers in the surrounding mountains - including the Yoho Glacier that John had visited the day before.  The trail also took us through mountain meadows that were completely covered with wildflowers - daisies, Indian paintbrush, lady slippers, bluebells, and even heather.  We even saw snow along the trail, on the rocky moraines.  Seeing all of that, we couldn't help but put our frustrations aside and just stare in awe at its beauty.

At long last, around 2:30 in the afternoon, we crested the Whaleback!  We had finally reached the highest point on the trail - an elevation of approximately 7,400 feet.  It had taken an incredible effort to get there...

...And all of it was overshadowed by my monthly visitor...for in our determination to make it to the top, I had completely neglected to deal with my issues and had badly stained my nice hiking pants.  I spent much of our break on top of the Whaleback trying to deal with the mess - and that is something that is difficult to do when you're in the backcountry and miles from a toilet and running water.  It truly added to my frustration.  Now, all I wanted to do was get to camp so that I could change clothes and clean up.

Fortunately, it was all downhill from there.  It was a steep descent - much steeper than the climb that we had just done - but at least it was all downhill.  As soon as we started hiking down from the Whaleback, we decided to make a game of it.  We each took a guess at how many switchbacks there would be; then, on the way down, we counted each switchback.  It took us an hour and approximately twenty-five switchbacks, but we soon made it to the bottom and the junction with the Little Yoho Valley Trail.

From the trail junction, it was another 2.4 kilometers or so to the Laughing Falls Campground, and they were the longest 2.4 kilometers of my life.  At that point, the hike had become a death-march.  We were all exhausted from the long hike and had destination-lust; all we wanted to do was just get there and be done with it.  Mary was crying, which only served to make her feel more tired.  And, to make matters worse, the traffic along that trail was incredibly heavy.  I don't mean one or two people here or there; I mean that there were hordes of people, some in small groups and others in groups of twenty or more, all hiking up the Little Yoho Valley Trail as we were descending.  That only slowed us down even more, as we had to stop to let them pass.  It seemed like we were never going to make it to camp.

At 5:00 p.m., we finally arrived at the Laughing Falls Backcountry Campground - and it was certainly a sight for sore eyes (and feet and knees and backs).  As soon as we arrived, we selected two campsites that were right next to each other, and we immediately went to work to set up our tents and get settled.  I also changed clothes, washed out my stained hiking pants (which, surprisingly, came clean), and gave myself and Mary a sponge bath in the icy cold Yoho River.  The water may have been cold, but after that long, hot hike, it was refreshing.

Later, around 6:00, we all adjourned to the kitchen to cook dinner.  While we were cooking, we were joined by the family we had met the day before.  They had been keeping their eye out for us and were glad to see that we had finally made it to camp.  We spent some time talking to them and told them about our adventure getting there; they also told us about their day's adventure, hiking the Iceline Trail.  We learned that they were Canadians, from Saskatchewan, and that they spent a lot of time backpacking through the Rockies.  How awesome that must be, to have that grandeur so close to your home, that you can spend your weekends there, exploring...

Soon after dinner was done and the dishes were cleaned and put away, we all decided that it was time to turn in for the night.  It didn't matter that it was 7:30 in the evening and that the sun was still shining; we were exhausted and ready for bed.  John and Mary were asleep almost immediately; I, on the other hand, was so tired that I had trouble falling asleep.  I stayed up until 8:00 then laid awake for a long time.  Eventually, my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep...

...only to be awakened at 10:00 by the distant sound of thunder.  At first, I thought I was hearing a glacier calve or a tree falling, but when it happened again, I knew that it was the sound of an approaching storm.  Soon, there were bright flashes of lightning as well as the thunder grew louder and louder.  And then, there was rain - not a very heavy rain, but enough to keep me awake as it fell noisily on the tent.  This went on for about an hour; then, the thunder grew faint again, and I was able to fall asleep once more...

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