British Columbia's Stunning Emerald Lake (and a bear sighting)

 In British Columbia's Yoho National Park - one of it's lesser known parks - there is a stunning alpine lake called Emerald. Located about 2.5 hours from Calgary, Emerald Lake offers hiking trails, canoeing, skiing and a rustic lodge to stay in. We arrived on our last morning in the Rockies to see the lake, maybe take a walk around it and also see the famous lodge. 

The area was heaving with people but somehow Mr. UR managed to find a parking space and we saw the rustic cabins, people canoeing on the lake and the servers setting up for lunch service at the cafe. The highlight of our visit was a walk around the lake with a spotting of a mama bear and her 2 cubs. We maintained a  safe distance from them - well, most of us did - and both mama and babies didn't seem to notice us at all. They were very busy eating berries and the cubs stayed close to mom.

The actual distance we were from her.

This is zoomed in. You can see one of the cubs, barely, to the left of the mom

We never made it all the way around the lake - the sun was in full force and we decided that we had seen all the good views that one more quarter of the path didn't make much difference.

Emerald Lake is gorgeous and if you're in Yoho National Park - or even near it - I'd recommend a visit. I don't think you'll regret it!

How about you? Have you been to Emerald Lake?