A Walk in the Past

That's the name of the hike that begins in the Kicking Horse Campground in Yoho National Park and tells the story of why Kicking Horse Pass is a National Historic Site. Back in 1871, the fledgling Dominion of Canada had a dream of connecting their new nation from sea to sea, but in order for British Columbia to join the Dominion, a railway had to be built to link the new province to the rest of Canada. The current Kicking Horse Campground, where we are in site #80, is the location of the Canadian Pacific Railway workman's camp where the men who built the railroad through near  impassible terrain, lived in canvas tents.

James Hector of the Palliser Expedition explored this area in 1858 and was convinced it was too steep and rugged for a railway. The river and the pass were named after Hector was kicked in the chest by his horse about 15 miles south of here. But in the 1870's and early 1880's, surveyors picked Kicking Horse Pass because it is more directly connected to the Pacific coast and reinforced Canadian sovereignty near the American border. Today the pass continues to provide a vital link for the railway and the Trans-Canada Highway, both of which we can sometime hear above the roar of the Yoho River that rushes past our campground.

The mountain slope above our campground is called the "Big Hill", with a 4.5% grade, double the usual maximum, one of the most formidable slopes in railway construction history. It was built as a temporary solution until the Spiral Tunnels were built and with frequent break inspections, a downhill speed of 6 mph and 3 runaway lanes, passengers and goods travelled safely on the Big Hill for 25 years.

After we hiked up the equivalent of about 40 flights of stairs above the campground, we came to the Canadian Pacific railway main line still in use today. (The views around Kicking Horse Pass and campground are vertical .)

Walking a portion of a service road that follows the route of the historic "Big Hill" rail bed.

This abandoned locomotive was used during the construction of the Spiral Tunnels in 1907 - 1910.  The Spiral Tunnels solved the problems of the Big Hill. 

The route was lengthened and the grade reduced to 2.2%. Still in use today, each tunnel gradually climbs and forms a loop before emerging higher up the mountain. It took 1,000 men, 75 railway cars of dynamite and $1.5 million to build the engineering marvel called the Spiral Tunnels. Crews excavated from both ends and met in the middle with an error of only 2 inches. 

When we got back from our hiking history lesson, we took a beautiful trail, called the Centennial Trail, along the shore of the Yoho River, on the other side from the campground.

Along the way we saw this charming inukchuk, complete with hands!

Mount Stephen, one of several peaks that loom over the campground. This is looking north, up the river.

Looking south

This huge rock sits in the middle of the river with Cathedral Mountain in the background.

Across from the entrance to the campground are the Cathedral Mountain Chalets and Lodge. However, that is Mount Stephen behind the roof of the Lodge.

Our Airstream in the campground below Cathedral Mountain.

Meet Chris and Melinda Wall and...

their Airstream! They are in a site just down the row from us and we had a lot to talk about. And, they are Hoosiers, from Terre Haute, Indiana.