[G8trGr8t]

Lake O'Hara Yoho National Park Alberta..beautiful hike, best hike we took in Canada but it is limited use area so you have to make reservations months in advance.

my then barely 8 year old son took one misstep on one of those benches in the snow and slid down the snow covered slope. I jumped on my bottom and starting pushing myself down till I caught him and tried to slow us down as we slid into a stand of small trees. appx 30 feet below where we stopped, there was a 50 - 60 foot vertical drop. worst scare I have ever had, felt like i had put my family at risk and risked my son's life. will never make that mistake again. if/when we hike that kind of terrain again, he will be roped in and I will get an ice ax from somewhere. In my defense, the rangers told us it wouldn't be a problem taking that trail but after a full day of sunshine on the snow, the bench that everybody had been hiking across got soft and that was all it took.