What a difference a good nights sleep, a hearty breakfast and fresh air makes! After yesterdays’ travel yuckiness, we were encouraged to see sunshine painting the mountains from our bedroom window.
Everywhere you look there’s a gigantic, rock-faced mountain…in all directions…pretty cool to be right in the thick of things.
We had a lovely breakfast of homemade cinnamon bread, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, and potatoes. We met a lovely couple at breakfast who are here on their honeymoon from Australia. Hearing about their seven-week mountain biking vacation shared with several friends made us a tad envious of their ability to travel…3 weeks a year is inhumane.
We packed our hiking bags, loaded the car, and…oh.my.god…guess who locked the keys in the trunk of the rental car? This chica. I blame the fact that I have an SUV that doesn’t do such stupid things (there’s no separate trunk latch…in order to get into the trunk, one must unlock the entire vehicle. Panic and anger set in, realizing that today was in fact, off to a horrible start. Thankfully, by some miracle, roadside assistance was covered by our rental agency (otherwise we would have pulled out that AAA card). Within 30 minutes, a very humorous Canadian was inflating those little balloon bags and sticking bent wires in through the door frame while informing us that his manual only goes through 2012, while we have a 2013 rental car. Nonetheless, within about 10 minutes, we were back in the vehicle. Thank you Mr. Tow Truck man – you REALLY saved the day! So within the span of an hour, we went from happy day, to the end of the world and then back on the road cruising towards Banff, taking in the scenery.
We were greeted at gate by a Parks Canada Ranger who had a very funny way of saying “Hello/Bonjoooouuurr” – imagine a stoner/hippie dude trying to speak French because he had to. We bought our annual park pass and were on our merry way….until…wait…where’s the park map? Oh well, let’s keep driving. Oh shoot…where the hell are we going…meltdown ensues – this is day 2 of being without any sort of mobile device with an internet connection and it’s still somewhat crippling at times. Oh well, let’s consider it a healthy exercise in disconnecting. (We do have WiFi at night, so not totally). By some stroke of pure luck, however, we saw a sign for Johnston Canyon, which was on our list of “to-do” hikes. Our guidebook warned us of the hoardes of people we would encounter, as it’s a popular (read: easy) hike (at least to the Upper Falls). Compared to American National Parks, I’d say the crowds were still only half as big (I mean that in more ways than one). We sped past most of the lookouts that were filled with people and made our way to the part of the trail that most people never reach – the gentle uphill climb to the Inkpots.
The Inkpots are located in a beautiful meadow surrounded by ginormous mountains and with a crystal blue stream running through them (the stream that cuts the canyon below and forms the nice waterfalls we passed on the way up. The Inkpots themselves are cold-water (4 C) springs that bubble up out of the ground and are a brilliant blue colour (…when in Canada)….hence their name. We spent a good hour taking in the scenery and making many time-lapse videos with the GoPro. JD can’t wait to process that footage!
The way back down was a bit easier, as it was mostly downhill and the crowds had vanished, leaving us many unobstructed views of the canyon and waterfalls. We enjoyed getting to take as many photos as we liked. We got back to the car parched and hungry, so we headed into Banff for some pizza. Too many tourists in Banff, but luckily, a passing rainshower dispersed many of them. We drove up to the Fairmont and decided to make our way back home to Canmore. We picked up some supplies, and I had a great appreciation for the USA when contemplating the world of Canadian peanut butter (Skippy does not exist in Canada for $2.47 a jar =( Oh well…peanut butter is our hiking food of choice thanks to the fact that it doesn’t spoil and tastes so darn good. We enjoyed some tea and coacoa out on the porch, freshened up with some local soap we purchased this evening and, I personally, cannot wait to get some rest in preparation for our planned hike in Lake Louise tomorrow =) Fingers crossed for no rain tomorrow – the forecast is spotty and judging by the howling wind outside, it sounds like something is rolling in over the mountains….
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