Canadian Rockies Day 5: Yoho National Park

Today we had an early start to fit in all the hiking we had planned to make up for yesterday’s lack of excitement. After eating about three times a normal breakfast (for Audrey at least,) we headed out to Wapta Falls, just inside Yoho National Park. It was about 5 degrees C when we stated, and the chill felt nice with our fleeces on while walking through some beautiful forests. It was a fairly short and level walk out to the viewing point for the falls. The falls were so fierce, that the spray they put off was quite impressive. The sun was still coming up over the mountains – the peaks are so tall that even when it’s light outside, it still takes quite a while for sunlight to make its way over the peaks. We had the falls mostly to ourselves, which was really a neat feeling. I was worried that with it being Labor Day weekend and all that the parks would be mobbed, but my goodness, Canadian Parks don’t even compare to US National Parks. (Sorry America). There is no traffic, no hoardes of people, no idiots feeding the wildlife that they’re supposed to be keeping wild. Don’t get me wrong, we have some awesome parks back home, and the minute you go on anything longer than a 5-minute “hike” you can escape the crowds, but it’s just such a breath of fresh air to feel like you’re the only people in the worth soaking in the natural beauty. But I digress…

Second stop of the day was the visitor center to pick up a handy park map (we are doing all this sans cell phone – it’s quite liberating!!!) and some friendly Parks Canada Ranger advice. We were thinking of doing the Iceline Trail, but since we had just hiking Plain of the Six Glaciers two days prior, the Ranger recommended heading towards Burgess Pass instead for some “wide open” views. Sounds great – the only catch is that Yoho NP is home of some serious elevation changes (thank you glaciers!), so we were in for a dousy no matter which hike we chose. We parked near the Whiskey Jack Hostel at the foot of thundering Takakkaw Falls and quickly became familiar with elevation gain. The first initial climb was probably no less than 500+ meters. The switchbacks were rough, but thankfully, after the initial climbing hell was over, the trail leveled out nicely.

We passed through some nice forests and meadows before arriving at Yoho lake. We decided to have lunch while taking in the towering mountains and brilliantly-colored waters. We then headed off to Burgess Pass (or at least as far as we could get by 4pm, at which point, we’d need to take our vista pictures and turn around to head back down to ensure we’d be back to our car before dark. I must say, the climbing was worth the reward – the vistas of soaring mountains topped with glaciers that fed into waterfalls, and Emerald Lake glistening below were sights to behold! The hike was mostly exposed at this point, and it was a tough balance between minding where you put your feet on the narrow, rocky path that drops of precipitously on on side and wanting to look all around to soak it all in. JD made some really awesome stitched panoramas that were our best effort of capturing the “wow” factor of this hike.

The hike back down was pleasant as the sun was setting on the mountains beside us. This hike definitely leaves one feeling with a pretty awesome sense of accomplishment and a good dose of motivation to continue to hike (although our mountains back home aren’t quite as grand =( as well as stay in shape so hikes like this are even an option. Hikes like this one are DEFINITELY worth taking a vacation for!

On the way home, we saw some mountain goats just chilling on the side of the road, but it wasn’t safe to stop, seeing as we were barreling downhill coming out of the mountain pass that is Yoho NP. We hope to catch some more glimpses of the mountain goats as we make our way up into Jasper NP tomorrow!

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Canadian Rockies Day 4: Columbia Wetlands

Today was a rest day from all that hiking – our legs and feet needed a break, so some paddling in the nearby Columbia Wetlands seemed to be the perfect fit. The Wetlands came highly reviewed, with promise of seeing lots of wildlife while taking in some awesome scenery. The outfitter we used was a family-run operation, and they were really passionate and knowlegable about the Wetlands. They shuttled us and our two person canoe upstream and provided us with a map for navigating our way back to their docks.

The day started out cloudy, but thankfully, the clouds soon gave way to sunshine and the mountains appeared from behind the fog. We took care to go very slowly, so as not to disturb any wildlife. Alas, our efforts were met with only moderate success – the wildlife highlights included an elk that jumped into the river momentarily in front of us, a few ducks, one heron and one eagle. That was the sum total of the wildlife spotted in the wetlands. Kinda a bummer, but looking back on it, maybe middle of the day wasn’t the best time to go for a float trip. We wish somebody had informed us of such, but oh well…the scenery was nice. After 6.5+ hours in that canoe, however, our butts and backs had had enough and we made our way back to Golden.

We had hoped to catch a ride on the Kicking Horse Ski Resort Gondola for a nice evening lookout, but they closed at 4:30 =( At the very least, I wanted to see their resident Grizzly bear, Boo, who lives in an enclosed area on their property. Thwarted in so many ways, we were kinda bummed, but things were soon made better when we went to the local supermarket and had a rotisseire chicken and fresh salad for dinner while sitting in our car outside the laundromat, waiting for our stinky hiking clothes to be clean again. We drove around town and discovered that Golden has a good bit of charm. It’s a blue-collar working town with lots of railway and logging activity, but all the locals we have encountered are so friendly and welcoming. We’re happy to call it our “home” for three nights. We’re staying at a B&B right in downtown that has comfy beds, fantastic breakfast, and the nicest, most helpful hosts. Thus, putting the lack of wildlife on the float trip aside, it was still a scenic day spent in a nice little nook of British Columbia!

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Canadian Rockies Day 3: Lake Louise

Today’s weather certainly matched our destination du jour…what’s better on a rainy day than a hot cup of tea? I will explain…

We started by stopping by the Fairmont Banff Springs for a look around one of the nicest castles…er…hotels around. Exploring the grounds and the interior were both amazing and the pictures don’t do it justice.

We then headed up to Lake Louise to hike the Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail, which leads to one of Lake Louise’s TWO tea houses. The story behind the tea houses is that the only way to reach Lake Louise was by train back in the early 1900’s. This, naturally, was something only the wealthy could afford, so to lure them to the park for a visit they built the tea houses as a way to promise them the comforts of home whilst out in the rugged wilderness. Nowadays, it’s a pretty cool destination – they fly in their supplies at the start of the season, the wait staff must hike in/out (they live in cabins around the tea house during their 5-day shift), and boil their water with butane, as they have no electricity.

The hike was scenic and just about the right grade of uphill to not feel so terrible while climbing the 1000ft to the teahouse, located at 6800 ft (or so my commemorative t-shirt says). We had hopes of the sun poking out, as the tops of the LeFroy and Victoria Glaciers were covered in clouds, but any glimmer of sun was soon followed by patches of rain, and in one instance, sleet! Thus, warm tea and some snacks after hiking up a mountain in cold-ish/wet weather was a welcome break, and by far, the coolest hiking destination to date! Many times we hike just to get to the top – in this case we hiked to get a spot of tea before turning around to head back via the Highline Trail to the Lake Agnes Tea House.

Thankfully the downhill from here wasn’t too terrible on the knees and we took some nice pictures of the lake (we saw a bride and groom freezing their butts off doing the same!) before heading to the car for a warm change of dry clothes. We made the hour-long drive down the “10-mile hill” to Golden, BC, where we will be staying the next few nights as a hopping off spot for more adventures in this beautiful patch of the Rockies!

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Canadian Rockies Day 2: Johnston Canyon & Inkpots Hike

Johnston Canyon Cover

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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NZ Day 20 – Christchurch

We’re back! Our last day was spent driving to the Christchurch airport. On the way, we stopped for a tour of the city’s Red Zone – the area most affected by the earthquakes that have rocked the city since early last year. A sobering end to an otherwise cheery vacation, but I’m glad we did it. Christchurch is a beautiful city. I wish we could have taken more time to explore.

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NZ Day 19 – Mt. Cook

After a lovely breakfast at the B&B in Dunedin, we packed up and hit the road. We made a stop at the Moreki boulders – cool, since we were passing by, but I would not recommend making a major detour to fit the boulders in. We then said goodbye to the Pacific Coast and made our way inland to the Southern Alps. Along the way, we pulled over for some marked Maori cave drawings. Again, one of those attractions not worth making the detour, but since it was along our way, no big deal. We finally caught glimpse of snow-capped mountains, as well as the clouds that would soon engulf them. It was a beautiful drive into Mt. Cook National Park, with the clear blue waters of Lake Pukaki along the way. We pulled over at the impressive visitor center then set off on the Hooker Valley Track, only to encounter gale-force winds in our face. We only made it about half way down the track before the clouds swallowed the mountain views and the wind was too much to bear. The photos should illustrate just how gusty it was. We then headed back out of the park and hopped over to our Cottage in Tekapo (cute!), while picking up some take-out Chinese along the way (we are tired of paying $$$ for so-so meals at restaurants). We took a stroll down to the lake with awesome mountain lupine in bloom on the lakeshore just behind the iconic Church of the Good Sheppard.

Tomorrow we’re off to Christchurch to start our long journey back home =(

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NZ Day 18 – Dunedin

Our day in Dunedin was lovely! After a large breakfast at the B&B , we made our way into town and visited the Otago Museum – lots of cool exhibits on Pacific Island, Maori, and local stuff. We then met up with Laura, a friend from Davidson, who is studying at the university in Otago, for lunch. We then made our way over to the iconic Dunedin train station for pickup for the Elm Wildlife tour. The tour promised some fantastic wildlife sightings on the Otago Peninsula and those promises were indeed fulfilled! First we got to witness the great albatross colony (only mainland one in existence) – with a wingspan of 3.3m, and spending many months at sea (they can travel from NZ to S. America in 10 days – look it up!), they are quite an impressive bird! We then head over to the private land that the tour operates from and got to see Fur Seals (pups too!), yellow-eyed penguins, blue penguins and sea lions. Penguins were indeed the highlight of Audrey’s day and getting to see them up close (waddling onto the beach), as well as chicks in the nest was a fantastic experience! We returned quite late and tired, but when you see the close-up wildlife photos, you will likely agree that the tour was quite the treat!

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NZ Day 17 – Te Anau to Dunedin

No photo album today, sorry guys!

We awoke to find the rain had subsided and that the sandflies were out in full force. Most importantly, the Milford Road was open again, which meant we’d have no problem getting out, provided there was enough room on the bus. The Blue Duck was back with a vengeance, but the pretty mountains helped take my mind off of the unhappy state of my stomach long enough to make it back to the DOC center in Te Anau.

We returned our gear and hit the road to Dunedin (we decided sadly to forego the Catlins drive we had planned due to the road closure delay). The drive was quite pretty with many wind farms and lots of sheep along the way. We stopped for a picture in Milton, NZ to commemorate our favorite house cat.

We arrived at our B&B just shy of 4:00 PM. We’re staying in the guest cottage in the garden. We were so beat that turning in early and working on the blog and photos sounded like a great idea.

NZ Days 13-16 – The Milford Track

Day 1

We were off to an early start, having to leave our backpacker accommodation by 6:00 am to make it to Te Anau in time to pick up our tickets and rental gear. We really wish we could have stayed in Queenstown longer and really wish we had about 5 more hours of sleep the previous night.

We arrived in Te Anau in what felt like record time for NZ driving and got our tickets. We swung by to get an overpriced and under-caffienated coffee and then to pick up our rental gear from a supposed shop in town. Boy, were we sorely disappointed, as the shop did not open when they said they would and did not take the time or care to notice that JD’s rental pack was missing some vital straps and not a good fit for his body – we were in a rush and didn’t notice until it was too late. Shame on you, Bev’s gear hire – negative Trip Advisor Karma coming your way!

We caught the bus with just one other couple to Te Anau Downs and then boarded a boat for an hour to take us to Glade Wharf, the start of our “walk”. We set out with what felt like incredibly heavy packs and I was second guessing just how much gear we actually needed to bring. We arrived at the first hut (Clinton) after 5km and 1.5hrs of walking. Turns out there was a later boat that would have made more sense to get on, because there is no need to arrive to the hut at 1pm with nothing to do outside other than get eaten alive by sandflies.Luckily, there was a neat nature walk at 5pm, hut talk at 8pm, and glow worm tour that resulted in hearing a real kiwi call around 10pm.

In between, we spent a good deal of time making friends with an Aussie family from Perth, Aussie brothers from Sydney and Gold Coast, a father daughter pair from Melbourne, and a couple from Holland. Much to our chagrin, however, we learned that a majority of the other hikers were 15-17 year-olds on a rotary exchange that had severe issues with VOLUME CONTROL and a bit too much of a love for singing showtunes and listening to Rhianna on their iPhones while hiking. Luckily their enthusiasm for such annoying tendencies waned as their energy levels dropped, but still…oh. my. gosh.

Day 2

Our second day began with an early rise with the hopes of beating the teenagers out of the door before they scared away all the wildlife. Thanks to the drizzle, the sandflies were a non-issue and we saw a pair of paradise ducks, a blue duck, a momma duck with three chicks, a fantail, a black robin, river eels & trout, amongst other critters. The hike was mostly flat until the end, but the climbing wasn’t bad.

We arrived at the hut by 1:30pm and were cold and wet. Thankfully, JD is a fire master and got a nice fire going in the stove in our hut – we were all smiles until the ranger barked at him for using up all the wood. The DOC ranger later revealed in his hut talk that he has some personality quirks that would likely make him a serial killer, and we were all too glad to make our way out in the morning. Alas, my boot had been nibbled by a Kea overnight, despite my efforts to hang my boots up out of harms’ way.

Day 3

Snow was forecast overnight, but much to the Aussies’ dismay, none fell. At least the skies were clear and allowed for great Fiordland views as a reward for our day of climbing. We finally got to meet the notorious Keas atop McKinnon pass and got a chuckle out of their antics trying to tear into the guided walkers’ packs. (You can walk unguided like us peons for a mere $300 a head, or take the more luxurious approach of having a tour company put you up in nice huts with electricity and showers and real food for about $2000.)

The climb down the emergency route was a terror (the normal route was closed due to avalanche risk) and I nearly broke my ankle no less than 7 times stepping on loose uneven rocks. We did hear what sounded like a rock slide coming from the closed off area of the track, which made us feel a bit better about our treacherous route. We stopped for lunch at a lovely waterfall and then continued the steep (and painful) descent down the mountain.

Unfortunately, the side trek to Sutherland falls was closed due to a massive rock slide that destroyed a large section of the track. Sutherland is the 5th tallest waterfall in the world, and although we got to see it from a distance, up close would have been even cooler.

Hanging out in the hut continued the standard operating procedure of eating ramen, listening to teenagers shriek their heads off, playing some cards, having nice conversations, and listening to the evening ranger talk. Shockingly, we learned that due to the avalanche risk that comes with heavy rains, the road out of Milford could be closed for the following day…WHAT?! More on that tomorrow…

Day 4

We arose early with the hopes of beating the rain and allowing ourselves plenty of time to catch the 2:00 PM boat out of Sandfly Point. At times, the hike felt like a death march, knowing we had to make it, knowing that JD’s knee could flare up at any time, and knowing that our hustle could all be for naught if the road out was in fact closed.

We are proud to proclaim that we finished “second place” behind the Aussie brothers and in front of Team Holland and Team Perth in the great Milford Track Race (totally not a race, but it’s hard not to be proud that we didn’t finish dead last in a 33.5 mile hike – something we certainly don’t do every day!).

When the boat arrived to take us back, we were informed that the road was indeed closed and we would be forced to stay at the Milford Sound Lodge. Although late in the season for avalanche, somehow a giant wad of ice and rocks is hanging out waiting to collapse upon the entrance of the Homer Tunnel. Unfortunately, this meant we had to cancel our visit to the highly acclaimed Fernbirds B&B.

Now trapped in the bustling metropolis of Milford, we headed over to the local watering hole, a bar and restaurant named the Blue Duck (a quick note about this particular restaurant: one reviewer on Trip Advisor remarked that the Blue Duck is blue because it has Ebola). A good time was had with our Aussie friends as we devised a film plot around deranged DOC park rangers murdering people in the woods, and Kea birds pecking people to death. Many nightmares were had that evening with regards to the avalanche actually coming down and shutting off the road completely and for DAYS, which would have resulted in essentially an end to our trip, and/or an expensive helicopter ride out of the trapped area.

All things considered, we are glad we hiked the Milford Track, proud that we were able to overcome its trials, and extremely grateful for the wonderful friends we made while tramping in the New Zealand woods. Cheers!

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NZ Day 12 – Queenstown

What a COOL city! We could have spent a week here! The backpacker lodge was great because we had our own little building we stayed in. We woke up early to go jet-boating in Skippers Canyon – our guide was super cool and we enjoyed driving the 10^th most dangerous road in the world with him. The jet-boating itself was short-lived but exciting.

We then made our way to Fergburger for lunch. JD had the “Tropical Swine”, which was NZ grass fed beef with bacon, egg, cheese, and pineapple on top. Definitely a combination we’ll have to re-create at home. Audrey had the Bambi burger – venison with plum chutney – also good, but not as good as JD’s. These burgers combined with fries made for two very stuffed Americans who couldn’t finish all their food.

Next, we went souvenir shopping for a wee bit before taking a nap back at the lodge and uploading pictures. We made our way over to the Skyline Gondola and Luge, which as a pretty and FUN way to see the city. Again, we recorded some awesome GoPro footage to highlight the views and the luge run.

Finally, we made our way back to the lodge to take our last shower before the Milford and watch the sun set over the big lake in town. The folks next door invited us over to their very nice town home for some wine and cake. We enjoyed chatting with them very much, but had to pull ourselves away to get some rest prior to the Milford Track!

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