The site of the most exciting part of the trip: Terminator 1, Via Ferrata.
I loved my trip to the Canadian Rockies in 2016 and spotted many activities I wanted to do on another visit, and they seemed to be things Kathy and Greg Wright would like to do, so I kept egging them on until they committed to it despite having multiple other summer plans. We decided on the 3rd week of July, after the Calgary Stampede, and, though I had a devil of a time getting lodging and everything planned, possibly because it was the 150th anniversary of national parks in Canada and admission was free nationwide, it all worked out.
I was greeted at 3am, as I was getting ready to leave to drive to Philly to catch my 8:30 flight, with an email from the first night's lodgings saying my credit card had been turned down. I emailed them back and reassured them my credit card was good and I would sort it out, but no matter what they would get their money. Once I got to the hotel where I was parking, I caught the shuttle. I told the driver I was on WestJet, but it was an international flight, so I would probably be leaving from Terminal A. He said there was no WestJet at Philly. It was contracted through American Eagle, so he told me it would be terminal F. So I got out at terminal F a little skeptical, and tried to check in but it said my passport wouldn't scan. I asked one of the American Eagle employees if this was the right place to check into the flight to Toronto, and he only nodded. So I got in line and waited about 20 minutes to get to the desk. I asked the guy if this was the right place to check in for that flight, and he never really answered and started to do what he does, but he kept sliding my passport through the reader over and over. I asked him if there was a problem and he muttered something about the system not allowing me to check in. Then he got on the phone and stood there on hold for at least 10 minutes, then did some more computer work while holding the phone, swiped the passport a few more times, then finally, after I'd stood there for 30 minutes at least, gave me boarding passes, put a tag on my bag and told me to drop my bag in an area off to the side and said something nearly unintelligible about catching a shuttle and shouted "next!". I was a little confused, but I gave up on him and the rest of the people there quickly and went through security. Once I was in Terminal F, I asked someone there about it; my gate was A14, yet I was in terminal F, and she said I did indeed need to take a shuttle to terminal A. That rat bastard shuttle driver!! He wasted 45 minutes of my time taking me to the wrong terminal! The clock was ticking and I still had to call my credit card company.
I took the shuttle and hurried to the gate. There was no one working there. I called USAA, and every number I had seemed to be wrong, but finally I got a person on the line and she said the charge for the hostel had gone through! So, that problem was solved, I guessed (the hostel sent me an email soon after that they'd put the number in wrong. Duh.). Now to make sure I was booked on the correct flight, as I had no seat assignment on the ticket, either. Finally someone came to the gate and after waiting for a guy who argued with the man behind the desk for a while, I got a seat assignment and was assured everything else was booked through. To add to my traveling stress, I couldn't tell if everything was all right with the Wrights once I got to Toronto. They were supposed to be connecting there as well, with a short turnover time, but they were nowhere to be seen and none of their flights were listed, and my turnover had taken a remarkably long time. I left for Calgary not knowing whether they were going to make it. My stress was needless, as they flew Air Canada and didn't have to do any passport stuff or customs in Toronto (keep that in mind for future reference. Canada.). I was sooo relieved when I saw Greg walk up while I was waiting for my bag! We had to call the rental car company to get their shuttle to come by, but that didn't take long. The rental car place otherwise was Purgatorial in its demands on my patience, but after pushing the boulder up the hill many times (it took 45 minutes after I got to the desk to get us into a vehicle), I was released into the relative splendor of a Dodge Durango.
We picked our way through Calgary's traffic and construction zones and were finally on the open road west to Banff, where we planned to stop for dinner. I was worried about parking but we found a spot pretty easily despite my parking aversion. We ate at the same Indian restaurant I'd eaten at with my friends Belayneh and Yenu last year, and it was really good again (and much more crowded). After a relatively brief roam around Banff's downtown, we set off again, with me always conscious I'd hardly slept the night before and was destined to sleep in a dorm room that night at the hostel I'd booked, the only reasonably priced lodging I could find in the town of Golden (it saved us about $450), which would be our base the next 5 days (though only three days at the hostel - too long a story there even for this blog).
The Trans-Canada parkway, Route 1, was pretty but also had a number of construction sites that added time and tedium. Finally we were in Golden and the hostel, Dreamcatchers, was easy to find. I'd chosen it because it was highly rated and the extroverted Wrights would probably enjoy its common area and the owners. I was fairly spot on about that, but not about my own lodging, which I thought was just a small room with one set of bunk beds I had to myself while sharing a bathroom. Instead, it was 3 sets of bunk beds in a small room, and by the time we got there, approaching 11pm, several of the lodgers were already in there trying to sleep. All six beds were full by the time I made it in, sacrificing my usual bedtime routine as I thought I was exhausted enough to fall asleep anyway. I was not, and the noises from the top bunk, the street outside and the many trains going by kept me awake well past 2am and then, if I slept at all, it was only briefly until the roommates' cell phones started going off around 5:30. I gave up on sleeping around 6 and went out to get ready to run, at least having planned ahead with all my gear out so I would make as little noise as possible.
It was a brisk but pretty morning and I found my way to the river that split the town and headed east on a gravel trail along the river, with great views of the mountains and the noise from the moderately rough water calming my jangled nerves. I found a trail network I'd seen on a map and took it past schools and playgrounds, where I stopped briefly to do a set of 12 pull-ups on a jungle gym. The trails all seemed to want to go into the mountains, but I resisted, partly out of fear of bears and partly out of fear of wearing myself out. It was still a good run and I made it over 6 miles and got a feel for the area.
I went to the nearby grocery store after showering to get some cereal and milk, and after eating, we headed off to Mt. Revelstoke National Park, another 90 minutes or so west of Golden, through Glacier National Park on the way. Our destination was the Revelstoke Mountain Resort, and the Mountain Coaster it contained.
The drive over was nice enough, and we scouted locations for stops on the way back. The sky, however, was fairly thick with smoke from the many forest fires in British Columbia, blamed partly on the stretch of hot, dry weather preceding our arrival (At the grocery store, some guys at the counter were talking about that, saying last summer had been very rainy and cold. I could verify that, having done my share of running and hiking in steady, chilly rains in 2016.). There were no signs for the resort as we went through Revelstoke the town, and we only found it after calling them and getting directions after we drove several miles past town (even then there were few signs. Canada!). There weren't that many cars there, but we soon found the check in for the mountain coaster, called "The Pipe" (I told Kathy my goal for the day was to set the record for the number of times saying "Pipe" in a day for non-plumbers). Our tickets got us gondola privileges and Pipe privileges, but it wasn't easy to figure all that out. One of the girls, from Australia, was a bit of a grump, while her coworker was a cheerful Kiwi who couldn't believe I'd spent nearly two years living in Waimate. Fortunately, they had a good set up for waiting for the Pipe: electronic boards kept up with when our number should load the gondola. We waited about an hour, with Greg and Kathy playing a "chutes and ladders" type game and making at least one trip to the coffee shop, La Baguette. At every chance, I discussed with the locals and the employees the virtues of not using the brake at all on the coaster, though one guy did say it was possible, but our spines would surely snap on the third turn.
Our numbers, 921-3, finally came up and we ascended in the gondola. The view was surely great on most days, but we could barely see the river at the base through the smoke that day. We did see a few people coming down the course and it looked a bit tougher than I thought, with one turn in particular (turned out it was the 3rd) being two quick 90 degree turns on a steep part.
We got into line rather than walking around, and it only took a few minutes before Greg was sitting in front of me in his little sled with our feet under one strap and a sturdy belt holding our upper bodies on. The only control was a bar in the middle - push it forward and it went fast, pull it back and it slowed. I was hoping to carry my camera, but they wouldn't allow it, and Greg forgot his GoPro again.
Greg is SUPER competitive; I am only slightly less so, and I knew with him going first he would do whatever it took not to allow me to catch him. He waited extra time after the person in front of him left so she wouldn't slow him down, and then he was off. I waited a long time for him, also. In line, I told Kathy I had been talking big about no brakes, but I knew I would likely be hitting them right away. After a few photos, I was off and, sure enough, there was a steep drop as the rails headed into a very small tunnel and I was already on the brakes! I was laughing to myself, but the ride was also quite intense at the top: many sharp turns and steep parts. About halfway down I was more comfortable and didn't use the brakes any more and had a ball. Greg was already out shooting video of me as I came in, and I jumped out with plenty of time to catch Kathy coming in just ahead of the guy behind her. We all agreed it was fun but really intense. Greg's arms and torso were cramped and sore from all the strain it took to keep from hitting the brakes (I was fine). We discussed this all while eating lunch at La Baguette, our most visited Canadian Rockies attraction of the week.
We took the gondola all the way to the top, looking at the ski slopes, which were impossibly steep and rough, full of cliffs and drop offs that would certainly get the best of me. We went back to La Baguette a final time for ice cream and ordered our photos before leaving.
We stopped at several roadside attractions on the drive back, almost all of which had trails or wooden walkways through interesting ecosystems. Greg and Kathy didn't want to stop for the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk (later, we heard from others that it was really neat - there is also a big write up about it in the free tourist magazine for this summer), but we went to the Giant Cedars (good), Hemlock Grove (Bad!), and Rock Gardens (worth it) before we got off to do the Loop Trail, which went around an area of a former train bridge and avalanche area (the avalanche made them move the tracks and bridges). It started to rain when we got out of the car, and the last other visitors left right then. We pressed on, but the trail got middle-of-the-night dark as the rain picked up and we started to hear noises in the trees. Greg turned and thought one of the signs was a bear (superimposed in front of it were two other wooden supports), and after it sounded like some rocks fell just up the hill from us, we were walking quickly and then running back as thunder started to rumble. We'd been joking earlier about how Canadians seemed to take terrible stories and tragedies in stride, and as we ran we said things in vaguely Canadian accents like, "Did you hear about the three Americans out for a hike, eh? It was raining, you know, and then they were attacked by a bear, eh? And the bear got one of them as the other two ran, but then, eh? there was an avalanche that hit them both, you know, and only one was able to get up and keep going, eh? But just as he got to the car, you know, he was struck by lightning, eh?" Other Canadian, "Yeah." We made it back, a little damp and laughing at our apparent lack of bravery.
It was still a bit of a drive to Golden, but we made it back at a reasonable time and Gerald, the owner of the hostel, got us late reservations at 1123, a good restaurant. It didn't disappoint. We tended to our photos and internet needs before and after dinner and then I went to bed around 10:30, with the top bunk unfilled. Eventually someone came in and climbed up and we slept 6 again. This night I at least had my white noise machine and had done my usual sleep hygiene routine and closed the window, as it was much cooler. Still I slept poorly, with the top bunk going up and down three times during the night, including to stop his phone from ringing right by my head at 5am.
I got up at 6 and was surprised to see Greg up then and ready to run. We went a different way (west) along the river and around the airport, where we were trapped by the train tracks, but we trespassed a bit to get across and onto another trail network that took us back. I went on for another 1.5 miles to make 6.
This was to be one of the easier travel days, with only a 20 minute drive to our activity site at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. The big event was to be the Via Ferrata there, a course on a mountain that would be like climbing. We might also be able to see a resident grizzly bear there. Other than the usual missing signs, some of which were right there, we didn't have any problems with getting there, and we checked in. The whole deal was relatively expensive, but well worth it. First we caught the chair lift to the bear reserve and quickly joined the current tour group. I hurried right up and looked where everyone was looking and there was the bear, right under a tree by the fence! I whispered to Kathy and Greg that the bear was RIGHT THERE! Meanwhile the guide was talking loudly and so were some of the other people. Turns out the bear likes being around people. He would go into the brush and back out while eating over and over and we were so tired of seeing him by the end of the 45 minutes (and tired of scratching our bug bites) I didn't even take photos when he was walking around completely exposed as we left. I didn't listen to a word the guide said, but everyone was impressed with how passionate she was. We took the chair back down (they tried not to stop the chair, like if you were skiing, so you had to make a run for it when it leveled off at the station).
The gondola to the top took us up another double black diamond slope; this was some seriously dangerous skiing terrain. It was a long ride, but we came to the top, which had a small lodge/restaurant and some signs as well as the most breath-taking alpine scenery of the trip. The latter was past the lodge in non-skiing areas, one lovely mountain after another, with the splendor only limited by the smoke from the fires.
The Eagle Eye Restaurant was not busy and had a nice menu, including a veggie wrap (the best I've ever had) and good cheesecake. While I was eating I got a lot of intestinal grief, and that persisted right up until we were ready to go on the Via Ferrata. On one of my walks back into the lodge to use the toilet, I saw a pretty girl wearing a safety harness and asked her if she knew where the Via met. She said she did, and she was the guide for our group, of which there were only the three of us. So, great! Once my bowels were as sorted as they were going to get, we all met with Jackie, the guide, at their unlabeled hut. We got our safety briefing, signed some forms, and then went to a little course right by the lodge to practice. It was easy, and the design was very safe: we were always linked to the cables by a special carabiner type clamp that could not open and could be slid, sometimes with difficulty, over special connectors at cable junctions..
From there we walked over the ridge to the course, all of which was very intimidating, including the long swinging bridge where we would start. I am no fan of swinging bridges, but I have been on many and can always keep my feet moving. This was easily the longest and narrowest and least protected I'd ever been on, but I had not been in a harness connected to the cables of the bridge before.
I hooked in first while Jackie made sure we were all right, then she hooked in front of me and we were off down the stone steps and path to the bridge.
The bridge was not super high, but it had all the elements required to terrify otherwise.
I made my way on and it was very loose. I did not want to let go of either steel cable I was holding, but as we progressed across, Jackie said, like it had just occurred to her, that she would like us to try something. That was hooking our other safety caribiner to the cable and then hanging loosely from the bridge (we'd practiced this on the training course, but I never thought we would use it on the bridge!). I was very reluctant, but I did it, and it was ok, so I let myself hang outside the cable and sit in the harness, that was pretty pinchy on my thighs. She took several photos of us like that, and then we unhooked the second clip and walked to the end. It wasn't so bad.
From there we did various exploits, moving along cliffs where we had to swing around corners, climbing near vertical ladders and slopes up and down, with a few stops here and there. Jackie kept us going with her upbeat praise about how well we were doing and how much trouble other people had. It was super fun, but other than the swinging out to some grips and steps, it was really easy for me (Kathy likely did not feel that way about it). I joked with Jackie I was finally getting some tangible benefit from all my working out. She explained how they dealt with avalanches and how they got people off the course who freaked out. It was a great adventure; probably not as challenging overall as canyoning, which was much more dangerous and required many more tests of courage, but it was tremendously cool to be able to hang on some cliffs with that scenery.
We reached the ridge and walked up that a little ways before we unhooked. It felt so strange and unsafe to still be on that mountain without any connection to it other than the bottoms of our feet, but that went away soon enough and then we were at the top.
I was intimidated still by the height and could not make myself get on the topmost rock, but it was fun anyway and Jackie coached me on a modeling session.
Now we had to get down. I've been hiking all over the world, in all kinds of weather and terrain, and I still fret about the walk down possibly being worse than the walk up every time, but it is never very hard. It looked treacherous (Jackie had to point out the path down, as I could not see it), but it was easy and we were down the steep part in no time and moving across the ridge. We passed a group heading out for photos on the bridge on our way and then Jackie started back in on some smack about push-ups, challenging me. I am pretty confident in my abilities in that regard, and I told her it would be better for her if she just proclaimed me the winner, because there was no way she could beat me. I think she thought she might tire me out on the last steep part before the lodge and their hut (it was not easy). She got distracted then and I reminded her, and then she was eager to go. I started pumping out smooth all the way up and down push-ups and was at thirty fast, and I recall Greg saying, "I don't think you'll need to do more than 10," when I was at 22. I feel guilty now as Jackie is a pianist and has chronic wrist problems, but I don't think our little challenge made her any worse. It was hard to leave the top; I was still in my full adventure glow, and Jackie made it even better.
We caught the gondola down and saw Boo, the grizzly, again, right out in the open (Greg said there was no chance we'd see him). He was standing right near a bunch of people at the closest end of the enclosure. Then we rewarded ourselves with smoothies at the bottom while on another set of red adirondack chairs.
That night we dined at a restaurant called the Island, which was on an island in the river just down from the pedestrian footbridge. We ate on the deck and had a nice meal there. Jackie recommended it.
Thankfully, there was only one person in the dorm room that night, and he moved around like a ninja, so I was able to get a better night's sleep. I was still awake a lot (I am a very light sleeper, but do not generally need much sleep). We packed up and checked out of the hostel after breakfast. This was potentially the hardest day; we couldn't get tickets for the shuttle to Lake O'Hara (they sold out the whole summer in 4 minutes on April 20th), so we decided to walk out there. I thought it was an 11 mile round trip, but it was 11km each way, so 7+ miles out (I'd also thought I read somewhere it was a pretty flat walk. It was not). Gerald and Abby were super helpful and let us borrow some bear spray, so we wouldn't have to pay for something we almost surely wouldn't need to use. The parking lot was moderately full, and I was hoping there would be a lot of walkers, but we were the only ones there at the time (apparently 10 others had left earlier). We got there as the 10:30 shuttle was getting ready to go, but they told us there were no slots and two people ahead of us in line anyway. The ranger was nice enough to give us a briefing; there had been sightings of a grizzly in the parking lot two days ago, and a black bear with cubs on the road in the past day. We set out up the initial hill, which I'd run up last year, and were moving quickly, which I liked.
The buses passed us and did not seem full at all, but we tried not to let it bother us. The walk was not bad; we could see the tops of several pretty mountains at times and the forest was nice. The road was decently paved and seemed to be much more up hill than flat. We took a little break about halfway for a snack and to adjust layers, as it was warming up. It got steeper near the end, and we were all glad to see some buildings, and even the same ranger who'd briefed us. She'd promised carrot cake out there; I'd hoped it was free, but it was $4 a piece. We bought some other snacks and made a lunch of it at the little shack before heading to the lake.
Lake O'Hara was on money or stamps in Canada and is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful spots in the whole country. It is certainly a very pretty alpine lake, but on this day the smoke was up high and fuzzing out the best views. We took some photos by the water and talked to some people who stayed at the lodge there every year (I think for 30 years - it was similar to a birthright for them). before setting off around the lake. It definitely has the most beautiful coast line of any of the lakes we saw. I'd hoped to hike up to Lake Osea and then catch the shuttle back, but Kathy and Greg, after hoofing hard on the way out, were in full slow down mode. I couldn't walk slow enough to be with them. When I reached the trail that split off to Osea, I had to sit and wait at least 5 minutes for them to get there. Knowing at that point there was no way we were going to make it out to Osea, I changed the plan to a walk around the lake, which was certainly a great and much easier option. We got to the waterfall at the far end and took a new trail up there. As I got to the top, there were two photographers with some serious equipment taking photos, with one of them out on the rocks right below the falls. They never said anything to me as I passed and went to the very top (I said hello to them), which was not much farther. Greg and Kathy got them to talk a little before they left. We sat there for a while, then headed down and finished the rest of the loop. all of which was great.
We finished the loop right around 2:15 and decided to try to get on the 2:30 shuttle bus. The girl we bought the cake from said there were only 33 seats on the bus, and already there were a number of people about. I had to go in to talk to her as I'd dropped a map the owners of the Dreamcatchers had lent me into the lake when I took my camera out for the first photos there. They had new maps for $5 at the shop. When the bus pulled in, I got in quickly and took a seat near the front in case they kicked me out. Greg and Kathy sat farther back and we waited while it filled up and then there were people fussing about seats. Finally someone came in and said there was a second bus! Hallelujah!! We were good to go, didn't have to leave the bus, and we agreed it was the best $10Canadian we ever spent(!). That bus ride was even long - it took at least 20 minutes, but the young man who sat next to me was a biology major from F&M who was doing research on the water in various lakes, so we had a nice chat. Greg kept track of our walking on his GPS watch and we'd climbed 1400 feet on the way in over the 7+ miles. Not super steep, but far from the rolling hills I'd expected.
Now, we had some extra time! I thought we'd get some things done we were going to do the next day, so then we would have more time for hiking that day. We stopped first at the spiral railroad site and were lucky to see a super long train going through it. Then we went down to the Natural Bridge, which was flowing nicely, though some douchebag walked right out on it. We were done for the day! Now back to our new hotel.
The Natural Bridge, on the road to Emerald Lake.
The new hotel was the Days Inn Golden, which was up on the hill above the town. I thought we were sharing a bedroom, but I'd booked a suite with separate rooms! I was so happy to be able to sleep alone! Then they had a pool, hot tub, and sauna as well as ....a waterslide! We got changed quickly and Kathy and I made it first. There were two teenage boys there, but they left soon after we arrived, and I got in the pool via the waterslide after having a little trouble finding the stairs. It was great - very dark, a full circle and a good launch into the pool. After a few runs, I got in the hot tub with Kathy and put the jets on my feet, which were sore. Greg got there in a bit, and at some point Kathy went down the slide and then I did a few more times before heading back to change.
The desk clerk had recommended the Cedar House Restaurant, so we drove over there. It was just south of town, near where I'd run that morning trying to find Reflection Lake (I did. Meh.). The smoke was bad that night, so the view wasn't good, but everything else was off the charts great. The waiter was super nice (Ryan), and the owner came out and talked to us a bunch as well (it was not crowded - Tuesday night). I got a delicious beet salad with goat cheese and Kathy and Greg shared an awesome baked brie with fruit. Then our main courses arrived: mine was one of the best meals I've eaten: big chunks of pork belly (the top layer was just a little too crispy) in an awesome wild mushroom risotto that was unbelievably flavorful. I was in ecstasy. Then we got dessert: mine was a lemon curd pastry which was excellent, but I probably could have gotten something better. I was already thinking we should come back the next night, which would be our last in Golden.
We adjourned to our separate rooms, and even though I was a bit tired, I tried to catch up on my photo and video loading and to send some emails and post some stuff on Facebook. It took forever, and I finally gave up on the internet connection, which was terrible - almost useless. I slept well for me, and was ready for a big day.
On our drive back from the restaurant I'd noticed there was a path into town along the highway that was protected from the road, but it went down a big hill. I ran down that (the hill was 3/4 of a mile long) and ran back on the trails Greg and I had run. It was a nice run, and the hill up was a good test, though I took it slow. The hotel had a crowded but decent breakfast, where I was reunited with one of my former dietary staples: Kellogg's Raisin Bran.
That day, Wednesday, we were going to see the other nice parts of Yoho National Park. First up was Wapta Falls, which Gerald recommended and which I had not done last year. It had a very rough access road, but then the walking path was quite nice, very runnable, except for a lot of trees fallen across it at different heights (Watch!). Greg took off and left Kathy and me behind, and then we arrived at the overlook at the top. It was a lovely falls, with an unusual rock pile/hill right after it and in the way. There were multiple other viewing places as you followed the trail down. We did not go all the way down, but far enough. It didn't take long to get back to the Durango.
The next stop was the Emerald Lake area. I wanted to get there early enough to hike and then eat lunch. Apparently a lot of others had the same idea; the parking lot was jammed and we had to park on the side of the exit road a ways out. The smoke was very prominent early but cleared up some during our time there. It made for two really neat photos I took early on where the sky and lake blend into one fuzzy mass with canoes in it. We walked around Emerald Lake, pausing for photos now and then, and as we were heading down the other side, Greg went into the woods on a narrow path and said it was a pretty spot. We called it Greg's Spot, and we took photos there. As we were leaving, a couple with a baby walked by and Greg recommended the spot to them, and they went in. Soon, I found a similar nice spot on the shoreline and named it after me and posed for photos there. We never really nailed down a spot for Kathy; she didn't seem to care (What is up with that!?). It was a much better hike than I'd had around the lake last year, as there was almost no mud, compared to almost wall to wall deep mud a year ago.
We finished walking in time for a late lunch. There were seats on the deck at the nicer restaurant there and the food was very good, but the really memorable thing was the loud conversation from the table behind me. There was a woman there who went on and on about her contact lenses, interrupted only occasionally by a Frenchman who would ask her about LASIK and another old guy who apparently had some eye trouble as well. I am not kidding when I say it went on over 30 minutes as the topic of their conversation.
The next stop was the Yoho Valley, site of my longest hike last year. It was much more crowded than last year as well, but we found a parking spot. I'd forgotten the walk to Takkakaw Falls was a bit of a ways, and that misrepresentation was met with many complaints, but it is beautiful and quite awesome, one of Canada's highest falls. After photos there, we set out on our last hike of the day, up the valley of the Yoho River, pretty flat except for one good hill near turnaround. It was beautiful. I had walked it in off and on rain the year before, but this day was really nice, and they'd made a few nice changes to the trail. I kept marveling at it; it was so relaxing and pleasant to walk on the trail in those woods. It is a 5 mile round trip to Laughing Falls, a nice waterfall off the trail, and that spot also has some great scenery on the river. We turned around there and headed back.
The walk back was just as nice and with less of a hill. At one point Kathy was yelling in a hushed manner behind us, and when we turned around there was an elk on the path just behind Kathy. We walked towards it and got close enough for some good photos as it seemed mostly concerned with the guy coming down the trail behind us. My last goal for the hike was a shot down the valley with the falls on the left and the rest of the nice scenery all included in the later afternoon light.
It was getting late, and we still had to drive back, get something to eat, and pack. We decided it would be quickest and best to go back to the Cedar House again, and it was all really good again. It was still all a bit much, but we managed to do it all with only a bit of arguing with Greg about why a person who had a cold, was not sleeping well but still getting up early to run every day, was doing all the driving and knew he had about 6 hours of driving ahead of him the next day, might be a little annoyed at delays at this point, though he hadn't said anything or complained at all. Still, I was happy to get to bed in my own room and didn't even try to deal with the terrible internet at the hotel that had kept me up the night before.
I slept fitfully and was lucky to wake up at exactly the time I wanted to as my alarm didn't go off. I rushed out to run 6 miles on the roads near the hotel, which weren't bad, though the traffic passed by at high speed. There was a deer in the area between the highway and the path down the hill on my way back; I didn't see a body anywhere, so I hope she got away. We left just a few minutes after I wanted and headed back to the hostel to drop off the bear spray they let us borrow. From there we headed back through Yoho for the third straight day, only this time we never stopped. Just before Lake Louise we turned north onto the Icefield Parkway, and I made the command decision to visit the first stop at Lake Herbert. There weren't many people there, but there should have been, as it was very peaceful and calm, and the water still enough to have a good reflection of the mountains and trees surrounding it.
From there we continued on, stopping at Hector Lake, which we weren't near, and Bow Lake, both of which were spectacularly beautiful. The entire Icefield Parkway is spectacularly beautiful; it is all right there for you: waterfalls, rivers, lakes, mountains, glaciers, forests, and even some animals. We stopped at most of the places on our way before lunch, but eventually we had to edit a few off the list; it was taking too long. I was also a little worried, as there was only one place for gas on the road and it was taking a long time for us to get there and we were at a quarter tank.
We finally reached Saskatchewan Crossing, the main stopping point for fuel and food. I dropped Kathy and Greg off to go get a table and queued for gas. I had to wait behind one car, and then pulled up. A pretty girl with an Australian accent pumped the gas and then wrote down the amount I owed on a scrap of paper - they didn't have the technology to have the amounts transmitted to the pay booth by another way. She said I could use the other, non-driver side of the pay booth to pay. I said, half-joking, "It is ok if I get out of my car there, right?' She laughed, then I said, "You Canadians have all sorts of rules. I want to make sure I don't get in trouble." She said, "I'm not Canadian." Then I said, "You came all the way from Australia to Canada to pump gas." With perfect timing, she said, "Yep, living the dream." I pulled up and paid, then parked and went inside. It wasn't crowded, and Kathy and Greg were just finishing their order. The place needed some explaining: some of the menu items you cooked yourself on a little grill in the corner. I wanted no part of that, so I got a bowl of soup and a salmon salad sandwich, which was huge. Everything was good enough, and we got to use the bathroom before we headed off.
We came quickly to a line of cars on both sides of the road. I joked with Kathy it was like when we came upon one of the Big Five in South Africa, but there was no way all those cars would be parked for any of the animals around here, as no one would be out of their cars to look at bears. I was very wrong. We pulled off into a recently vacated spot, and we could see a black bear in the bushes just off the road. Greg jumped out and ran across the street and took some photos and a video (he screwed that up, alas). We then set off, only to come to another set of cars not that much farther. This time they were looking up to the right. Greg jumped out again - we called him the Greg-bot - and spotted the object of their attention: a grizzly bear walking near the top of the steep hill. Kathy could just see him as we went by, but I did not. We bypassed several things we planned to do the next day because the weather was turning bad, most importantly the Icefield Centre, the Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Falls.
I started getting sleepy, so we decided to stop at the Sun Wapta Falls, and I thought Greg and Kathy would go out while I rested my eyes and maybe took a nap. As we stopped, it started to rain some, but Kathy was determined to go out. Greg decided not to go, and by then, I was back to wide awake and didn't want Kathy out there in the rain by herself so I went out and caught up with her. Sun Wapta Falls are ok, but not worth getting wet over. The best part was the gorge it formed, but otherwise it served only to take any notion of a nap away and fueled me the rest of the day.
The gorge after Sun Wapta Falls. It takes a 90 degree turn to the left.
We only stopped twice the rest of the way to Jasper. One was when Greg thought he saw an elk lying down on the right side of the road. We turned around and I thought I saw it, too, but it was just a tree trunk that had an elk-neck-angle to it. The second was at a place called Goats and Glaciers, where there was supposed to be a salt lick where mountain goats came. There were no goats and barely any glaciers there!
We pulled into Jasper and decided to go check in at our hotel first. It was Pyramid Lake Hotel, located on the shores of Pyramid Lake just north of town. It did not take long to get there, and check in was fast. It was a pretty spot. If you do go to Jasper, it would be a nice place to spend a few days, as the lake is very pretty and large enough to explore well with a kayak or canoe for several hours. It also has a lot of trails for hiking/biking/running. The room was very nice. We decided to head to town and try to get tickets to that evening's showing of the the night sky at one of the hotels. Jasper and the national park are dark sky preserves - figures the only night we were there it rained and was very cloudy - and we were hoping to see something worthwhile. It was a bit of a walk to the Marmot Hotel to make the booking for the night sky show, and they were very inefficient at booking it, so I had time to do several sets of pull-ups on the bars right by the main road there (I got 12 good ones the first set despite wearing a jacket and not emptying any of my pockets ;-). From there we walked back to town to eat, but the restaurant we hoped for was closed for a private event, so we ate at the one next to it after wandering about a bit. It wasn't bad (it had an excellent vegetable lasagna that was very different - the veggies were pureed, and I also got Bison poutine), except the bathroom had the world's stickiest floor - my shoes almost came off. After dinner, we got ice cream at a nearby place and ate it on a big bench right in front of the store. Jasper is nice, but Banff is way better. It is not very scenic in town - there are trains blocking any view of the river. We went back to the hotel and I tried to catch up on my journal and was again frustrated by the terrible internet there.
We were part of a small group for the planetarium show, which was in a tent that must have been inflated to form the arched ceiling, as they let us in only a few at a time and zipped the door closed after. The show was about the dark skies preserve and then the typical night sky, but it dwelt too much on things like constellations (we discussed the bogosity of this later), and I was soon asleep. The end was good, though I cannot remember much other than I enjoyed it. We headed back and Greg was determined to go out and see if he could see much of the night sky, but it was too cloudy (He got up several times and only woke me up one of them). I slept great there!
I woke up at 6:30 and went out for a run - there was a light drizzle at first, but then it was nice, and the trails were great for running, mostly dirt, pine needles or wood chips (the best). Even better, they followed the roads, so they felt safe. I did turn onto one that went away from the road and it opened up onto a fantastic meadow that looked like something I could run for days, but I had to turn around. Still it was enjoyable, and I again cracked 6 miles. We didn't eat at the hotel - I passed on their $14 bowl of cereal, though it sounded good - and went to a bakery we'd eyed the day before. It was jammed, with a long line. Kathy and I waited while Greg went out and did things(?) and we finally ordered and I got a lot of stuff. I joked I was ordering for 5 people, and all 5 were me, and I told the girl who waited on me she was going to need a bigger bag to put my stuff in. I got an egg salad sandwich and big fruit and bran muffin to eat there, then a veggie and egg sandwich, cream cheese brownies, a date bar with granola (it was the best!) and a piece of chocolate pecan cheesecake to eat later as a picnic, with a premade fruit smoothie to drink. Greg, despite having thirty minutes to wander around, still wanted to stop at a pharmacy, which was the wrong way down a one way street (and only a block from the bakery), which was under construction and had no parking, but 25 minutes later we were on our way out of Jasper and back down the Icefield Parkway.
We deployed the Greg-bot for another bear and we all could see some elk just off the road on the way, and we were soon at Athabasca Falls. For some reason Greg didn't want to go, but it was fantastic! The falls are not that big, but they have created some false passages in the rock and a very pretty gorge after. But the best part was the signs! They were written with such drama about how dangerous the falls were and how the water and the rock were at war. Kathy and I couldn't stop laughing at them.
Next we stopped at Goats and Glaciers again. The weather was better, so our hopes were high. They were again dashed. I was riffing hilariously on the lack of goats while we wandered around without Greg, who again did not get out of the car. The next stop was a ways, and it was the Icefield Centre. I thought there would be exhibits about glaciers and something like a museum, but instead there were... ASIANS! Hundreds of Asian tourists, creating a ceaseless din and making any movement difficult. We wandered through the building and into a large souvenir store. It was a tourist trap! We got in line at the information desk and asked if there were educational exhibits and found out the basement was where it was at. We went down the stairs and looked at historic photos of how things gradually developed over the decades to the point where vast parking lots would be filled and people crawling over each other there. Then there was a movie billed as showing the relationship between people and the glaciers there. We went to sit in the half-full theater ready to be educated.
In front of us was an exuberant Asian woman who was recording even the commercials before the movie with her phone. It finally started, and it was a running joke the rest of the trip. There was no dialogue, no information exchanged. It showed kids playing out in the fields on their own, unsupervised, and then an old man walking around with a stick. They cut back and forth and then there was a young man skiing on the glaciers and dropping a black rock with white markings one of the children had found into a crevasse. At the end, the old man found the rock at the bottom of the glacier! The rock had come full circle! I couldn't believe this was approved and funded. Canada!!
From there we drove across the road to the parking lot to view the Athabasca Glacier. It was pretty full, but we found a decent parking spot and walked out there. It was a tougher walk than it looked (6000ft elevation), but well worth it. Along the way there were many signs warning of dangers, including a boy who'd left the trail and fell into a crevasse and was dead by the time they found him. Not the literary masterpieces of Athabasca Falls, but still...The face of the glacier was nice, and we could see the headwaters of the dangerous Athabasca River there. It was possible to go out on the glacier higher up, but I've been on plenty of glaciers at this point and it looked like a big hassle. The Columbia Icefield, of which the Athabasca Glacier is a part, is massive, and it runs off into rivers that eventually reach the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans.
We then looked for a place to have a picnic. I blew right past the weeping wall, which might have been nice, and we finally stopped at a campground and ate the stuff we bought in the morning. It was good enough, especially the icing on the cheesecake, and then we were off again. We were making great time, and I thought we might be able to get some things done in the Lake Louise area in the late afternoon we were otherwise going to have to get up early for the next morning from Banff. First, after getting off the Icefields Parkway, we went to Moraine Lake, which is usually super crowded. We were able to drive right in, slowed only by a big bus that could barely make some of the turns. It was a nice day there and I got a few photos. I had been there last year and it looked about the same. Greg and I watched the tourists trying to walk across the logs and tried not to laugh too hard when they slipped and fell or got their feet wet. Then we got some snacks at the little restaurant there that were good, and Kathy and Greg harassed a chipmunk. I thought it was late enough now the crowd might have thinned at Lake Louise, and it had. We got a decent parking spot and walked down, taking in all the people on the shore near the hotel and then walking the main path to the other side of the lake and into the valley a short ways, seeing some rock climbers en route. The walk back we were hassled by the bugs and we were happy to be done there.
The Juniper Hotel was right off the main road outside Banff, and it was another nice room, with a balcony and a view. We dropped off our stuff, reorganized, and went to a Greek restaurant that was very popular. We walked around a little before and after in town. After eating, we stopped at ice cream and chocolate shops and got enough for the trip the next day. It was a jam-packed day!
Our last morning I was up early for a run into Banff. I had to cross the highway on an overpass and open and close wildlife gates there before getting on the very nice trail and running path system of the town. I went all the way to the waterfalls along the river, which had some of the nicest alpine waterside views of any stream we'd been near, but right in town. On the way back I went into the woods and ran some of those trails. Funny, but I turned around on one right before a bridge, and then took another one that ended on the other side of that same bridge. I also got a little spooked when I found a huge depression in the grass along one part of the trail made by a large animal. We went into town for breakfast, which was really nice, and then back to check out. The rest of the day was killing time shopping and wandering about. We ate some soup at a pub while watching the end of that day's Open Championship round, then went for pizza. There is a really nice museum near the river that is a definite highlight. Kathy and I walked to the falls and back while Greg stayed in the park by the river, where they ended up having a wedding. We ate dinner at a cajun place, early, and I have to admit the etouffe was too spicy for me, though it was still delicious.
It was time to head back, and we got the car out of the parking garage. We'd found a $50 ticket on it earlier, just after I noticed a 2 hour limit sign on the wall near our spot. I was pretty steamed. We drove back to Calgary and filled the tank, then found the rental car place, and it was a completely different level of annoying and bad. This time it was far beyond Purgatory and into the 3rd or 4th level of Hell. There was no good place to leave the car, everyone was upset and arguing, and it took 20 minutes for them to even start taking back our vehicle. I had to crap something fierce and had to keep holding it, then got to go while the guy who appeared to be in charge was processing my payment for the parking ticket. The toilet would not flush after; I did everything I could, but it was BAD. I told the guy the toilet wasn't working and then left to get on the shuttle. The whole experience there left me ashamed. Never again, ACE rental cars! We got to the airport and I was stressed about checking in at the right place and wanted to make sure I was there, running off before saying good-bye, thinking there would be time after the check in, but the Wrights chased me and we said our farewells before I checked in, at the correct place. It was a long evening and finally I was off on the first of two flights, taking off after midnight, hardly sleeping, then having a long layover in Toronto before a short flight to Philly and an uneventful drive back.
SUMMARY: The Canadian Rockies are a must-see destination for any capable traveler, a world highlight. The Via Ferrata at Kicking Horse is the best thing going (I found a brochure for canyoning as well), but there are plenty of other things to do beyond the great hiking and awesome scenery. I managed to run over 6 miles every day we were there, and that made it even nicer. If you go to Jasper, plan on being there longer, as there is a lot to do in the area and Pyramid Lake is a good starting point.