Sundance Canyon and Canoeing

On Monday Nick and I decided to do the Sundance Canyon trail in Banff, which was about 11km and took about 3 hours return.  The trail took us over the Bow River, and then to the Cave and Basin, which is closed for repairs this year.  Then we followed a small road which took us to the 4km loop round the Sundance Canyon.  

We climbed up a  mini waterfall, and then followed a creek.  The path got pretty muddy, and at one point we had to use stepping stones.  I was worried we were lost for a while because I'd excepted it to turn much sooner than it did, but Nick was confident in our direction after he'd done some tracking, and found some fresh footprints!

On the way back we walked past a small sulphur stream, which was warm so must have been part of the hot springs that are here naturally in Banff.  We saw a plethora of animals, foremost among them a duck.  Then we saw another duck, though in hindsight it may have been the same duck.  Later in the walk we saw a duckling but again, that could have been the duck again from further off.

Today we went canoeing in the rain on the Bow River for an hour with our Aussie housemates Jeff and Lisa, and Lisa's parents.  We had a little problem canoeing in a straight line, as we zigzagged along, but it was really fun, and we even saw an elk swimming across the river!

The HooDoos

Now that the snow has gone and its warmed up considerably, we've decided to try and do a few hikes around the Banff trails before we leave in about a weeks time.  On Monday Nick and I went on about a 10km hike in Banff, along the Bow River to see the Hoodoos.  The Hoodoos and stone pillars which were created because the rock was harder than those surrounding it, and when the glacier was there it eroded the rock into these weird pillar structures.

The weather forecast had said it would be sunny in the morning, so we got up early to avoid the afternoon showers, which have become a regularity here in Banff lately.  The hike took us along the Bow River, where we stopped at Surprise Corner to admire the view...

Then we dove into the trees, only taking one detour to avoid a humungous elk.  The route was gorgeous walking along beside the river, past a meadow and then taking us higher and higher until we come to the Hoodoos.  The view here was just lovely, especially because the sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and the river below was sparkling.  We've been living in the mountains for over 6 months now, and you just never tire of staring out at them.

Jasper Day 2

Just as it had the previous evening, day two of our saga sees our young heroes awaken to the playful sound of rivulets of water dancing upon the corrugated roof of their humble shelter.  Arising, they at once realised that it was indeed pissing it down, but that while the great sub-alpine forests of the Rockies had been somewhat dampened, not so their spirits.  With this survivalist attitude, and armed with the biggest cinnamon bun I had ever seen (I would have to say it was humongasaurus) we set out for Maligne Lake (above), one of the greatest views in the area.  It was not.  Frozen lake, snow coming down, and I was wearing shorts.  Heading back down below the snow line, we found ourselves at Maligne Canyon (below) and our decision to travel 50kms out of our way was vindicated.  An intriguing side-note, to all our geologically inclined readers, the canyon is fact a gorge.  And GORGEous it was.  The rain had increased the already ridiculous flow of water to epic proportions and it was very nice to behold.  

The drive from the canyon (and to it) also took us past Medicine Lake, much of which was under-ground, and while I did read the little placard by the side of the road, I can’t remember why this happened.  In fact, Google has just directed me to Parks Canada who inform me that autumn through spring, sinkholes in the bottom of the lake leads to partially soluble limestone through which the lake drains out, resurfacing at Maligne Canyon.  In summer, the lake is about 9km long when the glacial melt exceeds the capacity of drainage. The people of the First Nations saw this and named it Medicine Lake because of its seemingly magical qualities.  A long explanation, but I like to think a worthy one.

 

Passing back through town a brief stop was made at the pastry shop for further delectables and then off once more, to the enigmatically named Valley of the Five lakes.  While we only saw one of the lakes (having double-timed it through the woods for half an hour as we were already dangerously close to lunch o’clock) we have it on good authority that the other four were kicking about. 

By this point time was not our friend so we pressed on, as we planned a stop at the Columbia Icefields. We had a bit of time to spare which was spent in the museum, however in spite of my deep and profound love of museums (and the sound my own typing voice) I will not go further into it. Suffice it to say there were buttons to be pressed.  We rode up to the Athabasca Glacier in a bus and transferred to a behemoth of an icefield explorer-mobile driven by a very nice man called Rich or Rick or something else who informed us it was -15 up top.  As I looked around I realised once again I was the only tit wearing shorts.  First we went down a very steep hill (the steepest road in the world dontchaknow) and then crawled our way onto the icefield itself.  Much of the tour was focused at how far the ice had receded which, like my hair, has rolled back significantly as the ages have passed.  It was shocking to learn that the current site of the Icefield centre used to be under several metres of glacier, which will apparently be gone in a hundred years or so.  If you were planning on visiting, it would be worth doing it sooner rather than later.  At the top we wandered around, Laura fell in the only puddle within a mile of where we were standing, and I made a snow angel.

 

We finished off our fun travellings back to Banff and the next day sold Betsy Mae with a tear in our eye, and a song in our wallets.

Spray Lakes

Today we went on a road trip to the Spray Lakes, near Canmore.  They are a string of lakes formed along the Spray River, a tributary of the Bow River.  The sun was out and the lakes looked absolutely gorgeous, sparkling bright turquoise.  However the road to get to the lake was a bit more suspect, making us drive at a mere 40km/h to avoid wrecking the suspension.

We have potentially sold the car, so we are going up to Jasper tomorrow before handing over the car on Wednesday.  Really looking forward to the drive up, and crossing my fingers we see some moose.

Johnston Canyon

On 3rd May Nick and I went to Johnson Canyon with Sabrina and Chris, which was about 30mins car drive.  Summer has finally arrived in Banff and the weather is about 16oC each day, so most of the water had defrosted, but some of the waterfalls were still frozen as you can see in some of the photos.  The canyon is  basically a huge gorge, with the stream emptying into the Bow River, which runs through Banff and onto Calgary.  The first part of the trail consists of a constructed walkway with safety rails and bridges, while the last part of the trail is natural and more rugged, like Nick (he he).

 

Road Trip East

We'll be leaving Banff soon, so thought I'd update you all on our travel plans...

On 31st May we're flying to Chicago from Calgary.  From there we are flying to Toronto and then getting the train to Quebec City.  Next we'll be getting the bus to Boston, followed by Washington DC.  From here we're going to rent a car and drive to and around Richmond, ending in Antieman Battlefield before heading back to Washington DC.  

Finally we're getting the bus to New York, before flying home on the 6th July.

Visitors from England

On 21st April Sabrina and my friend Sara from work drove to Calgary and spent the day shopping before picking up my friend Caz and her boyfriend Charlie from the airport.  They came for 10 days, and we managed to do so much in that time!

On the Friday we went up the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain.  Nick and Chris decided to hike up the mountain instead of taking the Gondola.  Was such a glorious day with the sun out, and hardly a cloud in the sky.  After lunch we drove to Lake Minnewanka.  The whole of the lake was still covered in snow, except a tiny area where it was a beautiful blue/green colour.  We saw some mountain sheep on the road.  Then we drove to Two Jacks Lake which was close by, and this was fairly frozen also.  I was working all day Saturday, so Caz and Charlie went dog sledging on Spray Lake, just outside Canmore.

 

  

On the Sunday I was working in the evening, my last shift at the Rimrock.  In the morning we took a nice walk along the Bow River to the falls.  On the walk back we saw some huge huge elk, just sat on the side of the path!  After lunch we drove to the Vermillion Lakes, which are just on the outskirts of Banff and then up Norquay so they could get a view of the whole of Banff and the surrounding mountains.  Again the sun was out, and it was lovely outside.  I definitely want to go back and cycle round the Vermillion Lakes.  We saw some Canadian Geese too!

  

Monday we went skiing at Sunshine, and it was Charlie's first time up a mountain.  Nick was working that day, so I had to try and remember the things he'd taught me from his instructor courses, and try to relay it to Charlie.  I'm not very good at teaching, but somehow managed to stay patient, which is rare for me.  We skied again Tuesday, and then Nick came on Wednesday, and by now Charlie was really improving.  We took Caz down a black slope in the afternoon and she did really well.  On Thursday we took a full car load to Lake Louise: Charlie, Caz, Sabrina, Chris, Nick and I, and we were surprised we managed to get everyone into the car with all our stuff, but Betsy Mae pulled through.  Again we were really lucky with the weather, and had a great day skiing.  The slopes were pretty icy as Lake Louise hadn't had any snow now for about 2 weeks, so that will probably be the last time we ski there now before we leave.  On the way back to Banff we took a detour along Banff Parkway to try and see some wildlife, now that the snow has gone and a lot of bears have been sighted.  Unfortunately all we saw was one lonely elk.  That evening we went to the Grizzly House for fondue for dinner.

On Friday we took a day off from skiing, and hiked up Tunnel Mountain.  It usually only takes about 1.5hrs, but it was slippery from all the slush and snow and so took us a record breaking 3.5hrs!  Saturday Caz and Charlie went skiing, and I stayed home because I wasn't feeling too well.  Then on Sunday we all went to Sunshine for their last day of skiing.  This had to be the best day skiing yet; the sun was out and the snow was great.  In the evening we went to the Magpie and Stump for mexican, and what was meant to be a night of partying turned into us all going to bed early because we were exhausted!

Caz and Charlie were flying back from Calgary on Monday, so we decided to spend the day there.  We arrived just in time for lunch, thanks to my map reading skills, and had a picnic in the Prince's Park.  It was an unbelievable 18oC!  I can't remember the last time we felt the sun that warm.  Then in the afternoon we took a stroll round Calgary and went up the Calgary Tower, which sounds more exciting than it was.  However, it was unbelievable to see flat plains and then the Rocky Mountains just appearing on the horizon.  We ended the day with a drink in a pub and then dropped Caz and Charlie off at the airport.

Laid on the glass floor at the top of the Calgary Tower.

It was really great of them to come visit, and I had such an amazing time with them.  So thanks for coming to see us!!