Mel & Trinity

Crossing the border into Alberta on Tuesday (7th July) meant that we had crossed from Kootenay National Park into Banff National Park. The video below was taken as Morant’s Curve. Our timing was impeccable! About a minute after we stopped be could hear a train in the distance. These trains are massive! It took 2,5 minutes for the train to pass us. I could not have asked for a nicer backdrop to this video.

From here we headed to Lake Louise. It’s really beautiful around here. Grant and I took a hike around the lake and decided to test out the water. I can confirm that glacier water is incredibly cold. How people have ice baths I don’t know!

We had been camping since we left Princeton which generally wasn’t too bad. This evening was a little cold though, probably because we were the most north that we had been. The disadvantage was therefore being slightly cold that night. However, on the upside we managed to have a campfire. It was the first campsite where campfires were allowed (there have been a huge number of forest fires around Canada and therefore a campfire ban). We headed to the only stop within about an hours drive for dinner and to pick up a lighter or matches to start the fire. The shop had run out of both. My heart sank. About a minute later a ladies walked over to Grant and I and said we could have her lighter. It was such a sweet gesture and of course she had no idea what this actually meant to me. Having a campfire on this trip is one of my bucket list items. Thanks to this kind lady I was able to fulfil this item. Thank you!

The next day was all about the Columbia Icefields. Walking on a glacier was another bucket list item. When I was in New Zealand in 2012 with my mom we went to see Fox Glacier. Unfortunately we arrived at the glacier too late in the evening for me to walk on it. I promised myself that I would make that happen when I got the opportunity to. I’m so happy that Grant helped make this dream come true for me. It was so great to share the experience with him.

The other thing to see at the Icefields is the Skywalk. It’s a 6km bus ride from the parking area and so worth the view. They have an audio tour that tells you all about the glaciers and the local wildlife. I also discover that cougars are massive (I always thought they were quite small) and saw the size of a Grizzly’s paw. It’s just a ‘tad’ bigger than my hand.

I was on such a high when we left the Icefields. At this stage I had seen so much more than I had expected to. Not only had we seen all the things I have discussed, we had also seen deer, a mountain goat and a young black bear crossing the road. That was amazing! I think I captured the latter on my GoPro. I still need to check. Unfortunately with all the excitement happening I did a very silly thing. Pulling into a look out point I nicked the rear bumper of a parked car with my pannier. I instantly felt sick! All I could think was how much is this going to set me back. After about a 20 minute wait for the driver a young couple emerged. The guy looked at the damage and said don’t worry about it. Those were the best words I could hear at that point and it helped calm my slightly shattered nerves. After about 10 minutes of beating myself up I decided to let it go. All the time I was spending beating myself up was not being spent concentrating on where I was and what I was doing. Wednesday night (8th July) we camped in a campsite just outside of Banff. Banff is gorgeous! It has a similar feel to Nelson but on a much larger scale. Incidentally, the restaurant we had dinner at sold the hemp ale from Nelson that we both enjoyed so much, so needless to say it was the drink of choice that evening.

We decided to wake up early On Thursday morning so that we could do a hike through Jackson’s Creek and still get to Calgary by 12:00 to meet Grant’s cousins. The early rise was so worth it! There were so many gorgeous waterfalls along the walk. I’ve included a video of one of them for your enjoyment.

The drive from Banff to Calgary was generally uneventful. It’s a long straight ride on the motorway. Only two things stood out for me. Firstly, the landscape gets a lot flatter the closer you get to Calgary. The second thing was nearly being sideswiped by a car on the motorway. Luckily I saw the car starting to move and I accelerated around him. Strangely I was a lot calmer about this incident than my mishap the previous day. Anyway, no harm was done and I’m sure the driver will look properly next time before he changes lane.