Banff was everything you'd expect of a world famous tourist town, full of people, a little pricey but jaw droppingly beautiful. We experienced this in its full glory on our first evening in Banff as the sun set throwing orange hues across the Vermilion Lakes and mountains behind them. The deal with Banff is that its such a beautiful spot that everyone wants to live there but its in a National Park so they can’t just keep expanding the village. In order to live in Banff you must be working there or own a business or be the family of someone who does. This means accommodation of any sort is expensive even the campgrounds, so we opted to hide in plain sight by sleeping in the Dodge parked on a residential street. We asked about camping up at the Banff Upper Hot Springs but they said security comes every night to kick out any free campers. The pools were nice though and we went to them several times during our stay in Banff mainly for a shower after a quick soak. They had this strange heated tunnel thing that you walked down from the changing rooms that leads right into the pool so you don't have to get cold at all.
The following day we set out to do one of the many hikes on offer around Banff. We had found the hike the day before when we stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom but we didn't dare camp there judging by the huge no over-night parking signs all over the place. The 7.5km hike to Lake Bourgeau sounded nice and I didn't bother hiring any snow shoes as no new snow had fallen and the trail appeared hard packed by others. This turned out to be a big mistake as about 3km in the hard packed trail abruptly stopped and changed to deep fluffy snow. There were a few avalanche paths that had crashed through so maybe others had decided to turn back early but we continued. Will simply put on his snow shoes and carried on, meanwhile I fell up to my thighs every few steps and was puffing hard to keep up.
It was with much perseverance (I don’t say that lightly!) and a little ingenuity that we kept going well into the afternoon. In the end I fashioned my own ‘snow shoe’ by putting on both mine and then Wills crampons at right angles to each other to give be some more surface area. This helped a bit but the going was still tough. On one avalanche path we crossed Scout went bounding away and Will discovered he had found a large Rams head. Will wanted it for the front of the Dodge but I wasn't having it so he had to settle for photos. At 4pm we finally made it to what appeared to be the top; but where Lake Bourgeau actually was we will never know as we couldn't find it. We could have been standing on it and not noticed because it was frozen and snow covered just like everything else. Being close to physically spent it was time to trudge back down before it started getting dark.
The following day after taking a shower at the hot pools we hit all the tourist spots. First up was Cave and Basin; a historical thermal spring that Native Americans first discovered 10 thousand years ago as a natural cavern. In 1914 the spring was used to fill a commercial pool and bath facilities before being closed in 1994 and turned into a National Historical Site. That afternoon we checked out the Fairmont Hotel which first opened in 1888 but has since undergone many reconstructions to bring it to its current state. The place oozes exuberant old time luxury and would be fit for a king, needless to say we felt a little out of place with our duct taped jackets and my gumboots. They allow visitors though and they even had a tour that sounded like it would have been worth going to only we had other plans already. The recent lack of Dodge break downs meant we had enough left in the budget for a real dinner out and we chose the the Grizzly House Restaurant. Advertised as a having a traditional Swiss fondue we couldn't resist and both ordered the three course fondue meals. I went for beef and chicken while Will was having bison, elk and wild pork. We started with bread dipped in a warm cheesy garlic sauce before the meats came out to cook in the piping hot oil or on a heated stone. Unfortunately by the time we got to the chocolate fondue we were both feeling pretty bad about how much this was costing and how hungry we still felt. Imagine how much food we could have brought from the supermarket we were both thinking as we paid the bill and of course the tip. Then after brushing our teeth in the restaurant car park it was back to our favourite residential parking spot for the night.
On Friday the 14th of March we visited the popular Johnstone Canyon; being so popular we set out early with Scout, a packed lunch and our crampons. We planed to hike beyond the canyon and onto the famed Ink Pots making the hike 5.8km in total. The first part through Johnstone Canyon was loads of fun as long as you held onto the handrails to prevent slipping over on the compacted icy snowy surface that also included some narrow steel board walks inside the canyon. The board walks with their rather large drops didn't appeal much to Scout who we had to encourage along as he wined loudly. Both the lower and upper falls were frozen solid but we watched some ice climbers making their way up the frozen mass of the larger Upper Falls. Later we reached the Ink Pots and were glad to find that they weren't completely frozen over so we could enjoy the different colours of the small lakes over lunch before making our way back to the Dodge. I was quite amazed that you were allowed dogs on this walk but we still got in trouble from a tour leader on the way down for having Scout off the lead. How we were meant to have him on the lead with the slippery conditions is anyones guess.
That afternoon we left the National Park and drove over to the nearby town of Canmore. We had planned to go to the huge indoor climbing wall there but then we discovered Canmore is also home to the Canmore Nordic Centre. The Canmore Nordic Centre held part of the 1988 Winter Olympics so we decided what better place to try nordic skiing. We had never done it before so that afternoon we got the low down and booked into a lesson for the following morning. Again we camped in a residential street and then drove back up to the Nordic Centre after a quick breakfast at the dog park so Scout could have a big run around.
It was super exciting getting all the gear and wondering if we would actually be able to stand up and move on these tiny skinny skis. I was just glad the boots were comfortable. The lesson involved a few falls and like any good lesson a few exercises that made you feel ridiculous. You know what I mean? When everyone else is speeding past and your going along the flat with one ski on and doing some squatting thing while trying desperately to keep balanced. After the lesson we cruised along the main 11km green trail and really started to get the hang of it. We had also just discovered the slow motion movie function on the iPhone so we were playing around with that trying to get some good shots. Then we started to get a little over confident and got up some speed on a down hill section, Will lost his balance and tumbled over. On the verge of control myself I did my best to avoid him but in the end I crashed into him and we both ended up in a snowy heap with poles and skies everywhere! Unhurt we went back to the Dodge for a late lunch and to let Scout out for a bit. We were both feeling a bit tired but it was so much fun and we didn't know when or if we’d ever do it again so we hit the trails again, this time the 6km easy loop. We made it about half way before decided we were too stuffed to keep going so turned back with time for a shower at the day lodge on our way out.
It was super exciting getting all the gear and wondering if we would actually be able to stand up and move on these tiny skinny skis. I was just glad the boots were comfortable. The lesson involved a few falls and like any good lesson a few exercises that made you feel ridiculous. You know what I mean? When everyone else is speeding past and your going along the flat with one ski on and doing some squatting thing while trying desperately to keep balanced. After the lesson we cruised along the main 11km green trail and really started to get the hang of it. We had also just discovered the slow motion movie function on the iPhone so we were playing around with that trying to get some good shots. Then we started to get a little over confident and got up some speed on a down hill section, Will lost his balance and tumbled over. On the verge of control myself I did my best to avoid him but in the end I crashed into him and we both ended up in a snowy heap with poles and skies everywhere! Unhurt we went back to the Dodge for a late lunch and to let Scout out for a bit. We were both feeling a bit tired but it was so much fun and we didn't know when or if we’d ever do it again so we hit the trails again, this time the 6km easy loop. We made it about half way before decided we were too stuffed to keep going so turned back with time for a shower at the day lodge on our way out.
That evening we were stoked to be going to a screening of some films from the Banff Film Festival back in Banff. Before the screening we blew the budget on what was easily the most expensive Dominos pizza in the world using the justification that we would have enough left overs for lunch the next day. They did taste amazing and it had been ages since I’d had a real Dominos BBQ chicken and bacon pizza mmmmm. We then left the pizzas on the dash in the boxes and went into the theatre.
The films we saw were all awesome, though we had actually seen part of ‘Cold Warriors’ about the Bison and Wolves at Wood Buffalo National Park already. If my memory serves right we saw it on TV at the Motel 6 in Vegas while we were getting ready to go out. We found the film ‘The Sensei’, with Daniel Woods and Yuji Hirayam about rock climbing in Borneo really funny and the New Zealand based ‘Notbad’ mountain biking film really showed off our New Zealand landscape as well as what you can do with a serious slow motion camera. There were many other honourable mentions but our favourite film and the supreme winner was ‘North of the Sun’. A tale of two young Norwegian guys who built themselves a cabin from rubbish on a remote beach in Norway then spent a year surfing and collecting rubbish in the endless darkness of the Arctic winter.
Will and I were felling elated after seeing all of the amazing films and more motivated to make one of our own. We were just discussing some ideas when we opened the car doors to find Scout had eaten every single ounce of pizza that we had left in the boxes on the dash and yet somehow the empty boxes will still sitting just how we’d left them! So what did we do, we filmed it haha. Still not sure if we have enough footage for a film but time will tell. Will having left more of his pizza for lunch than I had was devastated while Scout seemed very content! Shot Scout. After taking a few night photos of the Fairmont Hotel we discreetly pulled back into our regular overnight camping spot.
The films we saw were all awesome, though we had actually seen part of ‘Cold Warriors’ about the Bison and Wolves at Wood Buffalo National Park already. If my memory serves right we saw it on TV at the Motel 6 in Vegas while we were getting ready to go out. We found the film ‘The Sensei’, with Daniel Woods and Yuji Hirayam about rock climbing in Borneo really funny and the New Zealand based ‘Notbad’ mountain biking film really showed off our New Zealand landscape as well as what you can do with a serious slow motion camera. There were many other honourable mentions but our favourite film and the supreme winner was ‘North of the Sun’. A tale of two young Norwegian guys who built themselves a cabin from rubbish on a remote beach in Norway then spent a year surfing and collecting rubbish in the endless darkness of the Arctic winter.
Will and I were felling elated after seeing all of the amazing films and more motivated to make one of our own. We were just discussing some ideas when we opened the car doors to find Scout had eaten every single ounce of pizza that we had left in the boxes on the dash and yet somehow the empty boxes will still sitting just how we’d left them! So what did we do, we filmed it haha. Still not sure if we have enough footage for a film but time will tell. Will having left more of his pizza for lunch than I had was devastated while Scout seemed very content! Shot Scout. After taking a few night photos of the Fairmont Hotel we discreetly pulled back into our regular overnight camping spot.
The next morning we woke up to find it had snowed a few inches and all the roads were considered hazardous. We took this in our stride as we left Banff and headed north along first the Bow Valley Parkway then the Icefields Parkway. In Fact it was really fun without much other traffic and stunning blue skies. We made the most of it by driving the Dodge through some deep snow and taking a few more slow motion clips of the snow flying everywhere. We stopped and attempted to look at a few of the recommend attractions but most things were closed or cut off by snow. By lunch time we had made it to Lake Louise, however there was no lake as it was frozen and covered in snow just like everything else and we didn't have any lunch thanks to Scout. A bit sad about everything we went for a walk around and relaxed in the warm hotel for a while; basically it was just nice to sit somewhere that we could stretch out for a bit. And with the hoards of other tourists around many of whom were getting stuck in the car park as well as the news of a double avalanche fatality right in Lake Louise we didn't feel like doing much else so returned to the Dodge. As we sat in the Dodge we listened to all of the conspiracy theories about what had happened to the missing Malaysian Airlines 777 with 239 people on board and ate our lacklustre salami sandwiches. We didn't know what had happened to the plane but we did know it was time to look for a camp spot. The village was far to small for residential camping so we bulldozed through the snow up a hill to an unploughed car park at the back of the hotel. Will put the pedal down and attempted to turn around and he somewhat managed a sideways slide but got stuck halfway round. It was fine though, and out of the way so we resigned to digging ourselves out in the morning.
Again in snowed another three inches overnight so we had to do plenty of digging to get ourselves out in the morning, which we again filmed. We then dropped by the village afterwards to buy a well deserved breakfast from a bakery. As we walked back to the Dodge we noticed a parks ranger pull someone over and give them a grilling about something. We were lucky not to have been kicked out during the night and decided to get a move on. After a while we pulled over to look at one vast frozen lake and left Scout off leash for a bit. We start taking some selfies before we realised Scout was way out on the lake hopping through the snow like a giant ginger rabbit. This is when the same park ranger from the village car park drives past and stops… Eyes like an eagle he wasn't happy about Scout being off the lead so we had to kiss ass for the next twenty minutes and act like we really wanted a photo with him to get him off our backs. It worked though.
We then drove past a frozen ‘Weeping Wall’ before arriving at the closed Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre. Across the road we could see the Athabasca Glacier in the distance so drove over for a look. With only one set of snow shoes there was no way we were walking to the face so we made some noodles while watching a pair of climbers skinning their way towards us. It turned out the climbers were two hard-core Norwegian guys who had brought an old Chevy camper and spent the last few months skiing and climbing their way around Canada. We had a look inside their camper and were envious of the massive amount of space they had inside it. We even found out that Harold and Emil knew the guys from the ‘North of the Sun’ film that we had just seen. They looked like they could do with a rest though after four days on the glacier in terrible conditions; Emil had even fallen into a crevasse and totally smashed up his helmet so we left them to it after swapping emails.
As we continued further north along the Ice Fields Parkway the snow covered road changed to clear road and before long we were in Jasper. The first thing we did in Jasper was go to the Recreation Centre for a soak in the hot tub and a shower. We then went to a pub for dinner and ordered cheap burgers and green coloured beers, it was St Patricks day after all.
We wanted to see Jasper and what it had to offer but our motivation wasn't there, we were missing home and wanting some home comforts. Lucky we would be getting those soon with Brad and Julie in Grande Prairie. Instead of touristing around Jasper we spent the day in the Library sorting out some of our thousands of photos, stopping only to walk to the bakery for lunch. That evening we went out to a frozen lake looking for a better camp spot and so Scout could have some time outside. We found a spot and cooked instant mash potatoes with gravy and baked beans. It was a bit eerie in the trees and Will spent plenty of time scanning the pitch darkness with the spotlight. But after all the police we had seen around town we decided not to risk getting caught out there and went back and camped on a side street innocently blending in with the residents cars.
On Wednesday the 19th of March we went for a wander down the icy paths of Maligne Canyon just outside of Jasper. It was similar to Johnstone Canyon though so we left after a short time and started making our way to Grande Prairie. On the way we saw a few Dal Sheep then stopped in the town of Hinton to buy some groceries for Brad and Julie’s. At the Walmart we were surprised to see signs that read “Over night parking is welcome” good on the Walmart for making the most of their location night next to the National Park and pity we didn't need a place to camp. Here we come Brad, Julie and the Emond family.
Rochelle & Will
Rochelle & Will