July 24th-27th
So I neglected posting since Tuesday and now I'll rattle off a few days quickly and try to be more consistent in the following weeks. It wasn't super eventful anyways so not a whole lot missed.
Wednesday July 24th:
I woke up around 9:00 feeling the after effects of my drinking the previous night and with the weather being gloomy and raining on and off decided to take an easy day and make my way out to Canmore where I heard they allowed car camping. I left the hostel and explored downtown Banff until around noon. I checked out the museum and Bow River Falls, learning about the history of the town and the Bow River. I wanted to see more but even on a Wednesday the town was very buy with tourists and too hectic for my taste. After getting some gas I hastily made a departure.
I had made plans with my step dad Ken to go fishing the next day and wanted to check out Lake Minnewanka, the only lake in Banff NP that allowed you to keep fish, to see if it would work for him. I got there and while it was raining I walked the trails to the canyon bridge, beyond which hiking is restricted due to bears, and decided it would be suitable. It had easy access from parking and was close to Canmore. I hung around in my truck while it rained and left for Canmore to scope out the sleeping situation. I easily found where everyone was sleeping behind the Save-On (thanks to my recent climbing partner, Jasmine) and hunkered down for the night. Not much to say here I wasn't feeling great all day.
Thursday July 25th:
I woke up and vacated the parking lot (no parking from 7-9) and waited at McDonalds to meet Ken at ~9:30. We had some food and headed to lake Minnewanka to fish. He had brought his gear and had arrived in his 2010 yellow Camaro and didn't want to leave it unattended so I threw my gear in and left my truck in Canmore. He was gracious enough to allow me to drive his Camaro, which I happily obliged to do.
We got to Minnewanka and the fishing was....unsuccessful... to say the least. We had forgotten any weights and the lake was very windy so casting was impossible. It was fun to drive around in the Camaro though and we checked out a few other spots. We decided to abandon Minnewanka and head back to Canmore where I had weights in my truck and seek a spot there. After grabbing the weights we headed to the Canmore reservoir to fish. I had no luck at all and Ken broke his new fishing rod on his first cast but we had fun chit chatting anyways and met a few strangers who gave us some fishing advice (come back later). We were done sitting around in the sun and headed downtown to grab some dinner, afterwards Ken left at ~6:30 to return to Carstairs and I went back to the reservoir to try my luck (turns out I have none). I went to bed at 10 with plans to go to Mt. Temple in the morning before Sam came out.
Friday July 26th:
Waking up at 6:00 I realized there was no way to make it to Lake Louise and up Temple in time. I resigned myself to a lesser peak and also wanted to shower and clean up before Sam arrived and we went to her parents. I chose East End of Rundle (EEOR) a very famous local hike and after some initial confusion hit the trailhead at 8:30. I made it up by 10:00 and back at my truck by 11:30. The hike was uneventful, it was a steep, short slog with great views of Ha Ling and the Bow Valley at the top. It was very busy, windy and hot (see pictures). After arriving back down I made my way to Elevation Place in Canmore and went rock climbing, swimming, showering and to the library (in that order). I waited at the library for Sam who arrived at 7:30 and we drove to her parents home in Calgary where we spent the night.
Saturday July 27th:
The morning / early afternoon was spent with Sams family and friends. We had breakfast / brunch and chatted lots. We hit the road at 2:30 and ran in to some serious traffic on Highway 1 where a tractor trailer had overturned. We were looking for an open campsite and called around and found one in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park at Eau Claire campground. We hurried over and reserved our spot before heading in to Canmore to pick up my truck and some supplies. We returned to the campground and set up camp and had dinner. We tried to have a fire but I didn't have an axe and my wilderness skills failed me... sorry Sam :(. Anyways we had lots of fun and some entertainment when some local teens tried to steal a campsite late at night and had to be driven off by the campground security and RCMP. We went to bed with plans to hike up Windtower Mountain in Spray Lakes Provincial Park the next morning.
Wednesday July 24th:
I woke up around 9:00 feeling the after effects of my drinking the previous night and with the weather being gloomy and raining on and off decided to take an easy day and make my way out to Canmore where I heard they allowed car camping. I left the hostel and explored downtown Banff until around noon. I checked out the museum and Bow River Falls, learning about the history of the town and the Bow River. I wanted to see more but even on a Wednesday the town was very buy with tourists and too hectic for my taste. After getting some gas I hastily made a departure.
I had made plans with my step dad Ken to go fishing the next day and wanted to check out Lake Minnewanka, the only lake in Banff NP that allowed you to keep fish, to see if it would work for him. I got there and while it was raining I walked the trails to the canyon bridge, beyond which hiking is restricted due to bears, and decided it would be suitable. It had easy access from parking and was close to Canmore. I hung around in my truck while it rained and left for Canmore to scope out the sleeping situation. I easily found where everyone was sleeping behind the Save-On (thanks to my recent climbing partner, Jasmine) and hunkered down for the night. Not much to say here I wasn't feeling great all day.
Thursday July 25th:
I woke up and vacated the parking lot (no parking from 7-9) and waited at McDonalds to meet Ken at ~9:30. We had some food and headed to lake Minnewanka to fish. He had brought his gear and had arrived in his 2010 yellow Camaro and didn't want to leave it unattended so I threw my gear in and left my truck in Canmore. He was gracious enough to allow me to drive his Camaro, which I happily obliged to do.
We got to Minnewanka and the fishing was....unsuccessful... to say the least. We had forgotten any weights and the lake was very windy so casting was impossible. It was fun to drive around in the Camaro though and we checked out a few other spots. We decided to abandon Minnewanka and head back to Canmore where I had weights in my truck and seek a spot there. After grabbing the weights we headed to the Canmore reservoir to fish. I had no luck at all and Ken broke his new fishing rod on his first cast but we had fun chit chatting anyways and met a few strangers who gave us some fishing advice (come back later). We were done sitting around in the sun and headed downtown to grab some dinner, afterwards Ken left at ~6:30 to return to Carstairs and I went back to the reservoir to try my luck (turns out I have none). I went to bed at 10 with plans to go to Mt. Temple in the morning before Sam came out.
Friday July 26th:
Waking up at 6:00 I realized there was no way to make it to Lake Louise and up Temple in time. I resigned myself to a lesser peak and also wanted to shower and clean up before Sam arrived and we went to her parents. I chose East End of Rundle (EEOR) a very famous local hike and after some initial confusion hit the trailhead at 8:30. I made it up by 10:00 and back at my truck by 11:30. The hike was uneventful, it was a steep, short slog with great views of Ha Ling and the Bow Valley at the top. It was very busy, windy and hot (see pictures). After arriving back down I made my way to Elevation Place in Canmore and went rock climbing, swimming, showering and to the library (in that order). I waited at the library for Sam who arrived at 7:30 and we drove to her parents home in Calgary where we spent the night.
Saturday July 27th:
The morning / early afternoon was spent with Sams family and friends. We had breakfast / brunch and chatted lots. We hit the road at 2:30 and ran in to some serious traffic on Highway 1 where a tractor trailer had overturned. We were looking for an open campsite and called around and found one in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park at Eau Claire campground. We hurried over and reserved our spot before heading in to Canmore to pick up my truck and some supplies. We returned to the campground and set up camp and had dinner. We tried to have a fire but I didn't have an axe and my wilderness skills failed me... sorry Sam :(. Anyways we had lots of fun and some entertainment when some local teens tried to steal a campsite late at night and had to be driven off by the campground security and RCMP. We went to bed with plans to hike up Windtower Mountain in Spray Lakes Provincial Park the next morning.
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| Minnewanka Lake canyon bridge view |
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| Me driving Kens camaro |
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| View from top of EEOR |
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| Sam and I having limited success firemaking |
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