Hiking in Banff 2018
If you read my blog about the new Calgary Central Library, you are already aware that Wendy and I went on a brief work/vacation trip. While in Banff, I was fortunate enough to have access to Dave as an avalanche avoidance mechanism and day-trip planner. This has a significant positive effect on standard wife-danger-o-meter sensors and I was set free in the Canadian Rockies, once again.
I only gave Dave a few days notice that I was coming into his stomping grounds. I knew quite a bit in advance of my trip, but after about 2 years being out of contact, I was uncertain whether I ought to insinuate myself into his mountain fortress of solitude. I needn’t have worried. He was only too pleased to hear from me, and after a lucky break and a bit of schedule wrangling, he was able to take a day away from Canmore.
We probably lucked out and had some of the best weather for hiking (or most other things for that matter) that they had seen for several weeks. It was gloriously sunny and the daytime high climbed a few degrees onto the plus side. That felt all the better for the weather in Saskatchewan being unseasonably cold with several places around the province breaking 50-75 year record lows.
Making for Aylmer Lookout
We had a fine start to the day, although Dave was concerned. His normal process is to get as far away from tourists as possible, and because of our short time-frame, we were going to be starting out from a very popular spot. He needn’t have been worried. In addition to the fine weather, we were also treated to a nearly deserted trail. We managed to hit a brief lull in the tourist season and some nearby ski hills had just opened drawing away that many more people. We perhaps saw 5 people all day.
It is hard to say what is the best thing about a day-long hike like this. The light dusting of snow which covered everything but didn’t obscure, or rather it added more beauty than it hid. Sometimes it wasn’t a dusting at all, but rather crystals grown in the mountain air amidst high humidity.
Perhaps it was the amazing low-angle light that happens throughout the winter.
Or it could be the fantastic 4 hour conversation about art, music, running, and getting older while still trying to stay open to newness. I feel like the conversation could have gone on indefinitely, if I hadn’t been experiencing a marked shortness of breath combined with a really sore ass.
At any rate, the views never disappoint.
A sight worth mentioning:
On the way back down, only a few hundred meters from the car, the sun was in the early phase of setting. Things were beginning to take on that rich orange cast. It always makes me feel warm and happy. I wanted to stop and explore some strange ice formations that we had noticed and been curious about earlier in the day. Getting down low (basically right into the lake) I thought the ice would make some nice foreground interest for a shot of Mount Girouard.
Instead it turned out that the mountain was a nice piece of background interest for some spectacular natural ice sculptures. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see the mountain scene reflected in the spherical bulges of the ice.
As fate would have it, Suzanne was in Banff on business that day, so we all met for a delicious vegetarian supper at Nourish Bistro followed by some of the best creme brûlée I’ve ever had at The Maple Leaf. Almost too many good things for one day to contain. But, not quite. I still had time to put in a blissful hour soaking in a relatively deserted Banff Upper Hot Springs.
To make up for all that indulgence, I took most of the next day off. Sore and with many pictures to review, I spent the day writing and editing photos.
Tunnel Mountain
On our last day in Banff, Wendy and I did a much shorter and tamer hike up Tunnel Mountain. Up and down was a couple of hours, but it still has some fabulous views... and also many more hikers to share the trail with.
...and it also had this twisted tree that Wendy noticed had the head of a deer hiding within. Enjoy!
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