I stole the title from a Tragically Hip song. It references the band retuning to Canada after a US tour and seeing the last exit sign before crossing the border. This song was written many years ago but very much appropriate on how they would feel returning to Canada now. Actually, if they were still touring, I doubt they would go to US.
Anyway, Pisinee and I were headed to the Canadian Rockies. We were both on our best behavior as Canada has been through a lot, but surprisingly they were incredibly nice to us throughout the trip, making it even more embarrassing how Republicans have treated them.
We hit Alberta at an interesting time. They are the Texas of Canada. They are currently trying to bail and form their own country. They think because they have all this oil that they can go it alone with their right wing BS. I listened to an interview with a reporter asking a guy what you will do as far as healthcare, military, and infrastructure? Doesn’t Brexit make you think twice about this? His response was, “We are thousands of miles away from the UK. We do things different here and we will be just fine.” So it sounds like you got a plan.
This is the second time I have done this basic trip. The first time was 14 years ago. You can read it here. Instead of starting from Montana like last time, we were flying into Calgary, basically cutting the trip in half. We would rent a car on Calgary, drive over to Banff and stay there 5 days, then take 2 days to head up to Jasper before back to Calgary for the flight out.
Fortunately we had a direct flight from Detroit. When we got on the plane, my seat was good, but Amy’s seat was in the middle of a 10 person group that were bouncing all over the place like a gaze of raccoons. Of course when we went to sit down, and one of the small mammals was occupying our seat, Amy says, “Your in his seat.” Meaning the person was in my seat. I said, no Pisinee, he is in your seat, but she had already sat down in my seat. The 4 hour flight was chaos of kids with the parents a row ahead just happy to be avoiding them for the duration, with their headphones on.
We got the rental car and made it to Canmore about 10pm. You wouldn’t know it by the darkness because there wasn’t any. It never got dark the entire time we were there. I mean it got dark technically, but only between like 12am and 3am when I was asleep. It was very weird. There is a lot of guilt in going to sleep when it looks like it is 3pm outside even if 10pm.
We were staying in Canmore, a town about 20 minutes south of Banff. Banff is like Aspen, Vail or Jackson. It is high rent district. So people moved to the next town over to find affordable housing. But now Canmore is “Banff South” It looks like every house was built in the last 2 years. It has doubled in population from last time I was here. Its nice, and I would live here in the summer but I am scared of what it will be in another 10 years. We were very fortunate to find a Home Exchange opportunity in Canmore. The family could not have been nicer and the new construction townhouse sat at the base of the “Three Sister” mountain range. After finding a place for a late dinner, we were up early the next morning to start our adventure. When I was here last time, I just rolled up to the trailheads in my car, but times have changed. You cannot drive to Lake Louise or to Lake Moraine anymore unless you want to show up at 6am. You have to take a shuttle. And the shuttle reservations all sold out immediately online. I was able to book spots on the city bus that makes the run from Banff to Lake Louise a few times each day.
I could only book ridiculous times, like 10:30pm, but fortunately if you had a ticket you could go at anytime and ride standby. We were able to get a morning shuttle from Banff to Lake Louise after a stop at Tim Hortons.
Here is a picture of the Asian woman next to us eating an insanely large carrot
Once we arrived at Lake Louise we took another shuttle to Lake Moraine in order to do the Larch Valley Trail. The lake is famous now as it became a popular computer screensaver.
The crowds were intense, but once we started the trail they slowed down to a trickle.
Once we reached the ridge things flattened out a bit but the snow got deeper. Last time I did this I also did not make it all the way to Sentinel Pass. We stopped at the base where other hikers had poles and put on crampons for the final ascent.
On the way back down, we saw canoe rentals for the low low price of $175/Hr.
We stopped to look at Lake Louise just in case the weather turned tomorrow and we couldn't make it back for the hike
We got to see all the parking lots I slept in last time I was here. Now I am high society when I travel. Sleeping in actual beds.
We had dinner at Blake Brewery in Canmore. I ordered this cauliflower dish that had a curry glaze on it. I saw it on another menu here later in the week so it seems to be the hot new item. I liked it. Cauliflower can hold up to a lot of abuse so it seems you can do a lot to it in the cooking process to make it edible.I don't know what she is doing with the chopsticks in this picture, so don't ask.
I ran into 3 guys from the afternoon hike at the bar. They were also on our flight from Detroit. I thought it was pretty crazy, but not really as there are really only so many places to go when you come here and want to see the big ticket attractions.
We made it back around 6pm and crashed early
The next morning we repeated the process from the day before; drive to Banff, breakfast at Tim Hortons, and ride the bus to Lake Louise.
Another hike I did last time, Plain of 6 Glaciers
Also crowded at the start but not bad as we got going up into the snow
We stopped at the Teahouse. We could have gone on another .5 mile but the view did not see much different.
The highlight was when on the way back, we saw/heard an avalanche. The same thing happened last time I was here! Very cool
We hiked back down while others slid down on the snow. I might have tried this 14 years ago, but now I would end up with a broken hip.
We ended up at the Iron Goat restaurant this evening. Again we ran into people from the previous days hike, but this time it was they who recognized us. We shared trail ideas.
Servers and patrons were all very kind to us. Yes, everyone was on vacation is more relaxed, but there was more to it. In fact, one night we had a waitress who was not as friendly and we both concluded that she must have moved here from the USA!
Here is the view from our bedroom window at 1030pm
Until Tomorrow Darren
