We struggled to get going this morning but eventually got ourselves sorted and down to the car. First stop today was Tim Hortons for coffee and breakfast. We ended up taking the coffee with us as it was too hot to drink.
Our plan this morning was to visit Johnston Canyon. No idea how, but we missed the turn off and ended up 25 minutes to far up the highway before we noticed! We did a u turn at Lake Louise and went back down the highway to the correct junction. The car park was very busy and after touring the main car park we ended up half way down the 2nd car park.
We swapped our trainers for walking boots, refilled the water bottle at the visitor centre and set off. Despite all the guides calling it a flat accessible walk for everyone, they failed to mention the elevation gain on the outbound trip! The path itself was easy under foot with the boardwalk having been fixed to the side of the canyon in places but it was uphill. We walked for about 25 mins until we reached the lower falls at which point I told Keith to tackle the upper falls alone as my ankles were really feeling sore this morning. I wandered down to the viewing area for the lower falls and noticed a queue of people waiting to cross the bridge. At the other side was a small cave to walk through to get really close to the fall. Unfortunately it was a really slow moving queue and I had only just finished my turn to view when Keith returned saying about an equally slow moving queue at the end of his climb to see the upper falls. This trail was very busy but the views were pleasant,
We trudged back to the car, pretty tired. We were experiencing some proper June weather today with temperatures around 20 degrees and beautiful blue skies.
We decided to take the more scenic Bow Valley Parkway back up to Lake Louise. It was fairly quiet and we enjoyed the forest scenery as we drove. We made a stop at Baker Creek who had a small cafe where we purchased a couple of cold juice drinks and a hotdog to share. After asking if there was in fact a creek to sit beside we were shown where to find sand chairs by the creek. Such a delightful spot, we sat on a large wooded swing chair and enjoyed some time watching the water bubble down the creek.
We also paused at a viewing point where you could see the railway line running alongside the river. So picturesque.
We made it to Lake Louise Ski resort at about 4.30 and made our way to the booking office to check in for our 5pm bus time. Tickets confirmed, she sent us straight to join the queue for the next bus. The bus takes about15 mins to reach the lake shore. It was packed with people enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. We wanted round the shore front area in front of the large Fairmont Hotel. Whilst the lake is very pretty we weren't as wowed as we had expected to be. Maybe it was the number of people! I know these photos don't show it but trust me we certainly weren't alone!
We walked back to the bus area and got on the shuttle to Moraine Lake. This was much prettier in our opinion, with the snowy mountain range almost touching the lake. The lake was alsoma gorgeous colour. We wandered around the beach and walkway for a whole before heading back to get a bus back to the parking area. It took about 30/40 minutes to return and by now it was about 7.15.
Whilst we had initially considered stopping in Banff for some dinner, we decided were were too shattered so we instead returned back to Canmore and grabbed a Wendy's and took it back to the condo.
We noticed on the return journey just how quickly the snow had melted from the mountains in todays sunshine compared with our journey down yesterday afternoon.
Our thoughts so far on the Banff area are that it is significantly more busy than the areas we have visited up to now. Not sure whether that is due to the weather, closeness to a major city (Calgary) or something else. Whilst the views are lovely we think we prefer to quietness of the Jasper area.
Keith's step count today 13,800
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