Taking The Long Way: Rain, Rain and Banff

We left Jasper in the rain. It had been raining on and off all night but we set off hoping for some blue sky later.

We spotted a whole crowd of elk by the roadside again on the way out of town.

More elk

We drove a slightly different route south than we had taken coming north so we could go to see the Angel Glacier and Mount Edith Cavell. We walked to the viewpoint and got to see a lake with chunks of ice floating in it which had been one of the things we wanted to see in Canada. So despite being soaked by the time we got back to the van, we were pleased.

Angel Glacier

We walked a little bit of the trail with a couple from Washington DC. They were doing a longer hike and wanted some other people to walk with because it was a trail where it is advised to be in a group of at least four because of the bears. We were only doing a short walk there today though so we had to leave them. We saw some other hikers go soon after them so they would have had some new company soon.

We rejoined the main highway at Athabasca Falls and made a quick trip to see the falls in our damp clothes. Then we did the same at Sunwapta Falls. The rain was getting worse and there was no danger of any waterfall being dry today. They were both rushing with brown water.

Someone wants to get back in the van at the waterfall viewing!

We got back in the van and drove the rest of the way to Banff only stopping to switch drivers and for an in-van picnic by a creek. Our coats and clothes were steaming up the van on the way.
The scenery driving back down the icefields parkway was spectacular. We think that the rain had brought some snow to the mountains because they all seemed more sprinkled with snow than on the way north. We also saw a wolf run across the road.

Wet wet wet

Driving back down Icefields Parkway

Once in Banff we found our campsite and then went to explore the town. It was very busy - it seemed the weather had probably kept people in town instead of out hiking. Rosie managed to park the van while I helped by pointing out non-spaces. We had a look around the shops and then had another meal. Dinner maybe? At 3:30? Even though we had hardly done any walking we were still really hungry. We had salads, garlic bread, pasta and ice cream washed down with lemonades and hot tea while we watched the weather out of the restaurant window.

Part of our mega mid-afternoon feast

We waddled back to the van with full bellies and back at the campsite we made the most of the hot showers to get warm.
We relaxed for what was left of the afternoon. The rain gradually stopped and the clear skies brought the coldest temperatures of the trip so far. We got out the thermals for the first time and retreated to hide in the van again. We will stay two nights here in Banff so we decided to give ourselves a lie in until 8am tomorrow.

Hiding in the van

After our lie in we drove out to try and do a hike in sunshine meadows. However when we got there we discovered that the trailhead was 6km down a private road. There was a shuttle bus to the trailhead but it cost $27 each for the 12km round trip so we decided that it was a rip off and went instead to Johnstone Canyon (free) and did a walk there instead.

We stopped at a deserted picnic area and heated up our leftover chili for a delicious lunch. It smelled so good, so we kept an eye on the bushes but no bears wandered out for a taste.

After lunch we went to the cave and basin thermal pool that was the inspiration for Canada's first national park. We were a bit disappointed by it. I think we were expecting a much bigger cave and it had a very sulphurous smell that Rosie didn't like. I said I couldn't tell much difference from being with her in the van every night.