Day 1Arrive, Drive to Banff, Good Food and BeerFriday, August 31, 2018
Temperatures in the 50s After landing in Calgary, we know we won't be able to check into our hotel until 4:00, so we decide to grab food in the area. As we stand in the airport waiting for our bags, I list off a few nearby suggestions to Mike: Asian-fusion, salads, Venezuelan. He hears the word "Venezuelan" and lights up. "That," he says. "We're getting that." We pick up our rental car (a little four-door something that's not a Jeep), toss our bags into the back and head towards the food. The place is called Heaven Artisan Restaurant and is super delicious. Maybe even surprisingly so, for how little and understated it is. We order patacones, vegan arepas and a platter of appetizers that are all really good (and come with tasty sauces!). Mike even goes so far as to say the food rivals Arepazo in Columbus. The owner is flattered. With more time to kill, we walk up the road to the nearby outdoors shop (which is kind of like an REI) to look for a good hiking backpack. I've been wanting to buy one, but as I look around, I'm not impressed by the options. There are a ton of bags, but they're all way overpriced, and none of them even have what I'm looking for (which is really just good interior pockets). I tell Mike it's a no-go and we start to head out when we remember - bear spray! We're supposed to pick up bear spray while we're here. We've heard a bit about the threat of bears in this area and how they've been known to attack hikers. And as we later learn, someone was attacked by a bear on a nearby mountain earlier this week. I'm unworried. Mike, on the other hand, is apprehensive. We pay our $50 for the bear spray and then look up videos that explain what to do in case of a bear attack. Lie down if it's a grizzly bear (yeah right). Back away if it's a black bear. Use the bear spray if it seems like it's coming towards you. Etc. etc. After one more quick stop at the grocery for hiking snacks (and Ziploc bags to hide the hiking snack smell from the bears), we're off to Banff! As I'm driving, I look down at my spedometer and tap the breaks. Woah. I was going like 100 mph! Is this car turbo-charged? How'd that happen? Mike laughs. "It's in kilometers per hour," he tells me. "Silly Nuna." We make it to Banff in good time and check into our hotel (Canalta Lodge). It's pricey (2,000 CAD total, which is like $1,500). I knew this when I booked it, but Mike's a little surprised. "You knew it'd be that much?" he asks me. I smile and reassure him. Yes, I knew. It's okay. That's just how much hotels cost in this area. I hand over my card info, plus agree to pay the extra $7/night to park in their underground garage (which turns out to be a good call). Then we head up to our room. It's cute. I like the cabin-y style, and it's a decent size. When we were looking at hotels, Mike insisted that we found one with a porch, and he's glad to see that we do indeed have a porch, though the view isn't amazing (there are wires in the way). Still, it's a good spot. We change out of our travel clothes and then walk into downtown. Banff is small; it's basically got just one long road. I'm wearing my black booties that have a slight heel, but as soon as we make it into town I see that this was unnecessary. Everyone is in hiking gear. The vibe is casual. Good to know. We pass by a bar that came recommended called Rose and Crown, so we decide to stop in. At first glance, though, we're tempted to turn around and walk out. It's like…kind of lame and ugly looking inside. But we judged too quickly. We get a little farther in and turn a corner to see that it opens up into a better-ish area. We sit at the bar and order drinks (some beer for Mike, a cider for me). The bar is sticky. The bartender is nice. It's all good. As we exit the bar, Mike remembers that he wanted to stop in the visitor center to pay the park fee. I'm not sure this is necessary ("What would happen if we didn't know about the park fee!? Is it just an honor system? What if we don't pay it?") but he insists. It ends up being a good thing, because it turns out that we do need to pay the park fee (just to be in the area), and they give us a sticker to put in our car window showing we've registered to be there. After all that, we grab another drink at another bar, Banff Avenue Brewing Co. I order a unique-tasting rhubarb beer. I like it. I'm definitely tipsy now. We have a dinner reservation at Park Distillery and Restaurant, so that's where we head next. Turns out it's a good thing I made the reservation; we hear the people in front of us trying to get a table, and they're informed that it's going to be a 90 minute wait. (They walk out). We, on the other hand, are seated immediately. The inside of this place is cool; it's dark and homey and has a good vibe. All the food looks good, so we order a bunch: a wedge salad appetizer, chicken that you dip in gravy, plus some other stuff that we can't even finish so we end up taking back with us. Everything is fantastic. Really, really good. We're waking up early in the morning for a hike, so we go to bed right after dinner. |
Day 2Moraine Lake at DawnSaturday, September 1, 2018
Temperatures in the 50s I spend the night chugging water furiously to fight any hint of a hangover, and wake up feeling good. I've set my alarm for 4:30 a.m. Everything I've read about Lake Moraine says that it gets crowded and has limited parking, and they even close the road leading to the lake as soon as the lot fills up, so it's best to get there before sunrise. Mike isn't buying this story, but agrees to wake up early anyway to make me happy. He's half-asleep as we bundle up, grab our hiking gear and head to the car. As we emerge from the underground parking lot…it's raining! What!? The forecast is for clear skies all day. Why is it raining!? I'm so shocked and disappointed by this, and we didn't even bring our rain jackets (they're up in the hotel room). We debate going back for them, but I'm worried about the time we'll waste doing that. We decide to soldier on without them. Twenty minutes passes. Thirty. It's still raining. And the temperature is dropping, too. I think, okay, it's sure to stop raining by sunrise, right? I'll give it just a little more time before I lose hope… And we're in luck! It does indeed stop raining, right as we're approaching the mountain, just a little before sunrise. It's dark out and this highway has been semi-treacherous, just because I'm on winding roads in a little car and my headlights SUCK. We turn onto a one-lane road and make our way towards the lake (or, at least, I hope we're heading toward the lake. The directions haven't been clear and we don't have cell service anymore). I'm getting nervous. Did we wake up early enough? Are we going the right way? I've been looking forward to this and I really, really want it to go well, but there seem to be a lot of unknowns. The good news is that, yes! We're in the right place! We make it to the lot, and (dun dun dun) it's completely full. Mike is in shock. "I don't believe it," he says. "Is this for real? I don’t believe it." I resist the urge to tell him I told you so. We do a loop. My heart sinks. Not a single spot left. Whatever. I'm not leaving. Oh look! There's a kind of graveled corner here on the end. I pull in and park. There. Good enough. We double check that we have everything, then walk down the lot towards the lake. A bunch of people are all doing the same. The sky is deep morning blue. I'm loving this. Mike wants to make a bathroom stop, and he's got a point - I have to go too. There are two little huts. The line for the girls' bathroom is like 15 people deep. (Seriously!?). The line for the guys bathroom is no people deep. There is no line. I used the guys' bathroom, obviously. I WANT TO SEE THE LAKE NOW. As I exit, some of the girls watch me leave and follow suit. That's the spirit, ladies. On to the lake! It's beautiful and perfect and I'm so excited. We walk up the short trail to a spot overlooking the mountain. There are a bunch of people. Lots of photographers with tripods. I'm okay with that. It's kind of fun to see them, because I follow a lot of people on Instagram who take these sort of pictures, so it feels like a behind the scenes look. It hails a little. The sun comes up. This is awesome. The Grizzly DebateIt's time to hike! We make our way around the lake a little and find the trailhead. At the entrance, there's a sign warning about bears.
In some areas, it's illegal (as in, literally by law) to hike in groups of less than four people. This is because, apparently, bears are less likely to attack you if you're in a group. This particular hike (which is Sentential Pass at Lake Moraine) doesn't require four people by law, but it does say that it's recommended. Mike doesn't want to go. I do. But I'd feel bad pushing him if he's nervous. He'd feel bad stopping me from my hike. We reach an impasse. We see a couple coming down the trail and ask them how it went. "Oh, we didn't make it very far," the woman says. They're a little bit older. "I haven't been feeling well, I'm recovering from being sick." We discuss the bear issue with them. "Well, do you have bear spray?" she asks. Yes, we do. She kind of shrugs. "You should be fine." Mike's still unsure, so we decide to just walk around the lake instead. It's pretty. We hear a guy with a dog telling another group of hikers that his dog recently (this morning?) scared off two bears. It's not looking good. On our way back towards the parking lot, we run into that same older couple. We stop and chat a little bit more. They're from Britain. They're going to Alaska next. They also tell us about a wolf-dog rescue where you can go and meet the hounds. Mike is super interested in that. Before we part ways again, the husband looks at me. "Go on the hike," he says. I'm compelled. Come on. Let's just do it. As we walk by the trailhead again, we see another pair of hikers. We jog to catch up. "Want to make a group of four?" we ask. They're down. Success. We make friends with these people: the guy who flies Blackhawks for the Army, and a girl who's a video editor living in Vancouver. Her English is spotty. His is good. They're both originally from Spanish-speaking countries. The hike turns out to be a great one. It's beautiful, mildly difficult, cold. The sun is out. We start seeing more people on the trail. It opens into a meadow. Higher up, we reach Sentinel Pass. We don't manage to go any higher (though we do attempt it, but it's icy and slippery and we didn't bring the right gear), so we turn back. (Well, Mike, Anna and I do. Jorge continues onward. He wants to reach the top). At the bottom, we grab coffee and relax for a bit, feeling happy and satisfied. And what'd you know. No bears. Back for Naps and DinnerWe get back to our room and I pull out my computer to edit some photos, only to discover...all the pictures Mike took of me are blurry. ALL of them. I'm pretty disappointed. He feels bad, and it's not his fault, but I mean. How did that happen?
We practice a little and I teach him some tips so it won't happen again. After a nap, we get ready and then head to dinner at Belkem Mediterranean Restaurant. We order their main platter, which comes with all sorts of Greek options (this baked eggplant dish called mussaka, lamb leg, etc.). We have plans to do the Banff gondola right after this, and we start to worry we're cutting it close. Mike tells our server we're in a bit of a hurry. "Oh," he says. "I wish you'd said that sooner. I would have told you to order something else. The platter takes a lot of time." The server rushes into the kitchen to see what he can do while Mike and I try to figure out if we can change our gondola reservation. After much back and forth, we cancel our reservation and let our server know there's no more need to rush. "Oh good," he says. "I was getting worried there!" The food, once again, is all amazing. Mike says it's the best mussaka he's ever had, next to his aunt's. It's a lot of food, so we're able to take the leftovers home. We're tired after a long day, so we walk back and call it a night. |
Spending the Day in Canmore + The Hardest Hike EverSunday, August 2, 2018
Temperatures in the 50s Today we sleep in, then grab breakfast downstairs at the hotel. It's pretty tasty. Plus, coffee. Mike snags a few muffins to go and we head back to our room. We change, pack the gear again, then it's off to Canmore for another hike. The original plan was to do Ha Lin's Peak, but that mountain is currently closed for construction. We sit in a random parking lot for a bit, looking up options on my phone. Finally, we decide on another hike that's nearby and rated "hard." We find the place, park and head up the trail. The trailhead is unmarked and a little obscure, and this all just feels like guesswork. Though the parking lot was semi-full, as we make our way up the trail, we're the only ones here. We keep going. The hike is so, so steep. Mike is complaining. He's out of breath. This is hard. Is it going to be like this the whole way? I'm getting the sense that he doesn't want to do this anymore. I offer to quit. "No," he tells me. "Let's keep going." But the complaining continues. "This path isn't marked. Are we sure we're going the right way? Are we going to get lost?" I want him to stop complaining, and I tell him this. Again, I offer to turn back. The whole situation feels off, and neither of us are enjoying it. He's uncomfortable, and he has a point - the trail does seem unmarked and eerily quiet. Plus, the path has split several times. What if we really do get lost? We decide to turn back. As we're walking, we run into another group of hikers and explain what's going on. They seem to think maybe they've taken a wrong turn, too. Together, the six of us look for a different route. We discover that we were right - we did take a wrong turn. The real path is up this rockface. Alright. Let's do it. The hike, despite the rough start, turns out to be amazing. It's really hard, really steep, and involves a lot of scrambling. It's so fun, though. Mike's mood has improved. Being with a group has helped, too. It feels much less dangerous. "We're sticking with you guys," we announce, and they're totally fine with it. It takes maybe two or three hours to go up, and hour back down. I don't make it all the way because of my asthma, but almost. We part ways with our friends and wish them well. Coming back down is fun, too, but dangerous. We basically ski down on the rocks, back and forth, back and forth. Mike falls and hurts his wrist. I almost twist my ankle at one point, too. There's lots of slipping and sliding. But we make it down (mostly) unharmed. (And see some cute little goats at the bottom, too!). Walk Around CanmoreWe spend some time just walking around the city of Canmore, looking in the cute little shops. Mike stops for an AMAZING ramen burrito at a food truck. It's chilly, but we sit outside and eat. It's good.
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More things happened, I can't remember now because I waited too long. We went to the hot springs, which was cool. The trip was great overall.
Our Favorite Memories
For me, it was waking up at dawn and walking through the parking lot with all the other dawners to see the sunrise at the lake. That was incredible.
Mike: "The hike. The second hike. Duh."
Mike: "The hike. The second hike. Duh."