Castle Lookout

Yesterday was Adam’s last day here so we only had time for a short hike in the morning before heading to Calgary. We decided to hike up to Castle lookout, an old fire outpost on Castle Mountain. The trail was quite short and in total the hike only took about two and a half hours. At the end of the trail you can still see the old foundation of the fire lookout. The views from the lookout are amazing, you can see multiple mountain ranges, the Bow river and the highway.

The mountain goats above were beside the highway on our way to Calgary from Banff, we pulled over and got some pictures before beginning the drive to the airport.

Buttsliding and Sentinel Pass

Just some more photos from the hike. The lake picture is of Lake Louise where we stopped on our way back to Banff.

A Visitor and Sentinel Pass

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry for the long layoff but I've just finished a 10 day work week as well as getting over a cold, so there hasn't been much time to post.

Yesterday I had my first visitor, my brother Adam arrived here from Ottawa around 2pm. We spent the evening yesterday hiking around Banff. We hiked up Tunnel Mountain and visited the Cave and Basin. to refresh ourselves after our excursion we went to a newly opened brewery/pub called "the Brew Pub".

This morning the real fun began. After getting our rental car and stocking up on supplies we made the short drive out to Moraine Lake, near Lake Louise. From there we hiked a trail that goes through the Valley of the Ten Peaks and ends up at Sentinel Pass. It was a very beautiful hike and you can see the pictures posted above. The hike down was a ton of fun because we decided to "buttslide" down the steep snow covered parts of the trail instead of wasting time walking.

Johnston Canyon and Inkpots

Above are pictures of the Inkpots, Johston Canyon, both the upper and lower falls. It was a very beautiful hike and only took about 4 hours, including our little bear encounter. I did an absolutely amazing hike on Friday night called Cory Pass but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries. We didn't make it to the end of the trail so I think I'll be back later in the summer.

Wildlife

Just some pictures of wildlife. I hiked Johnston Canyon and the Inkpots yesterday, I'll post on that soon. It was a good hike until we met up with a grizzly bear on our way back from the Inkpots. I always thought it would be cool to see a bear up close but seeing a grizzly walking down the trail about 20 feet in front of you is kind of scary. We handled the situation well, calling out "Hey bear!" and slowly walking backwards. Unfortunately the land on either side of the trail was pretty steep and we couldn't just go around him. Eventually we were all the way back at the Inkpots and the grizzly was still coming towards us, so we just waited down by the river for him to pass and once he ambled by we made our way back up the trail. It was a pretty scary experience and I don't have pictures of the grizzly for obvious reasons. We did however see a black bear on the way back from the trailhead so you can see a picture of that bear above.

Lower Stoney Squaw and Vermillion Lakes

The weather here does not seem to want to warm up! It was a pretty dreary day here again but I went for a bike ride anyway. The first trail I took was to Vermillion lakes. It was pretty boring, paved the whole way and the views were not that spectacular.

After I returned from the lakes I decided to try a trail called Lower Stoney Squaw. Stoney Squaw is a mountain just outside of Banff, near Mount Norquay. The climb up to the trail was long and pretty discouraging at times, but I was already committed so I figured I might as well follow it through to the end. The trail itself was a pretty intense mountain bike trail, something that made me a bit worried at times. I soon learned it was easier to just ride the trail than try and go slow or even just walk my bike. The picture posted is the town of Banff from the Stoney Squaw, you can also see Mt. Rundle in the background. The other picture is taken at one of the Vermillion lakes.

Johnson Lake

After another steak dinner at the Elk and Oarsmen, I took a drive out to Johnson Lake with some people from the hotel. We were lucky to have some nice weather this evening and the reflection of the mountains in the lake was beautiful. I also got a picture of a muskrat, which is the animal in the water you can see above.

Misty Mountain Hop

Not much of note happened this week. The weather here has been crazy. It has snowed every morning for the last 4 days and we’ve usually had flurries later in the day as well. This has made it hard to get out and do stuff but today I said screw it and went for a bike ride. Simon joined me again as he picked up a new bike today after enjoying the ride up the Spray river so much.

We took a trail out to the Hoodoos and biked around there for about 2 hours. It started snowing a bit while we were out but it was still a great ride. The mountains have looked amazing with the added snow and the low hanging clouds, as you can see above.

My other adventure involved a Led Zeppelin tribute band. Searching for something to do last Thursday, I ended up going to a Led Zeppelin tribute band concert at a bar called Wild Bills. I was doubly surprised that night as Wild Bills served Creemore at a domestic beer price and the band was actually pretty good. I got home relatively early (1am) but work the next day was still unpleasant and I had to nap after I finished my shift, something I usually avoid. If the weather turns soon, I believe I’ll be biking out to Lake Minnewanka so hopefully I’ll be posting on that next.