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Tunnel Mountain Campground, Banff, Alberta, Canada. Odometer – 6484

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We saw waterfalls today. It was a very hot day, over 30 centigrade, so we didn’t go on any really long hikes. The day started early for me, just before 5am. We were still in Kootenay. I went on a hike up to Stanley Glacier, a relatively short walk to get to a glacier view. The hike started out through a renewing forest after a fire 40 years ago. It then entered a valley surrounded by huge cliffs, creating a mega amphitheatre. On the far left side lays Stanley’s Glacier. The formal hike ends with the glacier in view, but the guidebook I had recommended continuing a bit further for a close-up. I saw a good trail leading up through the last stretches of snow and decided to go for it. It doubled the distance of the walk, but it was well worth it. The last part was very steep, traversing over snow, but at last I reached the blue ice of the glacier. I kept looking for crevasses but the snow cover was very thin over the rock layer below, so no risks there.

To get down from the glacier, I sat on my tush and slid down the steep incline. It was fun albeit painful, as I bumped over the icy snow. On the way back down I saw a grouse (type of bird) with its chicks, as well as a bunch of marmots. Happily, no bears. The total hike distance was 7.8 miles (~12km)

At the RV, Paola and the kids were just finishing breakfast. We walked over to a nearby stream and threw some rocks into the water. By the way, the streams and rivers here are freezing cold. The volume is immense and the waters flow very rapidly. After the kids got their morning exercise, we drove back into Banff, and stopped for a short hike to Silverton Falls. The first part was easy, walking level through a forest. The second part was uphill, but on a rather wide trail. The last 200 meters were uphill on a very narrow trail. So we took the girls off the strollers and carried them on our hands. The endpoint is a great view of the falls, but it is such a small and narrow place that we had to hold the kids next to us so they won’t fall off.

By the time we got back to the RV, both Shir and Orr fell asleep in the stroller. They looked so peaceful we decided to leave them be in the stroller until they wake up from the nap. I stayed outside in the shade with them while Paola went with Ron into the RV for lunch and a bit of a rest. Paola and I later swapped places, and I even managed to catch a bit of shuteye.

When Shir and Orr woke up, Paola returned to the RV and it was getting really hot outside. Luckily our next stop was the relatively cool Johnston Canyon. It is a beautiful walk of 1km leading to Lower Johnston Falls. Most of the walk is in the shade of the canyon, overlooking the river fed from the falls. The park system set up an elaborate system of catwalks on the side of the canyon, so it is a very accessible hike. The parking lot was overflowing when we got there. The price you pay for beauty…

Although hundreds of people were on this hike with us, and our stroller created somewhat of a traffic jam on the narrow catwalks, we still managed to have a good time and reach the falls. On the way back, in the safe part of the trail we let Shir and Orr walk a bit by themselves. After a while thy found a nice patch of rocks and dirt and sat down to play.

We reached the campground in the late afternoon. Since our clean laundry was getting to a very low level, we decided to do some washing. The nearest Laundromat is 2 km away in a motel. We got the kids ready for bed and only then drove there. The laundry came out fine, but the price was the highest we’ve paid so far for a wash – $4.00 a load (usually it’s $1.50-$2.00).

Tomorrow we plan an easy day in Banff town.

Good night,

-Hemi

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 at 5:55 pm and is filed under Alberta, Big Trip, British Columbia, Canada, North America RV 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.