Canmore & Calgary

It was our final morning in Canmore so we naturally had to have breakfast at our favorite spot.

Jackson wearing his Texas shirt with pride! BIG WIN!

Our final breakfast at Summit Cafe

The hill I slipped down

Another view

We took a long walk and went to see the hill where I slipped. It didn't look so scary in the daylight. It was sad to see that if we'd only followed the trail a little longer we would never have had to climb the hill anyway. UGH! Oh well. We survived. We left Canmore and made the hour drive down to Calgary for the afternoon and evening. We did this with the low fuel light on because Jackson enjoys my misery and making us live on the edge, I guess. We made it to the gas station, but not before shaving years off my life with worry. ;)

We explored downtown Calgary for a bit before hitting Jackson's favorite steakhouse.

So thoughtful for women in heels!

We had an awesome meal with terrible service. We spoke to the manager about it and she gave us the entire meal for free. What?! I thought we'd get dessert or something. It was an $85 meal! FREE! Give me bad service anytime!! ;)

Dinner at the Keg

We called it a night shortly after that. We've got early flights and a big day of travel back to Indiana today!

Kootenay & BEAR!

I'll stop talking about our early mornings now. Just know that if you ever visit Banff National Park (or really, any national park I guess), GO EARLY! 

We ventured out of Banff to an adjoining park, Kootenay for a Sunday morning hike. We picked a place called Marble Canyon and were not disappointed. It was amazing. 

Marble Canyon

Life in a screensaver again!

Bridges criss-crossed the canyon

Lovely.

Petefish.

The water was MOVING!

I saw a photo of a guy walking on that tree. We didn't attempt that.

Hiking

Skies clearing up

A lovely hike along the water

We hiked all along the canyon and then took another hike near the river. I got spooked thinking that being so close to the water we'd see a bear so we cut that hike short (It was pretty easy so Jackson was not upset to leave it behind) and headed for Two Jack Lake where seeing wildlife was supposed to happen from the comfort and safety of your vehicle.

Two Jack Lake

My Jack and Two Jack Lake ;)

Alas, we saw no wildlife on our tour of the lake. Bummer. We did, however, make it back to Canmore in time to have an early lunch of breakfast food from the Summit Cafe. We'd become regulars to the area by now. That is how we like it!

Coffee and the best muffin while
waiting on breakfast

We took a short break and then headed to a local hike that Jackson read had good vistas. I'll do a ton of hiking if promised a good view and Jackson played me like a fiddle on this one! 

A hike behind the most gorgeous golf course

Awesome hiking views

Pano.

We are hiking along, loving life. The weather is great. The views are amazing. The trail isn't even killing me at this point. Then, I hear it. A branch cracking so loudly that it was not just a squirrel running through looking for food. I look over to my right and there it is: A HUGE BLACK BEAR. (CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!) I look for Jackson. Naturally he is WAY ahead of me on the trail.

Me: *loud whisper* JACK!
Jackson: *keeps walking*
Me: *louder, more panicked whisper* JACKSOOOOOOOOOON!
Jackson: *finally stops* what?
Me: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!
Jackson: *scurries back down to me so see*

Jackson, being nearly 150% blind, doesn't see the large animal staring right at us. I swear to him it is there and tell him to get his bear spray ready. He does. We back slowly up the hill and Mr. Bear moves, too. Jackson finally sees the bear. He exclaims a little. Mr. Bear then stares us down like there is no tomorrow. I keep moving up the trail's hill backwards. Jackson stands there staring at Mr. Bear. Jackson finally moves. Mr. Bear does not. He just stares. We make it up the hill and out of view of Mr. Bear. I run as fast as I can on this hobbled knee. Jackson starts yelling at me about not running. I don't care at this point. I'm making my way out of these woods. Jackson easily catches me and Mr. Bear does not follow us. WHEWWWWWWWWW.

Not the actual bear we saw. A lookalike from the internet.

To answer some frequently asked questions: No, we did not take a photo of the actual bear we saw. Why? Living was more important to me than a photo. Did he seem interested in us? Yes and no. He stared at us, but never lunged or anything. How big was he? Massive. How far away was he? Jackson says 25 feet. (I've got no sense of distance. Never have. Never will.) 

Down the trail I demand to test the bear spray in case more Mr. Bears are hanging out (we are not even close to finished with the hike yet). I spray it away from us. The wind then blows. We both get sprayed. It was terrible. Awful. So painful. Luckily Jackson is a good sport and was only slightly annoyed with me. :) 

I about had a heart attack when a little later a mountain biker came up on us and made similar sounds to that of Mr. Bear. He's lucky Jackson had the spray again or he would have gotten to feel the pain, too! HA!! 

Reenactment of our bear sighting faces

We finished that portion of the hike without further incident. We meant to take that trail back to our car, but I did not want to meet Mr. Bear again so we took a different route.

Three Sisters showing off!

We got lost on the different route. We'd now put in over 10 miles and it was starting to get dark. The cold was setting in and we were getting very tired. We got to a spot that was a gnarly uphill climb. Jackson made it up and cautioned me not to even try it. I'm stubborn so I tried it. I made it almost to the top when I lost my footing and starting sliding back down this big, rocky hill. I was able to stop my fall by grabbing some rocks, but the fear and panic had already set in. Jackson helped me to safety and I had a full meltdown. Bawling on the side of this huge hill we'd just climbed. I could not breathe and could not calm myself down. It was terrible. I felt so out of control and so scared. It was like being in my accident all over again. I made Jackson take a photo of me so we could remember that times aren't always easy, but we get through them together.

Sad and a little scared

I was, thankfully, not hurt. I was just scared. We got back to the car about 1.5 miles later without further incident. I immediately texted my mom because when one sees a bear and falls down a nasty hill, she just wants to hear from her mother!

As a reward for a tough day, Jackson relented and took me back to the Iron Goat for our final visit of the trip. We got to watch Notre Dame lose to Texas, too. Awesome. Our food was great, yet again. We had a nice Australian waitress who gave us tips for our upcoming trip. It was a great way to end a mostly good day.

Football and food- I like it!

I'm hoping today is a little easier day!

Johnston Canyon/ Emerald Lake/ Grassi Lakes

Another early morning (ok, ok, they're two hours behind Eastern time so early wasn't that early for our body clocks) arrival into Banff National Park served us well. We were one of the first three cars in the trail-head's parking lot. SCORE!

Johnston Canyon is one of the most popular spots in the park because it is an easier hike with dramatic payoffs.

Waterfall almost right away!

Taking it all in!

Petefish.
(Finally figuring out our GoPro's remote abilities)

Sneaking a kiss in the cave! ;)

We'd read that there can be a 45 minute wait to get into this little cave to see the waterfall up close. Not for us. We walked right in. It was awesome. I cannot explain how much more fun things are when you're not crammed in with fellow tourists. ;)

Jackson had to hunch through the cave. I stood the
entire way! :)

Lovely walkways

Another fall higher up

We finished the entire Johnston Canyon circuit (there are multiple waterfalls and a couple of hiking options) in about an hour and only ran into heavy walkway traffic near the exit. It made us very glad that we'd gotten there early, though. Tourists are sure annoying. ;)

We hopped on down to Emerald Lake from there to do another hike- this one around the lake which usually makes for a quick and easy hike. Not today! The first half of the hike was lovely and pretty. The second half was a muddy, nasty mess. We thought the entire look was 2km and it turned out to be like 6 so we just kept hiking and hiking. Too funny! (Not funny at the time, however.)

Emerald Lake

Cloudy day

Another "trail chicken"

A roadside river view- lovely!

After those two hikes we left Banff National Park and headed into Canmore's little downtown for a coffee break. We needed a little time to sit and enjoy the scenery. By we, I mean me. Jackson never wants to quit. Sigh!

Coffee, Hot cocoa and a view

The weather in the valley (Canmore) was much nicer and downright warm. It was a lovely day to sit on the patio and people-watch. All good things must come to and end, though, and soon it was time for our third hike of the day at Grassi Lakes again. It was only about 4 miles from town and since we did not get to finish (or really start it) the first day, I owed Jackson a chance to see it.

Another lovely waterfall on Grassi!

A tricky part of the climb

Grassi Lakes

Note: We'd gotten spoiled with views by this time so we got to Grassi Lakes with an attitude of "this is it?!" Whoops! :) It started to rain while we were there so we took the easy way down instead of trying to maneuver down those stairs when they were slick. It was a nice little hike for an afternoon cool-down.

CANADA!

Jackson made me get out of the car and CLIMB ANOTHER HILL (I HAD BEEN HIKING ALL DARNED DAY) to get this shot that he called "perfectly Canadian." I now agree that it was worth a little more physical effort because it is pretty cool.

Jackson enjoying a "Jerkface 9000" beer

Shockingly, we went to the Iron Goat again for dinner. We really like the place. It was a little too chilly that evening to sit on the patio, though. Bummer. We were seated in their upstairs area next to a little wedding reception. The groom was in the Canadian military so their little cake was just adorable.

Note: They did not share their cupcakes

The Iron Goat

We took an evening stroll after dinner and met the nicest woman who lived behind the Iron Goat. We must have talked with her (and petted her little pup) for about an hour before parting ways. One of our very favorite parts of traveling is meeting new people (just not normally fellow tourists- ha!) and learning about their lives.