Johnston Canyon

One of the places we were lucky enough to go while I was in Calgary was Johnston Canyon.  I guess it is a pretty popular tourist destination and even winter we still saw quite a few people out and about on the trail.  Speaking of the trail - it was horrible.  It was packed snow that had turned into a slush/ice.  We only made up to the big fall before we had to turn around.  Then again, we had a bit of a late start and found ourselves lost for a bit before evening getting on the trail.  We took Basil with and he held his own on the hike and was romping around.  Anyway, photos...

(Johnston Canyon here we come...)

(Basil looking spry...)

(The hike begins, well, sorta...)

(I do believe we made it up to the Upper Falls)

(Rebecca)

(Rebecca and a curved tree)

(Us in front of the curved tree)

(Bas and Rebecca taking a stroll)

(Can't quite remember what was happening in this photo...)

(A few ice formations as we hiked)

(That is one happy lady...)

(I just liked the color of this broken tree)

(BAZ)

(The trail looked awesome and I'm sure it would be awesome in the summer)

('Hey!  What is this?')

(Why it's a ketchup packet, left on the trail...)

(Photo shot)

(Tunnel, which was actually misted over and a bit slippery)

(Camera fun = artsy shot)

(Somebody needed a walking stick and it wasn't this guy...)

(And she got it)

(A ketchup packet and a soda can...)

(Now she was looking for a walking stick for me...)

(Found one, but it snapped after 2 minutes - A+ for effort)

(Upper Falls frozen)

(Some more camera fun)

(So smooth...)

(Jump shot)

(Group jump shot)

(Minus Basil of course, he is just watching)

(Dance party)

(Minus Basil - he just wants the stick)

(So we had a little bit of play time)

(This is the hill I slide down, with camera in hand.  Was only supposed to be a gentle slide but it turned into much more and rather quickly.  Luckily no bones were broken...)

Lake Louise and Big Beehive Lookout



For the first time since arriving in Alberta, I made my way to Banff.  From a local perspective, Canmore seems to have the edge as Banff is far more 'touristy.'  Lake Louise is also a pretty popular place and it was gorgeous.  The water has a special color from the glacial runoff, or so that's what I've been told.  I haven't done any research on it myself.  So, we started at Lake Louise near the Fairmount Chateau and made our way up the mountain.  We stopped at Mirror Lake for a quick photo op and then made our way up to the tea house and Lake Agnes.  Again, we stopped for a few minutes and a few photos before making our way up to the Big Beehive lookout.  We were supposed to do Devil's Thumb, but due to time constraints, we shortened out hike just a tad. 

 

A few details from the rest of the day - left the house at 6:45 on a bike and cycled to the C-Train.  It was a rather enjoyable ride seeing as how I got to watch the sunrise over the city.  Made my way to Lion's Park to meet Shereen and was there half an hour early.  So, I did a bit of exploring, eventually finding myself at Safeway to pick up some tasty muffins for breakfast.  Shereen arrived and informed me we had to do a bit of shopping so we went back to Safeway.  Met her father in the morning and talked to her mother on our way up to Banff. 

 

The hike went really well.  Met a great couple from Wisconsin and it just turned out the guy was a doctor and resided in State College for 20 years.  Small world.  Then, after the hike we made our way to Canmore for a bite to eat.  There was a bit of a 'farmer's market' happening, however we settled on a vegetable Panini.  We stopped at a park for a quick hangout before making our way back to the van.  We pass a pizza shop and a young woman comes out and asks us if we want the last slice on the house.  We get to talking, turns out Mia is from Pittsburgh.  Small world.  So, that was a bit of the added excitement for the day.  Alas, after my rambling, here are the photos from the day:



 

 

 (Shereen before we begin our hike)

 

 

(Lake Louise with the 'glacier' in the background)

 

 

(Me and Lake Louise)

 

 

 (Shereen and Lake Louise)

 

 

 (We had a nice older gentleman take a photo for us.  Horrible posture for this guy...)

 

 

 (Another shot, different angle, and that's me in the corner in case you could not tell)

 

 

 (Light coming through the trees)

 

 

(Now, I'm not %100, but I am pretty sure that's Big Beehive Lookout somewhere up above.  This photo was taken a Mirror Lake.)

 

 

(Jump shot for the day.  That's Mirror Lake behind us and it was rather uninspiring to say the least.)

 

 

 (A few rocks we encountered along the hike.  Luckily we didn't have to walk over them.)

 

 

 (Not even sure what was happening here - scenery shot more than anything else)

 

 

(Me and Lake Agnes)

 

 

(A few people hanging out by Lake Agnes and the tea house)

 

 

(It was a rather astonishing hike and the scenery was spectacular)

 

 

 (This little guy crossed the path right in front of us and then put on a little show)

 

 

 (Rock stack - notice the color of the water...)

 

 

 (Me doing a bit of hiking)

 

 

(This little guy came right up to Shereen.  No fear.  I have a feeling he's encountered a few people before.)

 

 

 (There's the tea house)

 

 

(Quick stop for a photo)

 

 

 (Lake Louise from a bird's eye view - again, the color of the water seems surreal.  The Fairmount Chateau is on the far left of the Lake.)

 

 

 (A few of the pine trees were losing their needles)

 

 

(Had to try out the black and white)

 

 

(Shereen likes to pose for the camera so I got this one of her)

 

 

(Perhaps one of my favorite shots of the day.  Below is Mirror Lake, the place we took our jump shot.)

 

 

 (A little different view of Lake Louise)

 

 

(Big Beehive Lookout ceiling shot)

 

 

(Here's a cute photo of us in the lookout)

 

 

(Another fun shot in the lookout.  It just so happened, at that moment, we were the only ones there.)

 

 

 (Shereen took a scandalous photo of some guy's rear end and the frontal part of my body...  Not quite sure what happened here, I guess I'll have to ask her if there's something I should know...)

 

 

 (Shereen and Lake Agnes in the background as we made our way down from Big Beehive)

 

 

(Fall is approaching)

 

 

 (Sweet shot of Lake Agnes)

 

 

 (Shereen playing in the water)

 

 

(Switched lenses on the way down so it was easier to get the tea house.  It was rather nice inside and while the prices were a bit higher, I didn't think they were unreasonable.  I think it was $7 for a tea.)

 

 

(Big Beehive overlooking Mirror Lake)

 

 

 (Shereen taking her time to pose like the statue.  Not sure if she exactly mimicked his pose.)

 

 

 (Final shot of Lake Louise)

 

 

(Shereen playing with the flowers)