Banff National Park

For the break after Spring Shift 1, a group of techs went out to Banff National Park for some camping in the mountains.  The Northern field team's break overlapped with ours by a couple days, so we met up with them, and I got to meet some of the returning techs often mentioned by my Southern crew.  Both crews will be spending August together in Edmonton.  

The view from our campground the first night, Two Jacks

After a quiet first evening spent around the campfire playing Mafia, Friday we ventured further into the park to hike near Lake Louise.  On the way, I saw my first Grizzlies walking near the Trans Canada.

Lake Louise

We took a hike up to Lake Agnes, where a small tea house log cabin perches on the mountain side.  Here I had a Canadian masala chai after another tough climb.  The lake was still coated in ice, and the cool air was refreshing after the heat of the hike.

Lake Agnes

Looking down river from Lake Agnes

Back down at Lake Louise

In the evening, we made tacos for dinner, then ABMI hit the town of Banff for a night of grooving with the Dancing Sasquatch.  I had an amazing time with this group of people, and look forward to our time together in Edmonton.

On Saturday, we enjoyed an iced tea and lunch at the Elk and Oarsman, in order to watch the Juventus/Barcelona game.  From there we checked out the origins of Canada's National Park System at the Cave and Basin Historic Site.  The natural hot spring cave was discovered by Canadian Pacific Railway workers in 1883, although the site had been known to natives for years.  While originally hoping to cash in on this natural resource, the decision was made to protect it for the enjoyment of all Canadians, and our first National Park was born.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Johnson Lake, taking in the sunshine and tossing a football around, before returning to Tunnel Mountain for a fire and hot dogs.

On Sunday we climbed a mountain.  It was quite a rigorous but exhilerating uphill trek, with some rock climbing, and crossing a narrow ledge by holding onto a chain tethered to the mountain side.

Tara and Kendall picnicking on a cliff

The top of Mount Yamnuska, 2240 m asl

The ABMI crew at the summit

Me, Rachel, and Kendall

However, it was the hike down that ended up being the hardest part.  The first portion was on compacted but loose rock, so that you move slowly and test each step before committing, as the rocks want to slip from beneath you sending you uncontrolled down the steep slope.  I made it to the tree line with only a few falls, but then behind the bend, the entire mountain side was scree - loose rock pouring down at a daunting angle.  The best way down is to run.  For every stride you take, you descend the mountain by 5 meters, skiing down through the stone.  By the end of the perhaps 200 m elevation loss, you want to run back up and do it again!

We celebrated our day long climb with a slurpee in a Macs parking lot before heading back to camp for a hammock nap and dinner.  I rallied the crew and we headed back into town, this time enjoying some Foosball, pool, and live music with more dancing at the Rose and Crown.

View of the peak of Mount Yamnuska from where the major scree slope begins

What an amazing Banff adventure, I already cannot wait to go back to the mountains.

Previous

Next