Day 17: More Banff and Kootenay National Park

 Another North American Road Trip

Day 17

Sunday, July 5th

We woke up. None of us had been eaten by bears. Nor had there been any excitement during the night. We slept longer than intended. 

We ate various bars for breakfast and packed up the campsite. Then we drove toward our planned hike, hoping there would be room in the parking lot despite our late departure. 

We got to the trailhead parking lot at 7:50AM. It was only 2/3 full. We parked easily and started our hike. 

Before long we were going up walkways pinned to the canyon walls above the frosty turquoise water rushing below. The trail followed the river. Both Desmond and I noticed that we didn’t seem to be having as much trouble with the elevation. Checking my watch I learned we were above 4000 ft, but much lower than other places we have hiked on this trip so far. 

We continued on, until we got to the lower falls. We waited in a short queue to walk through a little tunnel like spot in the rock to get right up to the waterfall and be surrounded by its mist. 

After that we kept going to upper falls. As we went along we enjoyed looking at the water, the moss on the canyon sides, slender trees tipping over into the river, and a chubby little chipmunk. 

After the second falls, we decided not to continue on up to the paint pots this morning. They were another couple miles away. So we turned around and started hiking back toward the parking lot. Apparently some tour busses had arrived by this time, and the path was filled with a steady flow of people. We were glad we had started our hike when we did and not any later. 

All told, our hike was a little over three miles, and the perfect way to start our day. I would gladly take that hike again someday. 

Bryan had seen a place he thought we might be able to get some hot cocoa after our hike. We looked a couple of places without finding anything that I could have. Then he drove us to a place he had seen yesterday in the Lake Louise area. It was a big win. There were delicious baked treats (even for me - there was a vegan poppyseed lemon loaf) and they were able to make me a hot chocolate with almond milk. 

From there we drove into Kootenay National Park. There wasn’t a fee station or much fanfare. We switched over to our Kootenay visitor guide we had gotten yesterday, and started selecting things to do. 

Meanwhile there were stunning mountains and forrests on the drive through. This is where Bryan and his friends had driven 20+ years ago that was so jaw dropping-ly gorgeous that he knew he had to come back. 

First stop was Marble Canyon. Less than a mile hike, back and forth across the canyon on bridges. You look down into the deep, slender canyon at the rushing water below. It was a nice little hike, there and back. There were red chairs marked on the map to sit on at the end of your hike, but when we got to them they were occupied. 

Next we drove to the Paint Pots trailhead and ate a picnic lunch at one of their picnic tables. Desmond read his book while eating. Today he would most like it if he could just sit somewhere and read. He started the book last night at the campsite while we were killing time before driving up to Lake Louise. He’s on page 413 now. 

We cleaned up our mess, threw our trash in the wildlife proof trash bin, and started down the little trail that promised to take us to some paint pots. 

We hiked through the woods, and up the hill, and up the wooden boardwalks. Eventually we arrived at the source of the spring, a couple small pools that water spilled over and ran downhill from. The mud was iron reddish. It was ugly. Dead limbs down across the water. Mud everywhere. But, it was unique. (Not the type of volcanic paint pots like they have at Yellowstone.) And we didn’t have to walk very far to see it, so we decided we had no complaints. 

As we continued down the road, Bryan spotted some mountain goats and deer. These were the first large mammals we have seen in the Canadian national parks. 

We drove past the campground that will be our home tonight, and into the town of Radium where there are hot springs. We grabbed our suits, walked over to the hot springs, looked at the crowded pool full of sweaty humans in the direct sun, and decided we would rather not. Desmond was a good sport about this decision, despite being outvoted. 

As a consultation prize we went in search of a snack. We shared chicken fingers and french fries, found Desmond the bacon Pringles he has been dying to try all trip, and then went across the street to Screamers for some ice cream. They had one choice for me. A sorbet bright blue in color. I ordered a kid scoop of it and hoped it would taste like those blue raspberry slurpees I remember so fondly from Skateworld. It did not. A few bites in I was ready to throw it away. Then I did an experiment. I closed my eyes and imagined. I imagined that I was in Italy. That the sorbet was a sorbetto of light pink hue, and that someone had assured me that it was made of local berries - a speciality of this area. I took another bite. Delicious. I turned to Bryan and said “This stuff is an abomination.”  His eyebrows went up. I explained what it looked like it should taste like and didn’t. Then about my thought experiment and how the flavor was actually quite nice. I finished the scoop. 

 I was accumulating a little list of things that were not as expected in Radium. Besides the hot springs themselves, and the blue sorbet, there was the fact that we had not seen the big horned sheep that apparently live in town. The town sign is surrounded by a massive sculpture of sheep horns. There are signs on the side of the road urging people to drive slowly for the safety of the sheep. The ranger we spoke to yesterday said he did not think he had ever visited the town without seeing them. We did not see them. 

Ah well. We drove out of town the way we had come and returned to the campground. We are staying at Mcleod Meadows campground this evening. We drove in and found we have a large site, among slender, tall evergreen trees. We are near the river. We set up our tents to let them dry out (it had rained off and on last night) and took our camp chairs over by the river to sit and enjoy the

view. 

When we became hungry we returned to camp and Desmond made ramen. I had salad. We all munched on strawberries. 

We talked about whether we should do the Dog Lake trail tonight or tomorrow morning. It turns out we will do neither, because the suspension bridge leading over to the loop trail is closed off due to being unsafe. Without Internet to search up other options for a hike tomorrow, we revisited our map of Kootenay National Park and did not see any other trails for tomorrow morning. 

We took a short walk around after dinner, Desmond staying in his tent to keep reading his book (the second one in the series at this point). I washed the dishes. Made some tea. Sat around in the campsite with the sun filtering through the pine needles. 

I think all that is left to do today is have a fire. And this will be the last night camping of this road trip. After this we will be staying in a home with some friends for a couple nights. And then home. 

So it really feels like our trip is coming to an end (though we have a few more days). Thanks for tagging along with us!