Banff
Oh, Canada.
Crossing the border had me a nervous wreck. I kept thinking we were going to have to completely unload the van so that border patrol could check to see if we were trying to smuggle anything. We weren’t. Still, that didn’t stop me from babbling on about the carrots in the cooler and the taser in the side door. For the record, tasers aren’t allowed in Canada and you will have to abandon it at the border…
Another thing to note when crossing the border into Alberta: there aren’t free places to camp. Unlike the abundant National Forest the U.S. offers (particularly in the west), Alberta seemed to only have campgrounds that were $25/night minimum. Who would have thought that our first Wal-Mart overnighter would be in Pincher Creek, Alberta?
But my goodness was this place beautiful.
Calgary went by in a blur. These days, the bigger the city, the keener we are on getting out of it.
Banff was different. A small town inside of a National Park, overcrowded and a bit hazy from the fires, yet the charm of this city was intoxicating.
Scott was my own personal tour guide as we made our way up to the Banff Centre. This was where he first experienced Banff when he came to participate in the film festival. The campus was stunning. It was not hard to understand why filmmakers and artists of every kind come here to share their work and create. The mountains surrounding the campus were pure inspiration.
Even without free national forest camping, we got by with stealthy van camping throughout the city. This was absolutely the worst part about vanlife thus far. Stealth camping means once you’re in the van, you’re probably not going to get back out again. Shades go up on the windows and you completely block yourself off from the outside world. Not fun.
Given the camp situation, we decided we would ether take advantage of late night happy hour at the Banff Ave. Brewing Co. or cook dinner in a nearby picnic area before finding a separate spot to sleep. Though entirely inconvenient, we decided our money was better spent on good beers and poutine than on a campsite where you can hear the tent next to you snoring.
Late into our first night, our first visitor arrived. Chris, a friend from Denver, flew into Calgary and arrived via shuttle just after midnight. It was time to check out that late night happy hour!
Stealth camping with three people in a Chevy Astro: difficult and very uncomfortable, but not impossible.
After a not so good night’s sleep, we drove out early to get a parking spot at Lake Louise. We readied the canoe, to the amusement of many a tourist, and made our way across the lake to the crag.
The water in Lake Louise on this overcast day was freezing, making the disembarquement of the canoe very difficult. We laughed at each other as we quickly went from the boat to the shore as quickly and carefully as possible.
The crag was beautiful. One of those sites where you just take a look around you in silence, appreciating the moment. We climbed to our heart’s content, bailing out of a multi-pitch last minute after choosing the wrong route. Chris toughed through the 5.10b we thought was a 5.8 and we paddled back to shore, hands a bit rough, beers still cold in the canoe.
Backpacking was next on the agenda. After some advice from rangers, we got a permit for the peaceful valley campground on the north side of Sentinel Pass. Again, there were these moments where we would come up over a climb or round a corner and all of us would just look around in silence after a delayed “wow.”
Our tent site was situated just underneath horseshoe glacier. As with any backpacking journey, it only made sense that we would bring our travel version of Settlers of Catan, a fifth of whiskey, and a hackey sack.
We passed out in the tent at approximately 4:30 p.m.
The hike up and over the pass was no joke, especially with packs. The steep scree field and lack of obvious route gave us pause, but we made it up to the pass. Never have I ever eaten ramen in a more beautiful setting.
We took our sweet time packing up the car. PBR’s were passed around and we lazily reorganized with some half-hearted stretching thrown in.
Chris’s last night in town was well spent with hot springs, more poutine, more beer, and more laughs. Having Chris come up and meet us in Banff was a blast. This guy always seems to have another crazy story from his past up his sleeve and is always down for an adventure.
To our rescue, Scott’s friend Jaimie gave us the low down on where to stealth camp after leading the way on a beautiful hike. He even treated us to a hot shower and a parking spot for a night at the hostel he works at in Kananaskis. We expected rugged twenty-somethings to be hanging out at this wilderness hostel. Instead we were greeted by retirees on a wilderness retreat. They were having a big grill out and drinks all around. Watching them was like watching young high school kids excited for a field trip. Their energy was contagious.
Coincidentally, Scott’s brother, also named Chris, would be visiting us just a few days after the other Chris flew back to Denver. We were a bit more prepared this time and reserved a few campsites to spare us all another night sleeping with three people in the van.
We laid out a game plan for a few day hikes that Chris was game for, interspersed with plenty of down time as well. Chris added this stop into his travels all over the world. He works for a consulting company that has locations everywhere and had spent the last week traveling between multiple countries and time zones, so having some time to relax was quite enjoyable all around.
After a failed attempt to get some stellar brunch the next morning, we scarfed down some some sandwiches and launched the canoe into Emerald Lake. With full bellies and sunshine, nothing can go wrong!
We hiked up to the waterfalls on the far side of the lake before calling it a day and heading to our campsite. There, a lonely full-grown black bear decided to make an appearance in our camp. In a quiet, calm voice I said to Chris “There is a bear there, we need to get in the van.”
I have never seen Chris move so fast.
He flew into the van. All the back doors were open though, so he quickly got out and shut them, grabbing his cell phone on the way in. The bear had no interest in us or our camp, and luckily we had no food laying around. He ambled past, and I shouted to the campers next to us who were as unaware as we were moments before.
Scott walked back from the restroom and was sad to miss the bear that close and even more sad that he missed seeing Chris jump in the van. We laughed it off and cautiously played a game of Bananagrams, constantly scanning the area around us. Winner got to sleep in the van.
Chris won every round.
We decided to hike up to Emerald glacier the next morning. The trailhead was quite elusive, though, and after circling around Takakkaw falls, we started up the trail later than anticipated. The hike was most certainly worth it though, as it always seems to be.
Another night at our bear camp without the bear this time. We played multiple rounds of cards with banana grams thrown in, laughing at the array of words each person came up with.
Scott and I both come from families who love games. You name it, and we will play it. Cards, bananagrams, charades, scattergories, rummy, backgammon, it really doesn't matter. To me, games are comforting. They bring on this nostalgic, competitive feeling that is familiar. Call it the kid in me, or my competitive nature, but I love games.
Chris had to get some work done the next day so he worked in the fancy Lake Louise chalet while Scott and I climbed again out at the crag. We reconvened in the afternoon and decided it was that time again. Poutine and beers were calling our name.
Needless to say, the Banff Ave. Brewing Co. got plenty of business from us…
We setup camp at our new site in Banff and relaxed a bit before going to the only Mexican food place in Banff. As Texans, Mexican food is one of our comfort foods. It was pretty good, for Mexican food in Canada, and sooner than we had hoped, Chris was on his way.
We can’t believe how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends and family as we do. Both Chris’s came a long way to see us and each of their visits are extremely special to us. Memories were most certainly made, some of them pure gold for retelling at the next gathering of friends or family. Sharing experiences such as these with people I care about, being outside, being active, being together, discussing matters light and heavy, that sense of community is renewed within me. Keep it coming, Canada!
The morning we dropped Chris off was the same morning we would arrive at our workaway near Kamloops, B.C. Onward and upward, as they say.