Who knew such a great day could start with dumping poop out the RV?
Once that glorious job was done, we popped back to the tyre shop for a quick torque check on the wheel and then motored 200km south to Bow lake.
On route we stopped briefly at a few places for a view including the Athabasca Glacier, one of the outflows from the Colombia Glacier. Here you can contribute to global warming by getting a specially made diesel powered coach out onto the glacier, or you can walk, you fat fucks. Luckily, they had signs all up the trail saying where the toe of the glacier was over the years and how far it has receded. In just 10 years it’s receded 50m. It was a short walk but the cold katabatic winds meant we kept our jackets on even in the sun.
Reaching Bow lake, we had ourselves our last lunch in the RV. Bow lake is fed from the Bow glacier and feeds the Bow river that runs through central Calgary. It was cool to see the source, but what you won’t believe from the photos is just how blue the lake is. You’ll think the photos are doctored but I swear it’s even more blue in real life. This is because the glaciers grind their way down the cliffs and create rock-flour. This ultra fine rock dust is suspended in the water and reflects the light turning the water blue.
After our busy few days hiking, I had to convince Aimi to hike today. She wanted to go shopping – in the hiking capital of Canada…Maybe I’ll take her to Milton Keynes next week to inspire her to hike. But we set off around the lake enjoying the beautiful sunshine and blue water. It was mostly flat till we got to a canyon at the end.
The canyon had cut its way through the rock and left a huge boulder hanging over the chasm. It clearly had been there a while as it was the official “bridge” over the river to access another hiking trail. Of course, faced with rocks, Aimi got her mojo back and took the direct route up a scrambly face.
Past the canyon we were into a gravelly plane. This was where the glacier had pushed its way down the mountain in years passed. However we could only reach a raised hillock viewpoint as the trail was closed right up to the waterfall. Sadly, there had been a rockfall that had killed some hikers this summer. But this was fair enough, we got a good view of the ice melt waterfall pouring off the edge of the cliff.
After making our way back to the RV, we had just a “short” hour and half drive to Banff, our last night’s stop. We got there in time to find the shop Aimi wanted to revisit and the stockist of a leather bag artisan I had been searching for.
I’d seen this maker of bags in various gift shops but right at the top of the Jasper skytram I’d found a great satchel bag of his. I hadn’t bought it at the time and then regretted it. My Vietnam leather bag is on its last legs. After many repairs over 11 years it’s got to the point it cannot be repaired any longer and it needs replacing. I’ve been casually looking for a replacement for a while, and this bag is the best I’d found. So I got myself a new leather bag and will have to final say goodbye to my trusty, custom one from a previous adventure.
While Aimi was in the outdoor gear shop buying hiking trousers (now all the hiking is done) we got a recommendation to visit Chucks Steakhouse. This turned out to be an expensive but beautiful way to spend the last evening travelling through the Rocky’s. The food was amazing, perfectly cooked steak, tenderly grilled broccoli, cheesy garlic sourdough bread and mash for Aimi and fries for me. All served on the rooftop terrace overlooking the town and the mountains beyond. It was perfect.
Walking back along the river to our RV we finally saw some large animals up close. 4 female Elk had casually wandered into town and were munching grass in the hospital grounds. They were heads down chomping so I only got a picture of their fluffy butts. We still think bears are mythical and just a marketing ruse to sell bear spray. We didn’t see one the whole trip. I’m both disappointed and grateful about this.
