Road Trip 2022- Episode #1
There is a saying, “You can never go back” but over the years, we have found this truism not to be entirely true, specifically about places that we have visited. When finishing a visit, we in veritably ask ourselves, do we need to come back? Are there still more things we need to do or places we want to see here? We live in one of the most beautiful areas of Canada so the bar is set very high when we ask ourselves those questions. Road Trip 2022 was to see us return to two previous locations where we had left much undone and one location that had not made the cut but curiosity drew us to return for another visit.
Our first stop, Yoho National Park and the village of Field BC, which we first visited in 2017. (See blog of December, 2017, “Something Old, Something New”) On this trip and not reading the small print we, arrived the day after the official closure of the roads that accessed the hiking trails we had selected. Thank to the ladies in the Visitor Centre, who found us hikes that were still accessible.
Photo is from 2017.
So to avoid our past mistake we arranged to make our return trip at the beginning of the season after the park had officially opened on May 15th planning our arrival on May 30th. Arriving early to Field our base of operations for the next two days, we opted to make a quick foray into Lake Louise, a 30 minute drive away. It was here 50 years previously that Nonie worked at the Post Hotel as a server in the coffee shop between her 3rd and final years at UBC.
The hotel is now known as the Post Hotel and Spa with room rates in the $440+ range. Perhaps when we win the lottery, we might spend a night there. From the Post, we headed up for a quick visit to view Lake Louise, a site we had last visited 40 years ago. We found a much different place then we remembered.
Sadly Banff and Lake Louise have become very, very, very busy and the expectations are things are only going to get busier with the cessation of COVID rules. What we found was a giant parking lot capable of handling over 700 cars and a shuttle bus service that ferried visitors from three other satellite lots located on the outskirts of the town. Bring $12 if you want to park by the lake but the view is still free.
Seems we have been pitched another curve ball, not thrown by COVID this time but by global warming. Winter had not released its grip on Yoho. Access roads that would normally be accessible by now were still deep in snow and the danger of landslides kept clearing crews away. Gosh darn it. The internet saved the day where I found a replacement hike although it was located next door in Banff National Park and thanks to a tip from the host of our AirB&B in Field we had a pretty sweet short hike to finish the day.
So it was up early for a fifty kilometre drive into Alberta to find the trail head for Johnston Canyon and the Inkpots. Johnston Canyon is a popular site with warnings that you should arrive early to avoid the crowds.
Johnston Canyon and the Inkpots share the first kilometre of trail that brings you to just another of those stunning waterfalls that are scattered throughout the Rocky’s.
Despite arriving just before 10:00 am the parking lot was over half full so it was a bit of a conga line till the waterfall. From there the trail starts to climb rising over 600 uppy downy metres in the 4.5 kilometres to the Inkpots. The waterfall is the main attraction for 95% of the tourists that come here which left us pretty much alone as we started the climb from the canyon bottom.
As we climbed up in elevation, the trail became a bit of a skating rink in the shady areas. We knew we might see some snow or ice so had brought our cleats for such an occasion. This allowed us to power up and down the trail.
What are the Ink Pots? (hikebiketravel.com/the-ink-pots-via-johnston-canyon/)
The Ink Pots are mineral springs that differ in colour because each pool fills at a different rate. According to a sign the milky-green pools fill more slowly and have a heavier suspension of fine materials than the clear, deep-blue pools.
Year round the water temperature of these pools is about
4°C.
While I much prefer an outbound trail as you never have to retrace your steps, an out and back is still pretty good.
It always amazes me that looking back at something from a different angle can make it look all new and different.
To close out the day we revisited the Natural Bridge in Yoho to look for a hidden road behind the parking lot, clearly mark road closed. We were told that we could ignore that as it was meant for vehicles and not for hikers.
The road took us down to into the Valley following the Kicking Horse River where we found the cutest little white sand beach just as the sun broke through the rain clouds that had chased us for most of the day. We could see ourselves returning to this spot on a hot summer day for a cooling swim in the chilly glacial waters and perhaps a picnic on the beach. Best of all, not another person in sight.
A perfect end to a perfect day.
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