Canada Adventures (& mis-adventures)

These post just keep getting further apart, but I guess that means we are more focused on the trip :). After Glacier we headed into Canada. We had a few down days as we dealt with some chore items before heading into Waterton National Park (Glacier's sister park).

On Tuesday (04Jul2023) we headed to Waterton National Park in the afternoon. After setting up camp in the Townsite Campsite we headed by the visitor center and then walked around the town. Different from US national parks, the Canadian parks have small to medium size towns within the park borders. After dinner we walked up to the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel.

Wednesday (05Jul2023) was spent doing the Crypt Lake Hike. It started with a short boat shuttle across Waterton Lake with almost 100 other people. So the start of the hike was very crowded, but as everyone fell into there pace groups you were able to get some solitude. It was a beautiful hike but hard, and didn't help that my calf and glute were very tight to start. The lake was nice but I think the hike itself was better than the end point. After the hike and the boat shuttle back we just relaxed the rest of the night.

Thursday (06Jul2023) we had to change our plans and headed out of the park to a local emergency room as the tightness in my glute and calf had gotten so bad I could barely move or even sit with without severe pain. It was likely a strain as nothing was seen in the tests that were ran and once I got a muscle relaxant in my system I started to feel better. Since our plan to hike more in Waterton was thwarted by my injuries we got lunch at A&W (these are all over the placed in Canada) and then headed to Island Lake Provincial Recreation Area to camp for the night. This was a our first mis-adventure of Canada and prevented us from doing some of the really epic hiking we wanted to do in the Canadian Rockies).

Friday (07Jul2023) we headed up to Kootenay National Park. Justin at this point was doing a lot of driving because of my leg, so we made a few stops along the way to break up the drive. After checking into camp at Redstreak Campground we stopped at the visitor center to get some short and easy hikes to accommodate my injury. We attempted one near Radium Hot Springs but the little amount of elevation gain was still too much, so instead we did the Redstreak Restoration Loop near our campsite.

Saturday (08Jul2023) we headed north into Kootenay and hiked Paint Pots Trail and then some of the trail to Marble Canyon along the river. However, we decided to turn back both because of the heat and my leg. Instead we drove over to the Marble Canyon Trailhead and hiked the one mile to the top instead of the four miles from Paint Pots Trailhead. The canyon was really cool and not sure I was able to capture how amazing the canyon was. We stopped by Simpson River for some mountain views and Olive Lake on the way back to camp.

Sunday (09Jul2023) we headed to Canmore, AB to get some coffee beans for Justin and check out the town. We got lunch at Rocky Mountain Bagel Company, which was amazing despite the hour wait and then just walked around the downtown shops. We then headed into Banff after stocking up on some groceries. We checked out the town of Banff, stopping at the visitor center, Fjallraven store, and a few other random shops. We then headed to our campsite for the evening (Two Jack Main).

Monday (10Jul2023) after a slow morning we headed to Minnewaka Lake. We hiked the Minnewanka Lakeshore Trail. Justin also woke up injured, so we didn't go far and took it slow. We then made lunch and headed to Moraine Lake shuttle. At Moraine Lake we hike the shoreline trail, stopping along the way to enjoy the aqua marine blue water and mountain views. We also stopped a few times to soak our feet in the ice cold waters of the lake. After taking the shuttle back we then went to set up camp in the Lake Louise Campsite. (Top row Lake Minnewanka, last three pictures are Lake Moraine).

Tuesday (11Jul2023) we shuttled to Lake Louise and instead of the epic hike we had planned on we decided to do a less intense hike up to Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. We enjoyed soup and actual English scones before heading back down. We opted not to go the extra 1 miles to the overlook as we had already done ~3.5 miles up and we didn't want to push our injuries any further. The glacier and mountain views were still amazing despite not finishing the full hike. After shuttling back to our van we just chilled at camp.

Wednesday (12Jul2023) we had a slow morning before driving the Icefield Highway to Jasper National Park. We stopped to stretch our legs at Bow Lake Viewpoint and the Saskatchewean River Crossing. Though hazy and misty the entire drive the views of the mountains and glaciers were still really amazing. We then setup camp at Wilcox Campground just down the road from the Icefield Center and relaxed until later afternoon. Before dinner we decided to hike the Toe of the Athabasca Glacier, which was really cool. As the evening rolled on we notice the hazy we had been experience all day was wildfire smoke moving in and it continued to get worse throughout the evening.

Thursday (13Jul2023) we headed to Icefield Center for some cell signal as the wildfire smoke had just gotten worse and our plan were be thwarted. We cancelled out camping reservations for the night and tried to determine a good direction to start driving to get out of the smoke as we didn't know how much worse it was going to get & how long it would last. We ended up driving to Canada's Glacier National Park and getting a campsite in Illecillewaet Campground for the night. We did a short hike doing part of the Avalanche Crest Trail before Justin cooked me a belated birthday dinner.

Friday (14Jul2023) we had a slow morning and did some planning for the next couple days before hiking the Great Glacier trail. Though short it was a tough trail. The wildfire smoke had make the its way to Glacier but it just make it hazy and not as clear. However we still got some good views from the trail.

Saturday (15Jul2023) we headed to Salmon Arm, BC to do some chores (showers & laundry). We then posted up at our harvest host, Northyard Ciders. It was hot and sunny so we it was a bit miserable. However the grounds were beautiful and the cider was really good.

Sunday (16Jul2023) we got some Tim Horton's for breakfast and then headed to Hope, BC. We got a campsite at Telte-Yet, and just chilled.

Monday (17Jul2023) we headed to Burnaby, BC (a smaller city 1/2 hr outside of Vancouver, BC). We decided to stay an RV park to have more amenities and be closer to the city. We relaxed and did some planning for the next few weeks before we took a walk to a local brewery, Dageraad. It was air-conditioned and specialized in Belgium beers, so it was an enjoyable stop and the beers were excellent. We then headed back to the RV park for the evening.

Tuesday (17Jul2023) we headed into downtown Vancouver via public transit. Our first stop was Coffee Roastery Modus. Justin got a pour-over and I got a Thai iced tea. We then headed to Grandville Island and popped in and out of the shops and markets on the island. We then got lunch at Maruchai Ra-men which was very good despite the heat of the day. We checked out the public library and then Stanley Park but didn't walk very long or see much of the park due to the heat and sun. Before heading back to the RV park we stopped at Paragon Tea and got Hojicha Lattes, which were amazing.

Wednesday (18Jul2023) we chilled at the RV park until after lunch before heading downtown first stopping in the Gastown area to check out some shops and steam powered clock. We then headed to the waterfront to see Digital Orca but it was mostly blocked due to a private event. We hit a few other random places - art gallery, farmers market, and bubble tea shop. We then headed to a fancy dinner at Blue Water Cafe to celebrate both my birthday and our anniversary. The food and drinks were amazing and we enjoyed everything we got :).

Vancouver Photos:

This was the end of our Canadian adventures before we headed back across the border to the US. I'll be posting about North Cascades National Park next which should be a much shorter post.