Banff, Alberta, Canada - Day 3
Saturday, September 14, 2024
4:20am: It was 52 degrees in our RV. I got up to use the restroom and kick on the heater, but the thermostat wouldn’t turn on, Uh-oh.
I whispered to Andi that the inverter was out again, but he didn’t respond. There was no going back to sleep for me now — I was freezing, and worried the kids were cold, too (though they were sleeping soundly in their beds).
Around 6:00am, Andi woke up and tried turning on the heater himself. Nothing. Our RV batteries were dead — 0% — after camping without any hook-ups the past two days, and not driving our RV yesterday. Two ways to charge the RV batteries up again is to run the generator, or drive the vehicle, but Andi wanted to wait a little while to do either of those because it was still early in the morning. Overnight, the Lake Louise overflow parking lot had filled up with hundreds of RV campers.
At 8:00am, Andi turned the engine of the RV on and soon we had enough juice in the batteries for things to turn on again. Luckily, our RV is small and warms up quickly once the heater is on.
What a cold, rainy day. Laura asked yesterday for a slower start to our day, so we’d already planned to hang out in our campers later than usual this morning. With the rain and cloudy skies, there was no sense going to see any of the sites anyway.
Coincidently, it was Saturday so fine by me to stay put for a few hours! Our Starlink sattelite internet worked great in the wide-open parking lot so I streamed college football, and caught up on blog posts. Tory said having a slower day today was just what she needed to mentally recharge after putting on a lot of miles this week.
Andi grilled burgers, potatoes, and broccoli for lunch and Laura contributed a salad. It was a muddy mess outside our campers with all the rain.
After lunch, the six of us agreed we’d give the weather an hour to get its act together and then go do something in the park. Fortunately, around 2:00pm, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine.
Laura suggested we try the Johnston Canyon hike in a new area of Banff National Park than we hadn’t explored yet. Parking was a challenge in the small lot, so we had to circle a few times to find a spot.
If the parking lot hadn’t been a clue to the number of people we’d find on this trail, the coffee cafe and real bathroom structure at the beginning of the path should have been an indicator. Johnston Canyon was a busy place!
There are two path options here — the Lower Falls and Upper Falls — with multiple waterfall vistas either direction. The downside was that it was hard to take in any of the scenery because there was a line of people in front of, and behind us. Waaay too many people for our liking on this trail.
Though, Laura made a great point that this is a trail that’s accessible for everyone. As easy as this trail was for us, it appeared to be a real challenge for others. Kudos to those folks for not letting limitations stop them from getting out there and experiencing a beautiful piece of nature.
The national park booklet said the Johnston Canyon hike takes 1-3 hours, but we were finished in under an hour. Shaun was on the hunt for a Banff National Park hat, so the guys popped into the gift shop at the trailhead to see if he could find a piece of apparel he liked.
How about this shirt? It made me giggle! Sums up the vibe at Johnston Canyon pretty well, don’t ya think?
Afterwards, we listened to “talkie guy” (our nickname for the Guide Along audio tour series of national parks) tell us historical stories and interesting facts about Banff National Park as we drove to the Lake Minnewanka area. Shaun pulled in at Two Jack Lake, and we all got out of the truck to walk around the sandy shoreline.
Compared to Johnston Canyon, Two Jack Lake was virtually empty of people. The scenery was peaceful and serene with emerald-colored waters contrasting Mount Rundle in the distance.
There’s something magical about traveling together as a family; it’s a reset on life. A week ago, we left behind all the “stuff” clogging up our minds and our schedules, and turned our focus to what truly matters: each other. Andi and I’ve spent more quality time with Tory and Aden this past week than I feel like we did all summer long. It’s also been heartwarming to watch Tory and Aden’s sibling bond grow stronger on this RV trip. They’re best buds when we’re traveling, and have gotten along so well this week.
After we finished driving around the Lake Minnewanka area, we made our way to the town of Banff. Shaun still hadn’t found a hat he liked, and we told him it was 'now or never’ — let’s go! We also decided to visit the grocery store in Banff to restock our RV refrigerators as we weren’t sure when we’d see a good grocery store again.
The IGA grocery store in the town of Banff was actually really nice, and not as overly priced as I would have expected. But holy moly, I’ve never seen so many people in one grocery before — wow! It was wall-to-wall people in there. We purchased some chicken tenders for Aden, and the rest of us decided to piece together leftovers for our dinners. The kids convinced Andi to buy maple-cream Oreos and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for after-dinner treats. We stocked up on a few groceries, too — yogurt, apples, bread, cheese, and a bagged salad mix.
Back at camp, Andi and Shaun struck up a conversation with a fellow traveler parked next to our two RVs. The young couple, in their late 20’s I’d say, told us they’d just come from Jasper National Park which is located north of Banff on the Icefields Parkway. They advised skipping the Jasper area altogether, as a wildfire went through there earlier this summer halting tourism. All the camping around Jasper NP is closed, and several of the town’s businesses are closed as well.
Andi and Shaun’s conversation with the couple caused us to reconsider our travel plans the next few days. We had planned to drive the remainder of the Icefields Parkway tomorrow and find camping somewhere around the Jasper area, but what sense did it make to drive all the way up there if everything was closed? After talking it through, we decided to re-route to Yoho National Park tomorrow. Yoho NP is located on the western slopes of the Canadian Rockies, about 45 minutes to the west of Banff National Park. The weather looks clear tomorrow, so hopefully it’ll be a good day to see more of this beautiful area.
Our family capped off the evening by watching the second half of the Nebraska/Northern Iowa football game & the Huskers won! A great day overall in Banff National Park. Tomorrow — Yoho.
