THE STINK OF PERFUME

The French word of the day is “Parfum”, which translates to “Perfume” in English. As in,” the reek of “Parfum” from the tourists on the Johnston Canyon Trail was so overpowering, I nearly lost my lunch.”

On Wednesday, we rested. This was by design. After all, you didn’t really expect us to hike for 30 days straight, did you? I anticipated being sore and tired after the Cirque Peak hike, and I was right. We slept in a bit, and tore through a stack of blueberry pancakes when we finally got up. Because it was a rest day, the weather was beautiful. This was an ongoing theme throughout the trip. If we took a day off, or found ourselves confined to hiking in the woods, the weather was almost always perfect.

We decided to spend the day in Banff. This may have been a mistake. Did you know that in addition to being the name of a place, Banff is also a verb? Its less known meaning is to be trampled by rampaging tourists while shopping. If you go to Banff, try not to get Banffed!

Our first stop in Banff was at the Cave and Basin Historic Site. Banff is one of the oldest National Parks in the world, and it began at the Cave and Basin. There are natural hot springs there, and bathing in them used to be allowed. Since then, a tiny endangered snail was discovered, and all but the upper springs are now off-limits.

We arrived at 11AM, paid $4 each, and discovered that a guided tour was just beginning. Since we were being tourists for the day, we joined the crowd. The tour was educational and occasionally entertaining, and much more worthwhile than wandering through the property at random. Christy particularly enjoyed the visit to the basin, where we were able to view some of the previously mentioned snails floating on algae in the pool. After the tour ended, we visited the cave, which was probably my favorite part. The cave is really just a single vertical chamber, with a hot pool at the bottom (a man-made tunnel provides access to the cave).

We headed down to Bow Falls,, where we had a picnic lunch. Afterwards, we headed out of town towards Lake Minnewanka. We stopped at the Cascade Ponds, where we relaxed in the sun and caught up on our reading. We briefly considered swimming, but the screams from the children in the water discouraged us.

Screaming children also provided entertainment. The lakeshore was riddled with gopher holes, and the rodents were everywhere. It was great fun watching the kids run from hole to hole in futile pursuit. I was vaguely reminded of Bill Murray in Caddyshack.

We returned to town for ice cream, before heading back to camp. I have trouble actually resting on rest days, so I decided to go for a short hike. Christy does not have this problem, and didn’t hesitate to let me go without her.

I left the campground on foot, heading for the waterfalls of Johnston Canyon. I found a path from the campground to Johnston Creek, and followed it upstream, under the parkway, to the trailhead. Johnston Canyon has a reputation for being one of the most overrun trails in Banff. I was hoping that my late afternoon start would help me avoid the worst of the crowds.

I’m sure it helped, but there were still people everywhere. I dodged heavily perfumed tourists as I worked my way up the canyon. On several occasions, I had to work my way around some enthusiastic Ansel Adams wanna-be photographing a chipmunk.

Despite the crowds, it was still an interesting hike. The trail followed the creek closely, occasionally on metal catwalks attached to the side of the gorge. It didn’t take long to reach the lower falls, which is where most people turn around. The falls were nice, and I found a close-up view by crossing a bridge and passing through a short tunnel to the very base. The spray here was intense, so I didn’t attempt any photos.

I continued upstream, which requires a fair climb as the trail works its way beyond the falls. This has the happy effect of discouraging less ambitious hikers. On the way to the upper falls, I passed several unnamed falls and cascades. I reached the base of the upper falls about 20 minutes later. Surprisingly, I actually had the viewpoint to myself for a couple of minutes. The upper falls were probably a little more impressive than the lower, and required only a little additional effort to reach.

I returned to camp, and found that Christy already had a fire going. We grilled chicken over the fire, and added mac-n-cheese and salad to the meal. It was a pleasant evening, despite the onslaught of mosquitoes that seemed to get worse every day we were there. I was looking forward to a real hike the next day in Yoho National Park, while Christy planned to rent a bike and go for a ride on the Bow Valley Parkway.

Continue reading about our adventures in Canada, as I hike the Iceline and the Whaleback in Yoho National Park.

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