DAY 13 - Johnston Canyon
Today we got back on schedule, up and at em' early and off to Johnston Canyon. This was something that we were both extremely excited to experience! We also finally got to take the Bow Valley Parkway, which is apparently a haven for wildlife. The speed limit drops down to 60km/h, and we did about 40km/h with our eyes peeled. We got lucky, and saw a fuzzy grizzly cub feeding on some berries through the trees!! After an 18km stretch, we arrived at the parking lot to Johnston Canyon. Thankfully we arrived early enough to beat the crowds and get a parking spot. After a brief walk along a beautiful, crystal clear stream, we arrived at the visitor centre. It seems we spoke to soon, because there was a whole other parking lot that had just unloaded a bus of tourists. Quickly, we began the trail, still with an overwhelming amount of people.
As we hiked up the hills, and made our way across the cliff walkways, the canyon of water was below us almost the entire time. As we gained elevation, the water grew power. We knew we were getting close to the lower falls. When we finally arrived at the first set of falls, there was already a line up of people at the lookout. We decided it was more worth it to hike to the upper falls and then come back down, so off we went. After about 3.6km we arrived at the insanely high, powerful, waterfall. We waited our turn to get to the official lookout and tried to take in the beauty of this place. The clear, sky blue water rushing down onto the multi-coloured boulders you could see beneath was truly breathtaking. There was an extra hike that would take us up to the Ink Pots (a series of small turquoise ponds) but we knew we had a big adventure ahead of us tomorrow and decided to just head back down.
On our way back to the lower falls area, we ran into a couple familiar faces... On our hike down from Grassi Falls (WHERE WE GOT ENGAGED 😄😄) we met a family from Ottawa who had overheard me bawling and talking to our family on the phone, and had put two and two together that we had gotten engaged. They immediately congratulated us and we ended up talking to the for quite a while. They did let us know that they were also heading to Banff and Jasper, and it just so happens we ran into them again!
After our quick catch-up we headed back down to the lower falls to enter the cave and see what secrets it held.. after waiting half an hour on the bridge, just the two of us entered the cavern to feel the mist on our faces. It was a spectacular sight and we even screamed as loud as we could to see how loud the falls truly were. Venturing out and down the path, we made our way to the start where Zack grabbed a short americano and I grabbed a cappuccino. We sat on the bench watching the rushing river flow through the Canyon and under the bridge, while admiring all the doggos that walked by. After finishing our drinks we headed into Banff to stroll the main strip. As we were finding parking we noticed a market was set up, so we headed their first where we tasted fresh honey and sampled beef jerky. Zacky was still hungry after all the samples, so we got a chicken pesto sandwich on a fresh cibatta bun, and a fresh green tea iced tea to drink. We laid in the grass and listened to the live music for over an hour and took in the local life. After relaxing for a while, we decided to load up on groceries and fule up because everything is more expensive the more north you go. We headed back to camp, got organized, laid down for a bit, and then headed to Banff Ave Brewing Co. for some dinner and craft beers. We both got the buffalo chicken sandwich and a blonde ale (their house draft) and made sure to order some steamed veggies to keep our parents happy. The meal was absolutely excellent and after Zack picked out a t-shirt from their selection we talked to the couple beside us from Texas. They just got engaged and decided to head to Morraine Lake to get married. After a few laughs and a beer we headed back to camp where we partially packed up because we have an early day tomorrow white water rafting in Golden B.C!!
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