Banff Smanff

         

        Your girl Megan is back! Felix did a wonderful job and showed me up with his narratives, due to popular demand I will be bringing him on for guest appearances more often. 

         Felix and I left our retirement and summer vacation town of Penticton with sad hearts, but with an eager anticipation of the Canadian Rockies! Yet, we had a rude awakening entering the national park, hence the title Banff Smanff. It may seem harsh..but it was how we felt initially and it did gradually improve I promise! What we have learned is that we are truly spoiled with our level of solitude and freedom on the road as well as accessible incredible climbing in Yosemite Valley and along the West Coast so far - so the adjustment to the tourism, level of regulations and gnarly approaches to climbing took some adjusting. 

     We had a warm welcome with a beautiful drive from Penticton to Banff as the massive mountains gradually came into view. We started in Yoho National Park before making it into Banff with an "adventure climb" that involved 10 pitches to the top of this waterfall below called Takakkaw Falls. Felix tried to keep the information from me that the 10th pitch was actually a 70m cave/tunnel...(I was much more scared in the last cave we went into together than expected). But I thankfully learned that I am more afraid of dark open spaces than I am tight dark spaces? Who knows.

View from the bottom!

Our first glimpse at the icy blue water throughout the area.

People always treat us like celebrities when we have our climbing gear on us. "Where are you climbing!?", "No way!" "Can you take my eyes with you so I can see?" (weirdest one). It's a funny situation that we have learned to embrace.

Felix is mastering the "good angles". 

The hardest part of the climb was by far the approach which was basically walking uphill on a "bunch of marbles" as the guidebook stated..and it was accurate. We learned quickly what a "scree" field is and how much we despise walking on loose small rocks on a steep incline..who would have thought?

If you look closely you can see Felix! Look for the lime green helmet. 

Yep. That is a massive waterfall behind me. We were riiiight on the edge of where the rock was getting wet but stayed dry the whole climb!

The start of the 10th pitch!

The tunnel was surprisingly clean! The craziest part was the sound of the water rumbling with a slight vibration as we crawled through, Felix compared it to a subway station as the subway arrives.

A few tight spaces.

"Hey, let me see your headlamp just for a minute"...Felix tried to scare me and take all the light away multiple times.

Top of the falls!

Loud and misty and beautiful.

Who wore the backdrop better?

Van views and hangs post climb..don't let the serenity of the photo fool you, we were MOBBED by mosquitoes and the battle of skeeters began. 

Closest I have ever been to a black bear! This guy couldn't care less about us! We were in the van, but he just calmly grazed while we watched in wonder.

Passenger seat snaps. 

Lake Louise....we had some feelings and thoughts here. We had a rude awakening entering into the National Park of Banff, the level of tourism, the crowds, the paid parking, the closed lots due to being full - we were OVERWHELMED. Our first morning it was laughable how disappointing it was, but we just kept saying it can only get better from here, right? And yes, it did. We learned to adjust and find the places without crazy crowds, woke up at 3:30 to get to a lake for a climb before parking filled, embraced the people watching and sure enough we appreciated the beauty and understand the need for regulation and popularity of such an incredible place. 

We might have been more impressed with this set up than Lake Louise...

Felix getting that perfect Lake Louise scenery shot... 

My friend Morgan came for a visit! She drove from Montana to hang with us for a few days and it was THE BEST. We became friends in Sacramento at the climbing gym but Covid and multiple states kept us from each other for way too long. 

There's the shot.

Found some quiet morning spots.

Some chill craggin, the crux was not being eaten alive by mosquitos. 

We are embracing the begoggle life - glasses that allow you to look forward with a prism that shows the image above you so you don't have to strain your neck the whole time, we love them.

Fashion.

We mountain biked Tunnel Loop trail which took us through the town of Banff and around Tunnel Mountain. 

And the 3:30 am wake up call! Lake Moraine apparently fills up by 4 am due to its small lot and very popular hiking/viewpoint. We were set on doing a climb that required us to park there, so we did it. We woke up at 3:30 and drove to the lot getting there at 3:50 and went back to sleep til 5:30 before making coffee and getting ready for the day!

The clouds were ROLLING in but I just kept saying they were rolling OUT and perfect weather was on its way...

The approach was about 3 miles in, the first 1.5 were pretty brutal then we got to this open meadow where it eased off a bit.

Then we had to make it up to the famous Sentinel Pass which is a very popular hike/viewpoint. 

See why?

THEN you see that spire sticking out on the left side? We had to make it there for our climb...choose your adventure style, high or low was recommended so we chose...middle?

We initially started down then decided we could just cut across, which was a little more difficult than expected and with a little extra spice when rocks came flying down from the mountains...

But the destination was worth it.

The base of the spire! The climb is called Cardiac Arete - a 4 pitch 10d climb all along the arete of the spire. It was the COOLEST rock we have ever climbed. The rock would change between porous small holes on tan colored rock, to silky smooth green and black rock, to shiny honeycomb looking rock - it was fascinating. Felix oooo and ahhh'ed the whole way up.

Morgan was initially going to climb it with us but the wind was BRUTAL and she decided to take on enthusiastic photographer instead. Felix and I are together on the corner in the blue and red.

Us at the top! Super fun to have picture of us both on a climb, we almost never get pictures that capture the whole climb/atmosphere.

The typical climbing pictures we get.

Views from the climb, giving off strong gothic/cathedral vibes.

Morgan :)

This bearded man.

All smiles for the downhill return to the lake.

We climbed that thing!

Not picture but captured on video is Morgan and I choosing to slide down the snow at the end of this part. (Felix was too scared)

Anddd Lake Moraine. Morgan and I took a dip! In typical Banff style we had a crowd behind us when we looked back cheering us on for getting in the cold water and asking how it felt..weird haha but again just embraced it.

Embracing it.

The next day we slept in and took it easy but decided to fit in an afternoon climb right in the town of Banff on Tunnel Mountain with the recommendation from some climbers we met on Cardiac Arete - climb was called Ballista. Again the views were unreal, the rock was funkyyy and we loved it. 

Our friends Carly and Sean texted me when we were on pitch 7 out of 8 and asked if we wanted to meet for dinner and we said YES just give us an hour to get down the mountain.

And we did it.

And it was the best dinner with some of the best people that we have been so lucky to share so many great memories and places with over the past 3 months off and on! They graciously lent their driveway to our van while we flew to Texas, provided showers, storage, airport pick ups and an open house (once they were free of COVID). We explored their Tacoma home with them, we met up in the North Cascades, Penticton and Banff! At this point we feel weird continuing our trip without them! 

AND THEN our Fresno family (Sarah and Ben) visited us! We drove to Calgary to pick them up on Ben's birthday and enjoyed a gorgeous Air BNB for the night feeling like Kings and Queen with a fresh shower, laundry, queen bed and amazing city views.

City exploring - Stranger Things?

Canmore was the first stop!

The cooler (and more dramatic) version of the Beatles.

First night we took them to the craggin spot! Again, the battle of the skeeters - they won that night.

Back to Lake Louise! We went and climbed at the back of the lake, we were expecting heat, crowds and skeeters and somehow we had none! Beautiful views and extremely fun climbs

Felix puttin up Wicked Gravity - 11a. 

Ben on the follow!

Dang.

My girl :) - Sarah and I were instant friends at work in Fresno but became much more than that over the past few years! Her and Ben truly became like family to us and it felt just like old times having them back!

ALSO - you know you are good friends when you can enjoy 3 days in one van together...

My early birthday present! Felix mailed it to Sarah and Ben and they brought it with them, I've always admired this brand - cotopaxi.

Post climbing river hangs.

Campsite in Banff.

The Mountains peaked through in every direction.

Guest chefs! Ben (and Sarah's) cooking was one of our favorite things in Fresno that we miss very much so they cooked a meal for us  one night and it was delicious. 

The night ended in an epic name that song battle between Felix and Sarah.

And our new favorite, group wordle on the whiteboard.

Sunday consisted of the Banff Hot Springs, souvenir shopping and ice cream in town, a small hike outside of town and driving to our final campsite. 

The springs! Not the natural secluded ones we have been spoiled with, but still very fun and beautiful.

The hike! Felix pretending he got his head stuck?

The crew.

The view.

A park ranger stopped us and asked where we were going, and for some reason we all blanked and just said "that way" and when he asked how far we said "just a little bit" haha we didn't have answers for him  since it was just a short hike up a river but he looked at my Teva's and said "Clearly you aren't prepared for a long hike" haha basically he was telling us a major trail was closed which was not where we were going anyways so he let us continue down to the river but we loled at the interaction for the rest of the hike. 

Clearly we were able to at least make it to our destination! Classic rock throwing games commenced. 

The last campsite with Sarah and Ben! Right along Bow Valley River. Felix and I usually just boondock so having campsites feels like luxury.

We played Fia! (Similar to the game Sorry in America). 

And the was it for the Sarah and Ben visit! We drove them back to Calgary the next day with the obvious stop at IKEA :). We have felt very loved and lucky to have so many great people visit us and make time for us on our trip!

One last river dip in Banff before we headed to Jasper NP!

Breakfast views.

Always wanted a middle of the road photo!

Picture doesn't do it justice but that's a HUGE Glacier! 

Snack views.

"Turn around and point at those rocks, you will love this picture" - Felix. 

"Throw a heel hook up there it will look really cool"  - Felix

"Oh, it doesn't really look that cool" - Felix

Athabasca Falls. We didn't get a great picture of the falls but it was HUGE and powerful and we were very impressed. 

The following stop was called Maligne Canyon, we thought ya ya we should stop at this famous spot I guess - to be honest Felix and I are very spoiled with the views we get all to ourselves while climbing it is rare we are truly blown away by the tourist main attraction but MAN - this canyon really blew us away, the pictures do not do it any justice whatsoever. When we peaked over the bridge our eyes just kept searching for the water it was so deep in such a narrow canyon. 

Again this waterfall was amazing feeding the canyon but the pictures just can't capture it (and Felix was afraid of dropping his phone that the photos were not exactly best quality). 

Behind the waterfall! Felix loves throwing big logs into rivers like the mountain man he now is and this was his favorite view of the whole trip so far. "Is this where all my logs ended up?"

My two loves, Felix and waterparks. World Waterpark - Edmonton, AB. We have been looking forward to this waterpark since I found it. It's the world's 2nd largest indoor waterpark located inside a mall and we were not disappointed! 

The intensity. The slides were rated like ski hills, from blue moderates double black diamonds, this was clearly a double black diamond - they lock you in and with a countdown the floor open up and you shoot practically straight down - we did it multiple times!

Felix would be disappointed if I didn't mention that he beat me down every slide that we were able to race on. But I didn't care - I was having too much fun losing. 

Clearly..we were prepared for the waterpark.

Unfortunately we had to end our trip in Alberta on a very sad note. We took one more day to explore Edmonton, biked along trail system along the river and parked our bikes downtown with a lock. We had a great couple hours exploring, even stumbled upon 3v3 womens basketball and watched USA play France. However, on return to our bikes..they were just gone. Someone had cut our lock and took both our bikes. We were shocked, mad and then just sad as we had to walk in the heat 35 min back to the van empty handed. 

3v3 USA (force 1) vs. France - France won. They tried to recruit me but I politely declined. 

The last photo of us enjoying our bikes.. :(

The proof..bike lock still there left on the ground fully cut. 

I have been beating myself up knowing I should of had a U-lock but truth is they can still take almost your entire bike even if you have one if they want. We will replace them but we haven't decided when or with what kind of bikes. We have LOTS of diving coming up as we head to the great lakes area! We are just thankful we haven't run into any other big bumps in the road like this so far and keeping fingers crossed for continued smooth sailing!