Paint Pots, Ink Pots and more

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We woke up this morning to a “nice” chill to the air… After spending the night close enough to a stream to hear the running water there was not much lying about once we were awake! The campsite was full of participants from the previous day’s car show—some were looking decidedly seedy! Carl enjoyed looking at the cars, even if most of them had been modified significantly (see the photo from yesterday). Our destination today—Banff National Park!

Statistics

Starting Destination: Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada
Ending Destination: Canmore, British Columbia, Canada
Ending Destination GPS: N: 51° 06.225’ W: 115° 21.778’ Elev: 4358’
Miles Driven: 276.3
Miles Hiked: Approx. 9
Vertical Feet Climbed: Too many, perhaps 350 meters!

Chased out of town…

Right on the outskirts of town is the entrance to the Kootenay National Park, route 93 had been recommended by a friend of Maria’s for us to ride our bikes, but it was a little chilly for us “southerners” so we settled for driving in the car! We entered the park via a “S-bend in the road flanked on either side by rock walls—kind of like squeezing through a crack into a wonderland… We were busy watching the scenery while many of the car show participants stacked up behind us on the 2 lane road—they had obviously driven this way before! We stopped briefly at the Hot Springs—I don’t know what we were expecting, but certainly not swimming pools… Maria made the comment that she would probably need to wear her hat—the body would be warm in the heated pool, but the head would not! Carl, however, was fascinated by the bighorn sheep that were shamelessly eating the flowers right under the sign for the hot springs!!

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Amazing Peaks and Cool Clear Waters

We stopped in several locations along the way to view the magnificent scenery; this was our first detailed look at the Canadian Rockies—very different, as everyone had told us—from the American ones. All jagged peaks and sharp edges, glaciers certainly had a unique effect on the mountains and peaks. This was also our first “up close and personal” experience with the light teal colored mountain streams—rock “flour” from the glaciers is suspended in the water and reflects the light giving it a unique blue/green color… Wonderful to look at, but hard to capture the color on film!!

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Paint Pots…

Our first major stop was the “Paint Pots,” these are cold, iron-rich springs that bubble up through small pools… The iron in the water is deposited on the soil staining it a deep ochre color—it was hard to believe that it was the water until you noticed a burned pine tree floating in one of the pools… the top side was black and the underside ochre…

We had lunch sitting on the continental divide (again) and at the entrance to Banff National Park. We both marveled at the hardships that people must have endured to accurately survey the divide in the late 1800’s, I guess it is just another one of those cases where you don’t think about it, you just do it!

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On the way to the Ink Pots…

Our next destination was Johnson Canyon, yes, one of the most popular destinations in the park, but well worth the visit. We made a quick stop on the way so Carl could take some photographs of the “Castle”(left) and then stopped—along with hundred’s of other tourists at Johnson Canyon.

There are three phases to the Johnson Canyon hike—phase one, to the lower falls weeds out perhaps 75%!o(MISSING)f the tourists, phase two, to the upper falls weeds out 24%!o(MISSING)f the tourists meaning that perhaps only one percent of people walk as far as the Ink Pots.

The Ink Pots are similar to the Paint Pots in that mineral rich springs bubble up through small pools… Only this time the minerals are different and the pools are blue and green colored. Definitely worth the hike, even though it felt that most of the way we were following a “foot path,” the path to the upper falls is paved and then the path to the Ink Pots is about 4 feet wide—we found out later that this trail is also used by alpine skiers, hence the width… Along the way we experienced more of the amazing scenery, every so often the path would come to a break in the pine trees and we got a glimpse of the surrounding mountains—it kind of made you forget your aching knees!!

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Banff and beyond…

After returning from our hike we followed route 1A, the alternate route to Banff, there were several “interpretive” signs along the way that explained some of the scenery that we were passing and also some of the history. Carl decided that Canadian signs are different from American ones—the Canadian ones tell more of a story and sometimes include personal quotes, insights or comments; the American ones stick to the “facts!” We followed the highway into Banff and drove through the town—there were some interesting buildings, but more like a mountain resort town than a National Park! We finally decided to travel into Canmore to find accommodation, eat and fall into bed. We had definitely worked our non-cycling specific muscles!!

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Carl’s Travel Trivia

Yesterday’s Answer: The United States—Canada Border. Congratulations to the two correct respondents!...
Today’s Question: What forms part of the border between Alberta and British Columbia?

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Comments

[Bonnie]

Calendar for the next few years
Carl your pictures are so wonderful I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying my trip with the both of you...... and all my muscles feel fine. ;-) I think you are going to need to put together a calendar with all of your pictures and I would be the first one to want one when you get a permanent home. Keep up the wonderful journal. Bonnie in Kansas