Canmore

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This morning our luck with the weather changed and the forecast proved to be accurate, as we left our hotel it was raining. We had been contemplating hiring 2 bikes and cycling along a 22 km trail to Banff. However, we had seen on our arrival, that the bike route was alongside the highway for much of it's route, so given that and the weather, we had a change of plan and decided to spend the money on a raft tour. We called at the local visitor centre and they helped us arrange a trip for 6 pm tonight.

With our evening sorted, we set off to visit Johnston Canyon. This involved a journey along the Bow Valley Parkway, which is an older road that runs parallel with the Trans Canada Highway, but is a much more scenic, if slower route. As usual our drive involved stopping at the various points of interest and it was at one of these that I walked from the car to read a display notice. As I was approaching it, I noticed a large black shape a little ahead and to my right. 'Don't be silly it's a boulder' I said to myself and proceeded to read the notice. I turned to return to the car to be told to jump in fast, that boulder was a bear. Cars were beginning to slow down and stop and people were getting too close. Mr. Bear had had enough and very quickly crossed the road and disappeared into the trees. A little further on 2 young deer crossed the road in front of us. This road was proving good for wildlife.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached Johnstone Canyon, both the car parks were full, so we carried on up the road and parked at another trail head. Here we had a short uphill hike to Silverton Falls, which, despite their lack of fame, were well worth the effort. We tried to park at the canyon again on our return journey, but with no success. Instead we drove to the Banff area and took 2 recommended scenic drives. The first one involved a steady switchback climb of Mount Norquay, from where we had a superb view over the Bow Valley to the town of Banff and beyond. The second drive was a little disappointing. Called the Vermilion Lakes Drive, it involved driving along the northern shorelines of the three Vermilion lakes, but there was a limited number of places where we could actually see the lakes.

We headed back to Canmore for an early dinner, before heading to the Bow river for our raft excursion. We were in one of two rafts that headed down the river looking for wildlife and enjoying the scenery. Our raft was expertly manoeuvred by Jessie, who regaled us all with interesting facts about, not only the river and it's environment, but also about Canadian life in general. We didn't see too much wildlife, but it was a very pleasant and different way to spend two hours. We were then all bused back to Canmore.

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