Johnston Canyon

After the children have gone to school in the morning today, three of us ladies left Calgary at eight o’clock sharp with the excitement for a hike at Johnston Canyon that is 18 km northwest of Banff (130 km west of Calgary). This place shows the power of nature and time - rushing water carves limestone into a canyon and potholes over the years. It took us three hours to reach to the Ink Pot and came back to the base – 11.6 km and 215 m elevation. There were icy patches where hiking boots didn’t help, but we were glad we did not give up.

The chick monk tries to get the pine seeds out of the mess!

Mountain Jay

What is the beeping noise you are making?

Ink Pot (spring water bubbles from the sand / mud)

Do you know what kind of bird this it? It stares at our lunch when we ate by the Ink Pot.

Upper Fall

Lower Fall

Driving Back - Rundle Mountain in Banff

Larch Valley

The most difficult part of leaving Calgary are our friends and the mountains. Hiking with friends in the Canadian Rocky Mountains have left numerous fond memories.

Larch Valley is one of my favorite family hiking trails. Drive approximately one and half hour from Calgary and one kilometer towards Lake Louise, turn left and drive about fourteen kilometers to Morraine Lake, where the trail starts and follows the lake shore for a short distance.

The trail climbs through the forest, and at points you will see Morraine Lake below with the unforgettable emerald color.

After climbing three hundred and sixty meters in elevation and walking two and half kilometers you will enter Larch Valley. In autumn, the needles of the Larches, a deciduous conifer, turn into gold and then fall off the trees. The window to enjoy them is only two or three weeks long. These pictures were taken on September 26th, 2009 and showed the larches in various stages of color change with some of the ten peaks (that appeared on the back of the old twenty dollar Canadian bill) behind them.

It was windy that day, so we decided not to challenge the Sentinal Pass with an additional two and half kilometers walk and a further elevation gain of approximately three hundred and sixty meters. You can enjoy the view from the pass here - http://kylemaclean.net/g2/main.php?g2_itemId=1325