On Sunday, we met Karen & Rob mid-morning. Couldn’t exactly tell what the weather was going to do – typical mountain weather – blue skies, then grey clouds, then blue skies. But it looked mostly promising, so we decided to go kayaking. R & K led us down south about 10 miles to a favorite spot of theirs – Upper & Lower Kananaskis Lakes. Before they had their large RV, they used to camp down here all the time (no hook-up’s; meant for smaller campers). The views of the mountains, particularly one ridgeline, are just magnificent. We put our kayaks into the Upper Lake. For the first 30 minutes or so, the water was perfectly still.
We paddled by a waterfall.
Then, out of nowhere, the wind came up. That happens
more often than not here, since this lake is at the head of a mountain valley.
Karen said that in all the years they’ve been coming here, they’ve only paddled
to the end of the lake once because of the wind turning them back. We were paddling against it, and since R &
K were in a canoe, they were getting bounced around quite a bit, and turned
back. We weren’t as affected by the wind
as much, so we kept on going for a while.
But after a while, as the wind kept getting stronger, we turned around
as well. Now the wind was at our backs, and
the little swells propelled us forward, but we still needed to steer to keep on
course. Was a good 2-hour workout and of
course the surrounding scenery just gorgeous.
When we got out, Karen had a bar-b-que going at the
picnic spot close by. She was grilling
hot dogs, which were soon ready. A lovely spot to picnic. Then they showed us around the immediate area, showing us the campground
they used to camp at, etc. Then we
headed home.
All of us
took a nap, and then we headed over to Rob & Karen’s for dinner. They’d grilled chicken & brats, with
simple accompaniments. It began to get
really cool, so we went inside & visited til about 10:30.
On Monday, we all seemed to be late starters. Bill & I spent a good hour or more deciding if/how to change our itinerary in the Canadian Rockies. We really love it here at Mt. Kidd/ Kananaskis Country, and it really has everything Banff has to offer – gorgeous scenery, beautiful lakes, hikes, bike trails, but without the crowds. So we ended up deciding to extend here for 3 additional days, and still going to Banff for 5 nights. Then we discussed what to do about staying in Jasper. It looks like the campground we booked won’t accommodate large RV’s. Plus, I found out that there are no showers there – only bathrooms. And since it was an electric-only site, that would be a challenge. So I did some quick research, and found a private RV park about 45 minutes east of Jasper, in the town of Hinton. So we booked that. All of these cancellations cost us some $$ (service fees), but the biggest aggravation is just having to deal with it. Dealing with these logistics is definitely NOT the fun part of travelling on your own!
Anyway, by nearly noon, the 4 of us headed south again – this time to a bike trail. There are bike trails all over these parks here – this is a big one which covers many miles. Not sure how many we covered, but we sure had a good work-out for nearly 2 hours! We’re not on the KATY trail any more!! Lots of ups and downs. We were on the recumbents, and had to get off & walk them a few times. But was worth every muscle-powered turn of the wheel – perfect mountain clear dry air, beautiful through the pine & spruce forests, and oh, those mountain views! And every so often we’d get a wonderfully fresh scent of the pines. As Karen says, “Ah, the smell of summer (in the mountains)!” We’ll probably do at least one more bike ride here, but will probably use the regular bikes.
After our ride, we stopped at a place to get ice
cream (we’d earned it!) Then R & K
guided us to the Lower Lake, and showed us where we could put in to paddle if
we wanted to. The mountains around here
are just extraordinary, with their mysterious folds and crevices and elegant
spires.
Home again, to rest for hour or so. Then invited over again to Rob & Karen’s
for dinner. A wonderful meal of steak,
roasted potatoes, & 2 salads. We
brought the wine. I felt like a
condemned prisoner eating his last meal – when we came here to the Kananaskis
area, we didn’t realize that there were NO grocery stores around. We knew we were running low on groceries when
we left Glacier, but didn’t want to take time to stop on the way here to stock
up – thought we could do it here. But no can do. So we’ll survive for the next few days on
“camp store” food – pre-packaged sandwiches, hot dogs, etc.
Afterwards, we enjoyed wine around the
campfire and stayed til dark – 11:00.
They are
leaving tomorrow morning. We’ll miss
them, but will enjoy being on our own, following up exploring places to which
they introduced us. They are really a
generous, gracious couple. They have
traveled a lot, and their next trip is an African safari in August – their own
private tour guide for 17 days! They
have always been very, very active. Five
years ago, Karen was diagnosed with M.S., and while it’s certainly affected
her, she is determined to do everything she can to fight it, especially with
nutrition, natural, non-pharmaceutical treatments, etc. She still remains active, with realistic
adjustments – e.g., she & Rob now ride a tandem bike together, as she has
virtually no control over her right hand, which is needed for braking,
shifting, etc. She is a remarkable
person, and I have enormous respect for her. And I will especially miss her adorable
Canadian accent, eh! We hope our mutual
travels enable us to cross paths again.
We
learned a lot about Canadian structure & systems, especially from Rob, who
is extremely politically conservative and very vocal in his dislike of what he
views as Canadian socialism, the welfare state, etc. He especially expresses his disdain of their
health care system, and is disheartened that the U.S. seems to be going in that
direction (in his opinion). He envies us
in the U.S., and says that he would definitely enjoy more freedom here.
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