MONDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2026

(Canmore, AB)

We both woke up a lot in the night. I was cold to start with, Andrew was too hot. Eventually I woke up at 4.30am and didn’t get back to sleep. When Andrew woke up at 7.30 I got started on the coffee, which is a cafetière job here. I took my coffee outside to watch the sunrise. There was initially an alpenglow and I was optimistic about getting some nice photos but then it clouded over. Ah well. It was still pleasantly peaceful.

We decided to go to the Harvest Cafe for breakfast, which is just across 10th Street from our accommodations. There we had grilled wraps, filled with meat and eggs (Andrew) or veggies and eggs (me), with orange juice. It was tasty and set us up for some hiking.

After we had got our gear together, and attached the bear spray to our backpacks, we drove into Banff National Park, buying our annual park pass on the way in, and made our way to Johnson Lake. The mountains already looked good.

At the lake we did the loop trail, 2 miles around the lake, winding through forest along the way. We enjoyed it very much, and chatted to a ranger along the way who was taking data on the trail conditions. As for the views, I’ll let the photos do the talking. We did spot some trees with strips of bark missing, but no obvious signs of claw marks, so we suspect these are from elk rubbing their antlers on them during the mating season. We also saw that old branches that were no longer living were covered in a furry looking moss, which made them look like they’d been decorated for Halloween.

The next lake up was Two Jack Lake. By now the sun had come out again and the water sparkled. We walked north along the lakeshore, seemingly the only ones doing so, passing a sign advising of bear risk as we did so. Most people only went to the lake, took a photo and left again, perhaps visiting the red chairs that are there. I can only say they missed out on some spectacular scenery, especially near the campground (closed at this time of year). 

Looking across the lake back towards the start of our hike we spotted what looked like a wedding, and sure enough, there were taking photos when we got back. They had a lovely backdrop for it, although I was wearing multiple layers for hiking as it was really quite cold, and the bride was braving a sleeveless, backless number. Brrrrrr.

Our final lake off the day was Lake Minnewanke. We stopped a few times to take photographs, before returning back to Canmore.

Once back at our apartment we went back to the Harvest Cafe for coffee and a muffin, and then relaxed before having showers and heading out for dinner. We went back to the pizza place (yes, there are lots of places available, but we liked it, and it’s nearby, so…why not?). It was a bit quieter tonight when we got there, so I was able to take some photos of the inside, together with views of the mountains through the window as the sun set. 

Yesterday we had spotted the WSP car. Tonight, as we took the direct route back to our room, we spotted the office. It is the building next door to us (the one with the wall mural of a cyclist in my morning photos). I’m still not calling in though! And that was it for today’s adventures. There will be a video or two in due course, but I’m a bit tired after my lack of sleep, so I’ll let you know when they get posted.