Spontaneous trip to Banff | Day 2–Third Musketeer joins the gang Pt. 2
*Beep…beep…beep*. I probably hit the snooze button about 4 times. We ended up waking up at 7 am and of course starting the day off with — coffee… from Starbucks. I love their seasonal lattes. I had tried the Caramel Brulé and of course Pumpkin Spice, but spotted a new flavor — Chestnut Praline Latte. It was super tasty! Tj ordered the Juniper Latte. How could I describe the flavor? It tasted like refreshing coffee minty pine trees if that’s even a thing (it’s good though). Made me feel like I was literally tasting nature in a cup.
JKP: “Where is our first stop? Or…what is our itinerary. I’m not keeping track of anything, sorry jaja.”
Tj: “Two Jack Lake. I found this abandoned mining town we can check out. Chris is going to be joining us for Johnson Canyon after.”
As we were driving to Two Jack Lake, the clouds and rain had cleared up. When we arrived the weather was perfect, and the best part was that it was completely sunny. Gotta intake that Vitamin D. There were sudden moments where it would get windy — really windy, but it felt refreshing. Two Jack Lake contains 74 campsites for both RV’s and tents. It makes a perfect place to canoe or base camp if you want to spend a few days exploring Banff and the surrounding area.
After getting out of the car, I took a few seconds to admire the sun’s rays reflecting off of the lake while taking in a few deep breaths. It was peaceful and calming — a moment full of bliss.
I spotted a nice rock that I wanted to take action jump shots of (I have random moments that occur to me). I had the worst luck. Tj probably took 6 shots of me miserably failing. There were a few where my legs would twist up like a pretzel and some where it looked like I was riding a roller coaster or getting knocked out with an invisible rock. If you know how to take proper action jump shot photos — please teach me (you can see more failed jump shots on my Instagram post).
After my failed jumps, we hiked around trails for a bit to see if we could find any cool spots. There was a trail we took where we were able to walk along the water. You could see the colors of the lake change from green, to light blue, to turquoise dependent on the clouds rolling over the sun and the lighting.
There was another spot where I spent a bit of time taking videos and asked Tj if he could film me using my Karma Grip Stabilizer and GoPro Hero 6. I asked him to wait until I walked past him, then proceed to follow me so I could create a slo-motion clip of me walking towards the lake with the beautiful scenery in the background. Tj’s never used the Karma Grip so it was funny to see him attempting to film me since the GoPro was circling in different directions from the gimbal jaja. Took about 4 tries, but nailed it in the end. He’s basically a pro now.
Chris was close to arriving so we had to head to our next destination — the abandoned ghost mining town called Bankhead. The town use to supply coal for locomotives during 1904–1922. At one point the population boasted up to 1,500 people, which included 300 underground coal miners. Due to the mine’s poor quality of coal and continuous labor strikes, it forced the mine to close down. It became a ghost town along with the homes & recreational buildings. Today, there is not a lot left. Always great to learn about past history, but we ended up leaving early since we spotted lots of bear poo. It felt pretty eerie and spooky, but calming.
*Incoming text message*
Chris has arrived, it’s time to go, and we are HUNGRY so he recommended this AWESOME vegan place located 5 minutes from our hotel to meet. I normally don’t eat vegan food, but this place called Nourish Bistro had such great food! I had ordered the Mac n Squeeze with gnocchi (it normally comes with quinoa noodles). I also ordered a delicious cocktail called Aphrodite, which the server had recommended. It had a floral like taste and the craziest part was that I thought that the foam was egg white, but it was actually made with chick peas — who would have known?
Full and ready to adventure, we headed to Johnston Canyon. Along the drive, Chris and Tj were catching up since they hadn’t seen each other for about 2–3 months. I laughed so much during the drive. We had played this game that whenever we saw a yellow car you would get pinched, but buses and taxis did not count, and the entire vehicle had to be yellow — Chris just pinched Tj for every yellow thing he saw.
Oh…this had also happened.
Chris: “Johnson Canyon is coming up…Turn. Dude turn. TURN! It’s right there! You missed the turn”
JKP: “Ummmm *stares at the sign coming up*. The exit is…too late jajaja.”
Tj: “I thought Chris was messing with me! Whatever…I have my own way. I will get us there the Tj way.” 🙃
*9 km later*
We had finally arrived. I had taken out my equipment to vlog our hike together and asked Chris to be the commentator so he could be the one to explain the awe-inspiring surroundings around us. Here’s what he said word for word — not kidding.
“Well here’s our water. Now these are trees we are walking through. It’s a nice path though. It’s not a full dirt path, but it’s really great. You can see the rock, which is really clear. There’s a sign of Johnston Canyon. Now these are cabins. I live in this one. It’s slightly raining. It’s a little moist.”
The best commentator ever. I laughed so hard jajaja.
Throughout the hike I felt as if I was being immersed in the deep green, the stillness of the woods, and mesmerizing waterfalls. It’s a compelling feeling to stand in the midst of this place. The canyon is carved steeply into the limestone bedrock by thousands of years of water erosion. It’s a place you must experience, but it’s better to come early since parking can get pretty packed. We got really lucky as there was barely anyone there.
The last waterfall we spotted was the most beautiful (first row photo in the middle). You can stand on a platform along the walkway to take pictures, but I found that part of the canyon wall blocked the waterfall so me being JKP decided to climb off of the platform to take better shots. I’m adventurous, BUT always very careful. If it’s too dangerous, I never go beyond. Safety first. Chris and Tj ended up joining my monkey moment. It was a great adrenaline rush. You can see where we sat (second row photo on the far left — the bromance shot)
After we took all the photos we needed, we decided to head back to see if we could go to Vermilion Lake to take shots of the sunset. We didn’t make it as it got dark really quick😞 so we decided to head back into town. We dropped Chris off at his car and said our goodbyes. Such an awesome guy!
Once Tj and I got to the hotel, guess what we did because we were too tired? You guessed again — ordered food in because we were too tired. We ordered the healthiest foods you could pair together. Pizza and mac and cheese with pork belly. Booyah! During our eating session we talked about potentially going to Vermilion Lake in the morning since it was a spot I wanted to go to. I was pretty sad that we had to leave in the morning back to Vancouver. I wish I could have spent a few more days to explore more places since there is so much beauty to see. I will definitely make another trip out!
*food coma kicks in* ZzzZzz
*Coming Soon: Spontaneous trip to Banff | Day 3 — Until next time Pt. 3*
