So…from Beauty Creek we started our journey southwards and stopped to venture forth and pop in to see the Saskatchewan glacier and river. This meant a walk up the Parker trail. It was only a 2 and half kilometre trail so I jumped to it…..only to find that it was 2 and half kilometres of straight upwards with a couple of level sections very kindly dotted in by the makers of the trail. Smoke also dulled some very awesome mountain scenery and also unfortunately, the view at the top of the mountain, of the glacier. However, it was still beautiful and the walk along the ridge was lovely. Coming down saw me slip on some of the loose gravelly path, but fortunately only my butt flew up airwards since I managed to stop the fall with my hands. Took some lovely shots of the vegetation on the mountainside.

We camped overnight in Banff since all campsites and hostels before that were fully booked. I was sooooo looking forward to a nice hot shower after having spent a VERY primitive evening at the creek. So, asked for a site as close as possible to the showers and got one right next door. Went first thing to the showers only to find that I was too stupid to work out the controls and could not get anything other ice cold water to flood over my body. This brought on a flood of tears….and with that came out all the emotions from the previous weeks…so maybe it was meant to be, so that I could finally release all the pent-up emotions. I have felt much better since and I made sure to have a wonderful hot shower in the morning!

After my shower we hit the road to go and see what Banff was about….really just a typical commercialised little town for tourist trade. We returned to Castle Mountain where there was no camping available the night before to do the trail. I did not appreciate what I saw on the info board so Graeme kindly prepared to forego the hike in favour of going up to see the Silverton waterfall instead. It was a very short but steep-ish climb to get there and although it was a pretty waterfall, it was nothing awe-inspiring. I felt so bad for Graeme whom I knew really wanted to get to see Castle Mountain, so I released him to go on up to take some pics from a good spot and I would hang out for a while at the falls and wend my way down through the woods and along the bubbling brook while waiting for his return……I should have known better….Graeme cannot resist a challenge and 4 hours later he returned after having completed the entire gruelling hike and after I had read every tourist pamphlet and anything else I could find to read….even manicured my nails in that time!!!!!

On our way to the Mistaya Canyon we encountered a little herd of Bighorn ewes which had stopped the traffic on highway 93….. so it's not only in Africa that these things happen!!!

We then visited the Mistaya Canyon (awesome rock formations and very powerful water flow) and Peyto lake (yet another climb to a very blue lake) and stopped to have our lunch on the edge of Bow lake. Some truly gorgeous views and very tranquil surroundings. Holiday fever is truly setting in now.

We then started our trip towards luxury that was becoming more appealing by the minute. However, Olive lake happened to be on the way, so we stopped over for a quick walk around the little lake and through the woods leading up to it. It was really a lovely little spot with water the colour of emeralds but crystal clear - every pebble, log and fishy could be clearly seen.

So, at last we were on our way to Invermere to start our first week of time share luxury and the Panorama Mountain Village….essentially a ski resort for winter thrills, but most satisfactory for this body that had had it's fill of roughing it for an entire week or so. The GPS took us to Panorama Rd in Invermere which frightened me slightly since it starts in the back end of the industrial side of town. But, a sign soon told us that the resort was another 20km along the road, so I sighed my relief and Graeme frankly vocalised his! It is a very scenic and curly road up to the resort and follows the path of Toby Creek for the second two thirds of the road. We passed a sign warning us of the possible presence of mooses along the way so I was keeping my eyes peeled. Well, as we rounded a corner, lo and behold I spotted two black bears in the water. I exclaimed and gave Graeme a groot skrik, but there was no place to stop to view or take pics. So…I've seen bears and he hasn't…..and as proof, the resort has a warning sign posted of bears in the area.

The first thing I did after arrival was to run a deep and hot bath…..what sheer bliss!!!! We decided the following day to take the day off and simply to go into town and drive around the Windermere lake area to see the views.

Upon arrival at the resort we were informed that all walks and hikes in the area have been closed due to forest fire dangers and that literally only one walk around the perimeter of the resort was open for use. So, we decided to heed the advice of one of our couch-surfing travel advisors and to travel about 100km south to the Lussier Hot Springs. Absolutely beautiful mountainous scenery along the way, but it was once again overshadowed by a veil of white, misty smoke. The road to the hot springs was closed and a security fella came to explain that fires had just started on that side of the mountain with flames leaping, I think he said 80m into the air. These were causing clouds to form and more lightening strikes which, in turn, were starting more fires! He also told us that thus far 80 000 hectares of forest have thus far been lost to fires. So, we back-tracked to Radium Hot Springs on the other side of Invermere and popped in to the visitors' centre to get a clearer idea of what was available. We were then advised by the friendly owner of the Big Horn Coffee shop to do the Juniper trail. It was pictured as a quick and effortless walk to a waterfall. Eventually we found the start of this trail and started our walk through the driest section of the Kootenay National Park. We left the water in the car, because after all, it was a short and effortless walk. It had some very unpleasant uphills, but my heart saank to the depths of my big toe when we arrived at a decline of very loose, rocky path at a 90 degree angle….hang on, I exaggerate, it was an 85 degree angle. I thanked God all the way down for my walking pole but poeped myself with every step I took! I made it in the hit and hit the bottom of the path only to lose my footing and ended up on my backside!!!! At the bottom of a treacherous decline!!!!!!!!!! Well, we walked and walked and I was beginning to feel very bitter about the lack of pleasant scenery which is what gets me through these gruelling walks when we arrived at that stupid path again….only this time I had to go UP the FLIPPING thing!!!!!! Kannie meer nie korporaal was my reaction!!! Graeme encouraged me all the all the way up and I withheld all the stuff that I was wanting to pour forth verbally in response! The walk continued and then I verbalised my dissatisfaction loudly to God about how we had been told there was a waterfall and a creek along this walk and there had been boggerol!!! Graeme then mentioned that he did not recognise the path we were following and lo and behold we ended up at the waterfall. I fell face first into the stream to drink as much of the icy water as I could, and Graeme did the same, only he lost his footing and slipped into the stream. After soaking up the only beautiful spot along this walk, we made our way up to the top of the hill again only to find ourselves in a parking lot that was 1 ½ km from where we had parked our car. So, Graeme took off along the highway while I disappeared back into the shade of the woods to wait for him and to play with my camera.

We returned to the resort and Graeme hit to swimming pool while I hit the bed! We then went off for a game of Putt-putt…..and I remain the putt-putt queen. How I get the holes in one I have no idea, but I do and they keep me beating my golfing hubby!!!!!

We hit the sack really early since we wanted to leave at 4h30 next morning to go back to lake Louise and Moraine Lake because weather and smoke were threatening to spoil our plans. So, up we got, packed our lunches, etc. and started on our way. At 5h00 we stopped at Radium Hot Springs to fill up with fuel, only to find that there is no such thing as fuel 24-7. We had to wait till 5h30 for the fuel pumps to open. So, I made good of the time and proceeded to moisturise my legs, removing my wedding ring to do so. After fuelling up, we were on our way again and arrived at Moraine Lake in good time. Oh my word!!!! What a stunningly and overwhelmingly beautiful place. I was smacked right into the lap of God my creator and simply wanted to stay there the whole day. But…we had to get to Louise….so Graeme promised to bring me back to have our lunch on the shores of Moraine and off we went to see Lake Louise. Also a gorgeous lake, but lacking that special ambience of Moraine. Beautiful blue waters surrounded by glaciered mountains and lovely little bushes of coloured flowers… truly a photographer's or artist's paradise. Having taken all the photos we could we decided to go up the 3,5km hike to the tea room at Lake Agnes. What we failed to take note of was the fact that this 3,5 km hike also had a 385m gradient to it. The uphill just never ended….if there were 10m of level walking along the entire walk it was a lot!!!! Ek het gevrek mense, ek het afgek……!!!!!!!! Oh my Scarlet Johanssen (as Amber would say!!!!!!!) Graeme soon realised that these spindles that were gifted to me as legs were not going to do this without oodles of encouragement and he persevered with me even after I had told him on numerous occasions what to go and do with himself, and warning him in no uncertain terms that this flipping lake had better be worth every ounce of my agony!!!! A moment of respite camewhen a very cute little people friendly squirrel ran around my feet and even posed delightfully for photo op. Eventually, we arrived there and my goodness, what a pretty lake, not blue like the others, but absolutely mirror smooth with contrasting rocky mountains surrounding it and lush green pines dotted around it. First stop for me was the loo….such an easy further 50 m climb straight uphill, just to go and pee!!!! FLIP, FLIP, FLIP!!!!! After doing my business in one of the most frightening long-drops I've encountered in Canada, I went to reach for the hand sanitiser and wanted to remove my ring, only to find that there was no ring!!!!!!!!!!! Thinking back, I realised that I didn't put it back on my finger after creaming my legs and prayed frantically that it was somewhere in the car. We decided to have a cuppa at the teahouse, but the crowds of people were stifling and the service was extreeeeeeeemely slow, so we decided to head back to Moraine and have a cuppa there after consuming our lunch. On our way down we met a little ground squirrel doing his morning acrobatic ablutions on the edge of a rock, so I was absolutely entertained by mother-nature's mini creatures.

The downward walk was so incredibly pleasant that by the time we reached the bottom at Lake Louise I was quite happy to sit for a while on a bench and relook at the beauty of one of the most commercialised sites we have yet encountered. A massive hotel has been built right there on the shores of the lake (only 1100 dollars a night to stay there). Anyways, back to the car we went and I immediately started the search for my ring….it was nowhere to be found!!! So, deduction….it must have fallen from my lap into the parking lot at Moraine Lake. Upon arriving there the traffic controllers had put up a sign informing us that the parking lot was full and we should move on. I hopped out of the car and explained the dilemma of my ring and mercifully they let us through. We found a spot to park and I jumped out of the car where we had previously parked and stared searching under every car and around them too. I found NOTHING!!! Graeme took over the search in the now soft but very wet rain while I ran up to the gift shop in the slim hope that someone had found my ring and handed it in. LO and FLIPPING BEHOLD…..THERE ARE WONDERFUL PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD!!!!! Someone had indeed found my ring and handed it in….I nearly hurdled my way over that counter to embrace the poor startled shop assistant who handed it to me. I ran out into the rain to tell Graeme that he could stop crawling around like someone who had lost his mind and promptly burst into tears when I showed him I had repossession of it. Well, there was no having lunch on the shores of the lake unless we wanted to consume slimy wetted sarmies, so we ate in the car and made our way out again. Stopped at the traffic controller to thank him for allowing us in and gave him an SA souvenir (giraffe bottle opener) as a token of my gratitude. He was bowled over…not at the gift so much, but at the fact that I'd found my ring and wished us everything of the best for the remainder of our trip.

We had one last stop en route back to the resort and did a 700m stroll down to the Ink Pots river and back again. In the parking lot we encountered two young ladies who had just completed a 4 day hike through the mountains, but their car was parked 10km down the road from where we were. So the Mercer taxi service kindly took them to where they needed to be and we headed "home".

So…today was a day off for me to catch up on blogging and a couple of other things! Graeme was going to loll about reading MAD mags etc. but alas, he could not hold out! So we ended up doing the drive towards the Lussier Hot Springs again to catch some pics of the scenery now that the smoke had been cleared.

And that folks….is our story till now. Till next time then …..