Banff - Day 4

And on the 4th day we let them rest. The horses that is!  They had carried our butts hard for 3 days and it was time for them to have a little break.  I woke up and this was the view out the window.

An absolute picture perfect day in the Canadian Rockies!  And it would soon be even more perfect.  We were going hiking!    Emily fed us well and packed us some wrap sandwiches for our lunch later. Jill and Tree opted out of hiking because of hip problems and Christine has asthma so a high altitude hike wasn't exactly in her plans.  So it was me, Pierre and the three young women along with Tess, who soon earned the name of the Energizer Bunny Hiker and our faithful Hanna.

The first half of the hike was more or less along a ridge following the river.  We only gained about 100 feet in elevation along the way although we went over a LOT of downed trees.  Often the bushes were taller than us and we almost had to wade through them.

Tess set a grueling pace even carrying a big backpack with all our food and drinks!  And we all started shedding clothes as we moved getting warmer and warmer.

Emily, our cook, had told us the first half of the hike would be pretty easy but once we got to the waterfall, it would get hard.  She wasn't joking.  We stopped at the bottom and got drinks and refilled our water bottles.  Madison just dunker her face in to get some!

The water was snow melt and crystal clear.

We started going UP as we followed the waterfall.  This was near the top.

Up until this point I had been carrying our backpack with our water bottles, extra clothes, etc.  I think this was about where I gave it to Madison.  We were headed up another 900 feet of elevation over the next mile - that means it was pretty close to straight up!

Straight up and OVER lots of fallen trees. More often than not, I couldn't tell we were on any kind of trail.

This was our last sight of the falls as we turned south.

The trees started thinning out offering us some amazing views!  Our little lodge was way down in that valley.

And we encountered some snow. Although we were all sweating - Madison had worn fleece lined hiking pants and was a tad warm!

This picture looking back down at Madison and I gives a better sense of how vertical this climb up was!

I wasn't too proud to make everyone stop pretty frequently so we could catch our breath and quiet our screaming quadriceps.   Even the younger girls admitted later that they were fatigued and welcomed my "stop" requests!  It was also a great opportunity to look around and get a few pictures.

Another pano shot that just doesn't do justice to the absolute beauty of this place!

Our final destination was an un-named lake way up in the mountains.  We were warned that the temperature would drop dramatically when we got there.  And then we got there.

And yes, it was cold!  We were hit but the wind coming across the icy cold water and while we were wide-eyed with wonder, we were also cold!

It was like a scene in a movie.  So remote and wild and beautiful!

And of course, the water was crystal clear like every bit of water we saw there!  The water was pretty shallow along the edges and so clear it doesn't look like water!

We also saw lots of flowers blooming!  Tess would tell us the names and I'd promptly forget.

We decided to hike around to the other side to see if we could find a spot out of the wind along the lake to eat our lunches.  That took us away from the shoreline for a bit but always within sight of the beautiful lake.

I was so happy I had come along on the hike even though it was by far the hardest I've ever done!!  It was a big accomplishment.

Madison wasn't quite as tired as me but she also felt very accomplished and strong for doing it!

I believe this is where we became, "Pierre's Angels". As in Charlie's Angels.  LOL!

While most of us kicked back to rest and eat our lunches along the lake, Madison and Samantha decided to hike around to the other side.

You can't really see them in this picture but their ultimate destination was the top of that long finger of snow above the bulge of rocks and trees.

You can just barely see them about in the center of this picture.  I think it was around here that Tess started to get worried and wanted to call them back. We could actually hear them and they could hear us from the echo over the lake and off the mountain.  We let them go quite a bit further up and then called them back.

On their return, they dipped their feet in the freezing water!

 And then it was time to go back.  You think going down is going to be easier than going up, and in some ways it is. But I can't even say how many times I exclaimed, "How the hell did we get UP this!!"

In some places the ground was really rocky and others it was more like gravel.  Deeper in the woods it was very spongy and actually quite slippery.

 This picture wouldn't have made the cut except seconds later, Madison stretched out along the tree behind her and it collapsed!  She was just inches from being in the water that is running under it!

We could see our lodge!!  Tiny dot of brown about dead center of the picture.

We returned to find our trusty steeds flat out sleeping in the sun!

Another awesome day in the mountains!  Well done ladies!

And then we crashed.

Some of us more than others!  Madison slept like this for almost an hour!