Chapter 6
Epilogue and Miscellaneous Comments

Day 14

Friday, we drove back to Johnston Canyon and took a leisurely stroll along the tourist path that followed Johnston Creek through Johnston Canyon. We had a nice relaxing day, enjoying the many waterfalls along the way. We weren't up for any demanding hikes that day! Later that evening we were watching a TV show about the feats people were performing to get in the Guinness Book of World Records. One of the episodes was about a kayaker who set a world record going over the highest waterfall (98 feet) in a kayak on one of the waterfalls we had just seen in Johnston Canyon!

Day 15

Saturday, we drove back to Calgary. We briefly stopped off at the Olympic Village built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. We checked out the bobsled course and the ski jumps. We couldn't stay long cause we had to hurry and return the rental car to avoid paying the expensive hourly rate if we were late in our return. We stayed at a nice, boring, generic Travelodge near the airport

Day 16

Sunday, we returned to Calgary Airport and flew back home to Baltimore via Houston.

Miscellaneous Comments

Canadian Backcountry Campgrounds - Jasper and Banff National Parks

We found that there were two styles of backcountry campgrounds in Canada, the national park version and the provincial park version. The National Park backcountry campgrounds required permits. This means you have to call ahead and make reservations ($10 Canadian reservation fee) or stop by a Ranger office and make your reservations. There’s also a campsite fee of $6 Canadian per person per night. We’d recommend calling ahead and paying the extra $10. Some of the more popular Skyline Trail campgrounds were already full when we called and we had to use a less desirable campground. The campgrounds in Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park didn’t take reservations but still had a $6 Canadian campsite fee.

As stated earlier, the “green thrones” that Jasper National Park offered as latrines in its backcountry campgrounds were far from glamorous. In reading the campground “log sheets”, other visitors were also less than impressed with them. In Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park the latrines were actual outhouses with doors and roofs. Both of the parks, provided good quality bear poles.It would have been very difficult to find a tree suitable for hanging a food bag when the only trees available are tall skinny lodgepole pines with short branches. We a voided the whole issue by using our bear cans. While most of the trail is above tree line, they always put the campgrounds in groves of trees (presumably for shelter?). The picnic tables were also a nice touch. It was nice eating at a table instead of squatting on a rock or log. The individual campsites were often very close to each other, as in right next to each other at times. It was almost like “condominium” camping. Each of the campgrounds had 8 or 9 sites. Fortunately, there were always at least one or two sites that were apart from the others and afforded you a “backcountry” experience.

Town sites

Of all the towns we visited, Jasper, Lake Louise, Banff, and Canmore, we voted Jasper as the nicest. It was a nice, simple, homey town with very little tourist trappings. It had several outdoor stores in case you forgot any gear. Canmore was second best after Jasper. It had several moderate motels on the outskirts, and a nice, simple shopping district downtown. Lake Louise and Banff were the worst. Banff's main street consisted of just one big expensive hotel after another followed by a very trendy, chique, shopping district followed by several nice restaurants.