Canada 2010: Johnston Canyon

We decided to make a day trip to Johnston Canyon which was about 20 km NW from Banff.

We have arrived, and even the car park was scenic.

We have arrived at the start of the trail.

We decided to hike to the lower falls and decide about the upper falls later. After we finished the walk to the lower falls, Linda said it was the longest half mile she ever walked. It was pretty steep at times as well.

It all started out so innocently with a broad flat trail and a gentle, babbling brook.

At this stage, the river bed is shallow and pretty flat.

Here are a couple of unusual trees close to the path.

It is starting to get steeper. There are seven falls on the complete walk. Some are not too big. This is the first.

Then it flattens out again for a while.

Here is the next small falls.

Here is a look at the canyon walls. Age is a relative matter. The Rockies are a relatively new event geologically, but these exposed faces of rock are much older than we are.

Here are the lower falls.

We are standing at the entrance of a natural cave close to the falls.

The cave had another entrance about 10 meters from the front entrance. This entrance faced the top of the waterfalls not two or three meters away. Here is a pictorial record of that wet experience.

Everyone but Chuck decided to head back, but Chuck decided to press on to the upper falls. Here are some of the pictures Chuck took of the falls further upstream.

On the way back, a couple of posers from the less hardy got caught on camera:

While we waited for Chuck, we decided to have a drink at the cafe.

Eventually we decided that we were hungry, so we decided to order lunch. Linda had a monster order of nachos.

The people of the cafe were very kind and let us hang around another hour or so before Chuck came back. He actually had gone directly to the bar for a beer. I found him there and brought him over to our table at the cafe where he demolished a BLT. Apparently, he decided to go to the very top of the falls which was quite strenuous. “Many are called, but few are chosen.”