2nd Tallest Waterfall in Canada - 7

08.07.14

Today we went to Takkakkakkakkaw Falls. I actually don't know how to spell it, or pronounce it, so that's just how I say it. (Update: it's spelled Takakkaw.) It was the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada, and I was excited to see it. And no kidding, it really did look like the 2nd tallest. It was super tall, yet skinny. And even though it was a bit skinny, it was gushing with water. Tons and tons of water from who-knows-where. It was actually pretty amazing. Where does all that water come from? I know, glaciers. But the glacier can't melt at the same pace the water comes down, so there's gotta be a lake. But the lake will run out eventually. It can't be that big. And for the while that the fall's been, well, falling, then the lake should be dry already. Yeah, I know, the glacier keeps supplying the lake, but then the glacier's gotta be melting rapidly. I don't know, maybe I just don't get it. Oh well, it's cool either way.

Train

After Takakkaw Falls, and getting soaked from the mist, we went to watch a train. There was a huge train tunnel through the mountain, and it did a figure eight. It was actually really fun to watch. The train was so long, and at one point it was on 3 different tracks at once, which was cool. I don't have a train picture of it going through the mountain, so enjoy a picture of it by a lake!

Bridge

Then, we went to "The Bridge". It was kind of cool... it was pretty much just a bridge made out of rock. The only defect was that there was a huge gap in the middle of the bridge. I guess that kind of ruins the purpose of a bridge though, doesn't it? But that was that for the day, and it was a fun day.

Johnston Canyon, which was alright

Mountains and Lakes - 9

08.09.14

I'm pretty sure that this day resulted in the best pictures. We took a chair lift up on a mountain, and I love chairlifts. It's so nice and convenient, especially without skis or a snowboard. And it's nice to feel a breeze; and for the first time, actually enjoy it on the way up a mountain. And instead of seeing white everywhere, there are actually things to look at. Anyway, you probably get my point by now. 

Shadow

We were about two-thirds of the way up when someone told us there was a bear. So we turned around and looked, and sure enough, at the bottom of a hill, there was a honey-colored bear! But it was so far away and so tiny that I could barely get a clear look, much less a clear shot (as in camera shot). It was still cool though, since it was our first bear this vacation. It was just eating grass peacefully. But soon the bear shrank out of view as we reached the top of the mountain. And the top was beautiful.

Flowers!!!

First of all, the view was just breathtaking. The weather was perfect, and fluffy white clouds floated above scenic mountains. I could see lakes, roads, houses, and trees. I could see everything. Second of all, there was a field of flowers! Really pretty pink flowers. It was splendid (funny adjective). And I was amazed at how nicely the weather behaved. It was pretty amazing.

Bow Lake

Next, we went to Bow Lake. Which was, honestly, just as pretty. Everything was pretty today! It was made from a glacier, so the water was blue and crystal clear. It was really beautiful, especially with the way the sunlight sparkled on it. It's actually probably one of my favorite lakes. Ever.

And after Bow Lake? Another lake. This one called Peyto Lake, and it was gorgeous as while. I didn't like it as much as Bow Lake, but it was still cool. The water was a solid turquoise color, unlike the shimmering shades of blue at Bow Lake. It was an interesting lake, to say the least.

Peyto Lake

Finally, we visited a glacier. Athabasca Glacier. Technically, you could walk on it, but we missed the last bus to the glacier so we could only admire from afar. But it was huge, so admiring from afar wasn't hard at all. Still I couldn't wait to step onto that massive glacier. It was getting dark by then, so unfortunately we had to go. But we had done so much today, that I didn't regret a single thing.

not the glacier but oh well

Mooooooooose and Other Things - 10

08.10.14

Ten is a good number. Anyway... the highlight of my day was definitely moose. In the morning we went to this place with six bridges, and I think it might've been called Six Bridges? But that was disappointing, since the 5th and 6th bridge were closed. It was pretty, but it was also hot out, so I wasn't sad to leave.

Next we went to a place called Medicine Lake which was pretty cool. Personally, the best thing about the lake was that we didn't have to walk far to get to it. It was a murky color, but the water was still and a great place to skip stones. Or, at least in my case, try to skip stones. I also dipped my feet into the water, although it was kind of cold. It felt refreshing though, so that was nice. 

Next was a lake called Moose Lake. I wasn't excited because it was a somewhat long trail and I didn't think there would actually be moose just because it was called Moose Lake. I think I'd had enough misleading titles to figure that out. But I was in for a surprise. 

My mom and I got to the lake first, since Jasmine and my dad were lagging behind. We were swishing and splashing in the water, so we quietly scooted ahead to check it out. And what did we see? It was undoubtedly a moose. Without antlers, but still, we gasped as quietly as possible as it climbed out of the water slowly. It was so majestic, ignoring the groups of people around it watching. There weren't that many people though, and it was really quiet. It made its way into the woods and it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

My mom and I waited for Jasmine and my dad to catch up, and after they did, the moose appeared again! Except, this time with an acquaintance. A baby. The baby moose was so adorable; it kind of just stumbled after it's mother, trying not to get behind or rush forward. It was so tiny, and stayed with the mom no matter what. They made their way along the rim of the lake (unfortunately the other side of the lake), when another moose appeared heading in the opposite direction. At this rate, they were bound to meet up halfway. So we waited patiently, hoping something would happen.

Mother and baby

When they almost met, the mother took her baby into the trees, where we could still see them, but barely. The other moose, slightly smaller than the adult, made its way slowly to where the mom and the baby were, still in the water. It was a tense moment. The other moose locked eyes with the mom, before turning its head down again. Then, all of a sudden, the mom leaped out at the moose, and scared it away! The baby darted behind the mother into the trees. And that was all. It was so unexpected though, and I kind of just sat in awe through the whole thing. Wow. 

On the way back, all we could talk about was 'the incident'. "They were fighting for territory!" "It was a family reunion!" Suddenly, we were all trying to explain it, but we couldn't, and we all had different theories. Definitely the highlight of my day. I don't think any of us payed attention to the actual lake.

Enjoy a random picture I took

Glacier, another Glacier, and a Skywalk - 11

08.11.14

Today we did a lot. First, we went to check out the Angel Glacier, which was pretty cool. It looked like an angel, with outspread wings on the rock. And it was also huge. We were really close to it, and although I couldn't touch it, it looked really big for a glacier that wasn't high up in the air. I would've expected it to melt away already. Especially since I was practically frying up, standing there in the hot sun. The glacier was cool though, not just because it was big, but because it had an interesting shape. Most of the glaciers I had seen up to that point were just randomly-shaped blobs, but this actually looked like an angel. 

Angel Glacier

We walked up the mountain a bit. It led us further away from the glacier, but we got a better view of it and a different angle. I could see both wings of the angel spread out against the rock. It was really cool.

After a while, we left to go see another glacier. But I was excited this time, because we would be walking on this glacier.

We took this huge red bus up the mountain to get to the glacier. And the bus was, like I said, huge. It wasn't so much that it could fit a lot of people, but it was the wheels that were huge. They were almost as tall as me. And the bus ride was bumpy. Like, really bumpy. There was also this huge hill we had to go down, and it was really steep. The steepest commercial road in America, I think. And finally, after a five-minute journey, we were at the glacier. 

Athabasca Glacier

The air was cold, but the glacier was colder. It was weird and cool (no pun intended), since the glacier beneath my feet wasn't quite ice but it wasn't snow either. It was something in between.  And it was blue! But the coolest part? (I have to stop using the word "cool".) The glacier water was drinkable! And we had brought along water bottles! So without hesitation, we filled up our water bottles with clear glacier water. It was cold, but good. Actually, it didn't taste any different from water I usually drink, but it felt good drinking it. Too soon, we had to leave again, but I left feeling happy.

Skywalk

Our last stop was the Skywalk. It wasn't as cool as the glacier, but it was still pretty cool. The basic idea was that it was a walkway completely made out of glass. So if you looked down, it looked like you weren't standing on anything, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, that was the last stop of our day, and we caught the last bus to the parking lot, from which we drove home.

Ziplines and Waterfalls - 12

08.12.14

Today was the day of ziplining, and I was so excited. If you have never done it before, you have to. It's not even scary or anything, whether or not you're afraid of heights. My mom, who's afraid of heights, loves ziplines! Anyway... today we were going on a 3-line zipline tour, which sounded fun. The first ziplines actually weren't that exciting. They were too short, and it ended too quickly. I raced Jasmine, and beat her easily, but it wasn't exactly fair because I had more momentum. I was disappointed that we were almost done when we got to the 3rd line, but not when I saw it.

3rd zipline

This line was huge. It stretched across a whole river. They really were saving the best for the last. I couldn't wait. As soon as the signal was given for us to go, I was off. The wind flew by my ears, and when I got by the trees, I could see everything. It was really cool and fun at the same time. I waited at the bottom until everyone was finished, and sadly, it was the end of our ziplining tour. We would have to do it again, because it was one of the most fun activities that we could only do on vacation.

Wapiti Fall

After that, we went to a waterfall. The waterfall wasn't very tall, but it was really wide, which made it look really big. Especially when we were right in front of it. Yes, we got to walk down to the actual waterfall. There was tons of mist coming off the waterfall and it soaked through even my raincoat. I didn't want to get any closer, but my sister and dad both did and when they came back they were dripping wet. So I had apparently made a good decision. We stayed near the waterfall for a bit before people came and we left and went home, feeling happy and wet at the same time.

MOOSE - 17

08.17.14

The title says it all. Out of all the things that happened, the best thing was, yes, the moose we saw! We were on a trail to Red Rock Falls, and there was a lake on the way. The whole way down the trail, people were saying, "there's a moose!" or "we saw a moose!" and it motivated us to walk faster and less tirelessly. But would we see it, or would we miss it? We had already seen a moose on our vacation, but people were saying that this one was big. I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to see it. But when we saw a huge group of people huddled on the trail, I was so relieved. People holding cameras meant an animal. And that animal was likely to be the moose everyone was talking about. Was it big though? In my mind, I'd imagined a huge moose with huge antlers. I hadn't seen a moose with antlers yet, and this had to be it. I crept closer, peering over heads. And there it was. The biggest moose I'd ever seen.

He's smiling!

It was chewing calmly on grass, while cameras clicked around it. Occasionally, he'd shake his head, trying to get rid of bugs. And when he did that, the antlers shook. His antlers were huge. Try and imagine the biggest antlers you can on a moose... and multiply that by 2. That was how big his antlers were. I'm not even exaggerating. Actually, maybe just a little bit. And his body was just... big. There's no other way to describe it. Enormous, gigantic, colossal, pick any word and they all fit the description. It was quite amazing to see such a large wild animal acting so easily around so many humans. I think we were way more awed than it was. Finally, after it got bored of eating the same grass, it went back into the forest where we couldn't see. And that was it. It seemed like everyone let their breath out, knowing they could make sounds now. And then we continued on.

What a cutie.

The falls weren't amazing, considering what we had just seen. They were only mediocre. I was still breathless from seeing the moose. And now I wanted to see a bear. Close up, not just from really far away. Unfortunately, the only animal we saw that day was the moose. But the moose was good enough. It was a close encounter, and a big moose. I was really happy. This might just be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I had experienced it.

A Tedious Hike Worth More Than the Effort - 13

08.13.14

The day started out gloomily enough. It was raining when I got up; the rain pattering noisily on the windows. It was the first time it had rained since our 3.5 km trip up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse. And the rain brought bad memories of that long and freezing cold journey. So I was not excited, and I doubt anyone was too delighted at the weather. But fortunately, by the time we finished our breakfast, the rain had passed and the clouds were moving away ever so slowly. And then my mom dampened the mood by saying, "Let's go on our 17 km hike now!" And if you don't know how much that is... let's just say that it's a lot. It's 17 km more than I would like to do. But I didn't exactly have a choice, so I went along with it anyway.

I actually wasn't really worried about the length of the hike. There was no avoiding that. I was really anxious that the clouds would move back and it would start to rain. That would be horrible. And so far it seemed like it would rain again; the clouds were heavy and it was misty everywhere. There wouldn't be much of a view at the top if it stayed like this. "17 km, 600 elevation gain, and we'll be at the top of the treeline when we get to the Iceline trail. It'll take about 6 hours minimum. It's one of the best trails and it's supposed to be beautiful," was all the information I got. 6 hours is a long, long time. I did not want to be stuck up on a mountain with sore legs for 6 hours, but I still had to go along with it. 

The first part was really flat. It was so flat that I began to feel good about the trip. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I expected. We went for about an hour, and it was still flat. And more good news, it hadn't started raining again. But unfortunately the clouds were still hovering expectantly above us. It was only until around 2 hours in when we started getting an uphill. And it was a steep uphill. It wasn't even a steep uphill then flat; it was up, up, up, up, and never ending up. My legs were aching and I was sweating so much that I had to keep peeling layers of clothing off. We were all heaving and panting, until finally the slope flattened out. I looked up, and found that we were still far from the top of the treeline. That was an awful discovery. We were in fact not almost there. So with a groan, we kept going deeper into the mountain forest.

Top of the treeline

We were finally almost there. I could see a gap between the trees where it looked like there was nothing. At the top, I couldn't even breathe. All I could do was look around, and think, "there isn't enough time to take all this in" and "I should move here or something". Because on top of the mountain, I realized there was nothing. It wasn't exactly nothing, but it was so different. It was so quiet, and nothing moved. No wind, just a large flat piece of green with a stream running through it. Never, in my life, had I thought of what it would be on the top of the mountain, but now I knew. And now I didn't want to leave it, ever. It was as close to the sky as I'd ever been, and maybe closer to heaven? I didn't know what to think at that moment.

We kept walking forward, while I kept looking back. I wished that we weren't walking, and that I could just sit there and try to take it all in. But what I didn't know was that there were more spectacular things ahead, like glaciers.

From above

We finally reached the very top, and I could feel it. There were no more trees, and rocks. Lots of rocks. And glaciers, everywhere. No matter which direction I turned there was a glacier, either far, or close. It was probably one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen, and it was indescribable. My camera couldn't even take it in, without leaving the best parts out. You had to be there to understand. I didn't ever want to leave. The hike was more than worth the view.

It was so quiet. Only birds and the occasional squirrel. We were the only ones up there, and it felt wonderful. I wanted to spend more time, but I couldn't. All too soon, we were headed back down. It was sad to leave it behind. At least we stayed up above the treeline for a little longer before dipping back down into the forest.

It had been a long day, and I was ready to get some rest. So far, this had been the best, but longest, hike of our vacation. After sinking into a hot tub, I fell asleep peacefully.

Last Day - 18

08.18.14

Today was our very last day. We were flying out at midnight from Calgary. It hadn't quite sunk in that we were leaving Canada yet. But even on our last day, we were ready to fill it with hikes to more lakes and waterfalls. And possibly animals. Even more specifically, bears. But instead of going to a bear-infested place, we went to a people-infested place. It was a canyon. There were tons of people climbing around on the canyon floor in, what I assumed to be, a freezing cold stream. We walked around the rim of the canyon, before I finally gave in and begged my mom to let me go in. So I did.

Red Rock Canyon

Taking off my shoes, I dove into the water. Well, not literally, because there was rock under. But I plunged my foot into the icy water, and found that it wasn't too cold. If I didn't leave my foot in too long. Jasmine was down already, so I told her to follow me to the bridge, which was a long way into the canyon. We made our way through the canyon, sometimes stepping on rocks and sometimes in the water. I found it easier just to go directly through the water, but Jasmine liked dry rocks better. She did not have good balance in the water, which was weird, because I was supposed to be the one with bad balance. We went completely fine for a while, until it all went downhill. Literally.

We were crossing the canyon because the other side had flatter rocks, and it looked safer. But to do that, we had to walk through the water. I was doing just great, leading Jasmine, when suddenly she grabbed my shoulder. I wobbled a bit, and then scolded her for doing that. And then she slipped. I felt her falling, and her hand sliding down, and I saw the ground getting nearer to my face. Luckily, I found something to grab on to just in the nick of time, and saved myself. Jasmine, hands waving around wildly, did not, and she got soaked. She sat for a half-minute on the ground laughing, before she pulled herself back up. Well, she was wet now. It actually was kind of funny. Kind of really funny.

Jasmine after falling

We continued on for a bit before my mom made us turn back because we had a dinner to go to. Jasmine asked for her flip-flops to be thrown down to her, while I headed back barefoot. When I was about 5 meters away, I turned around to see Jasmine even more wet than before, on the wrong side of the canyon. Apparently she had slipped and fell again. Oops. But finally, we made it. And got into the car. We were a little behind schedule, but I laughed and said "we would be fashionably late", which was okay.

The dinner was really boring. The food was good, but all group dinners are boring. The usual: adults talk about random things, and kids sit being bored. Then, after it's over, the kids get up and play tag, while some kids steal their parents' phones. Luckily, I had my own phone, so I didn't have to steal anyone. I just played Flow while waiting for it to be over. When it was finally over, we headed to the airport. It was too soon. I had even just discovered that the Calgary radio stations were similar to the US ones, and I wasn't ready to leave at all. Our airplane was at midnight, and when we finally got through security and everything, it was time to go. It was sad.

One last thing... Air Canada has free movies! I spent my whole flight watching movies instead of sleeping, which is what I should have been doing, but oh well.

Fog, Fog, and More Fog - 16

08.16.14

It was our first time in Glacier National Park. The first thing we headed to in the morning was the Amazing Crepes store. I was anxious to try more crepes, that were amazing, just like the store title implied. This time, I shared a dark chocolate and strawberry crepe and a ham and cheddar crepe with my mom. The ham one was almost as good as the chocolate one, but I guess I'm biased because I love chocolate. Anyway, that was great but I was stuffed. Completely full. I wasn't sure that I'd eat lunch, or even dinner, or ever again. I could barely walk, but it felt good.

Dark chocolate & fresh strawberries

We drove to a trail leading to Avalanche Lake, but there was no parking. We literally had to drive around for 5 minutes before finding a spot; and that place wasn't even technically a parking spot. The place was crowded with tons of people. It had to be a popular trail. 

The trail wasn't hard; a few uphills with more flat ground than uphill. Clouds hovered overhead, but not a single drop had landed yet. We made it all the way to the lake without being rained on, and I wanted it to stay that way. Tons of people stood around the edge of the lake. The lake was really clear and pretty, with the reflection shown crystal clear. The tips of the mountain were covered by fog, and the fog slowly made its way down the side of the mountain. Jasmine and I started skipping stones. I wasn't good. For about every 5 throws, I could get one stone to skip twice. But Jasmine was worse. She hadn't skipped a single stone. My dad saw us both struggling, and came to help. He told us to spin the stone, and I got two skips, but that didn't help. His next step of advice was showing us himself. The problem was that he could skip 5, while we were barely even amateurs. After practice, I think I finally got the hang of it, and I got 3 skips twice. Still not a pro, but an accomplishment for me.

Avalanche Lake

While we were practicing skipping stones, all of a sudden the rain came down in buckets. It was bad. We ran under a tree to get our ponchos out, trading multiple times because "it's too small!" "I can't fit my backpack in!" mostly from my parents, because luckily I didn't carry a backpack. And you should have seen how quickly the people cleared out. In just a minute, there was no one left but us. So we headed back also.

What Hidden Lake looks like...

Our next stop was Hidden Lake. I'd seen the pictures, and they looked really, really beautiful. I was excited to see it, but I was worried the fog would be in the way. It was. On our way up, we drove on this monumental mountain drive called "Going to the Sun" or "GTTS" for short. It had an amazing view. But a ways in to the drive, the fog started clouding out everything. It was all over the place. It soon got so thick that we couldn't see ten meters ahead of us, and if you looked at the side, you'd see a blanket of white and nothing else. Cars had turned on their emergency light just so they could be seen, but even then you couldn't see them unless you were pretty close. It was actually really cool, but outside it was freezing. And my camera couldn't focus on anything because it was just all white.

...what we saw.

When we got to Hidden Lake, we were in for a big disappointment. The whole lake was covered by fog, and we couldn't see a single thing other than a few trees. We stood in the mist, waiting to see if the fog would clear out and hopefully give us a glimpse of the lake. It didn't happen. Eventually, we gave up and left, as another group arrived. Just as they arrived, the fog cleared a little. Excitedly we scrambled back to the edge of the lookout to see the lake. It was just a tiny bit, but it was still cool. The water was super blue. Then, suddenly, the fog was blown away even more, and more of the lake appeared. It was actually really breathtaking, and I couldn't believe that we'd been lucky enough to witness it on a foggy day unlike any I've seen before. After the fog retreated back to where it had been before, we left and went home.

Fun & Rainy Morning, Exciting & Stressful Afternoon - 15

08.15.14

I woke up this morning really enthusiastic. We were going zip-lining, again! And this time there were going to be 7 lines instead of just 3. I was so eager to get going that I got up only 15 minutes after my alarm rang. Impressive, right? But anyway, the plan was to go to the alpine slide (which was right outside our door) and slide down to the base where the zip-lining was supposed to start. It sounded like a wonderful way to get my day started.

Going down snail speed

The alpine ride actually was not fun. First of all, you had to control your speed by pushing and pulling a stick. Pulling on it just a little made the sled brake and nearly stop, but it took a lot of effort to push. My arms were sore just from pushing, and I couldn't really go that fast. Every time I loosened my grip, the lever would pull back just the tiniest bit, and I slow down really quickly. It was way too slow and not that fun at all.

The zip-line was much better. After getting
our harnesses on (and fixing our wedgies), we were all set to go. The sky was blue and the weather was great, in contrast to the supposed thunderstorm that was coming our way. I was ready to have a blast.

The first line was short, just to prepare us. The second was just a bit longer, and the third was when the party was getting started. It was an extremely long one over the treetop, and I raced my dad, beating him. It was actually a disappointing race because it was too easy. And on the fourth line, my mom beat me. By a lot. My mom laughed at me, and then we heard a grumbling noise. Looking up, we saw thick, gray clouds and we started to feel a light drizzle. Luckily, our guide said that we could keep going since there was still no lightning, only thunder. So thankfully, we kept going.

Jasmine and I

For the fifth line, I was racing Jasmine. That was unfair, because she was smaller and had way less momentum. So our guide gave her a big push before we both started off, and Jasmine ended up far ahead of me. I straightened out into a streamline position with my head tucked, and felt the wind whizzing by my face. Gleefully, I noted that I was catching up. As I passed her, I yelled, "Hey Jasmine!" and heard her cry out furiously. But it was too late for her to catch up; I had already won. All of a sudden, I felt the rain come down harder and faster. Before we could get on our fifth line, we were told to go find shelter. So we went and hid in a shed, which thankfully was close by so we didn't have to take cover under the trees.

After five more minutes of the rain getting heavier and heavier, we were told that a truck would pick us up, and we were going to miss the rest of our tour. And very sadly, we walked down a hill to climb into the truck, with our big white marshmallow-like ponchos.

The highlight of my day was next. We went into town, looking for food. There were two choices for lunch: huckleberry and raspberry pie or crepes. My decision was crepes of course, because first of all, they were French. And second of all, I'd never tried them before. So crepes it was.

We arrived at a cozy little store, with a huge list of both savory and sweet crepes. My eyes were immediately drawn to the dark chocolate and fresh strawberries one, and I knew that I had to have it. So I did. And so did my mom, coincidentally. It was delicious. Just the right amount of sweetness in the dark chocolate (I only eat dark) and the strawberries were as fresh as can be. It was the perfect combination, and I felt happy eating it although I could feel my stomach growing bigger with each tasteful bite. My mom had also ordered a cappuccino, and that was the best I'd ever had. The whole experience was just awesome. But it left me pondering, are all crepes this good or is it just this place? Anyway, we were all ready to go back for breakfast in the morning.

Next we had the Aerial Adventure Park. It was basically a huge obstacle course in the air. I was excited yet nervous, because although I'm not scared of heights, I'm not a big fan of them either. And climbing just isn't my thing. But worst of all, I was practically alone. My dad and Jasmine were literally born climbers, and my mom wasn't going, so I was Chicken Little stuck among mountain goats. It was unfortunate.

I started out on yellow, the easiest trail. My favorite part was clipping and unclipping the harness onto the safety wires, which was kind of dumb because there was no action doing that. But it was the safest part. The obstacles were pretty easy, with wires to hold onto on both sides. I squeezed them so tightly that my hands turned red. The only thing that really scared me was the unbalanced one, where the footholds shifted and turned. I didn't have good balance to begin with, and moving footholds didn't do much to help. But I went by the yellow pretty easily, other than getting stuck on the tiny zip-line (that was embarrassing) after I'd told myself that there was no way I got stuck. But I got off of it easily enough.

On an obstacle

Next was green. It wasn't much of an upgrade from yellow, but just wondering, how the heck do people tightrope? I held onto the safety wire for dear life when I was in the tightrope, wobbling on each step and glancing down fearfully. I'm not even that scared of heights, but I didn't like it one bit. After that it was easy breezy, until one of the log walks. It was only one log to get across the open air, but the safety wires were spread out so that I'd have to walk a step with only one hand holding a wire. Okay, that doesn't sound that scary but it was. Trust me. I took one step with one hand on the wire, the other one wandering around in front of me aimlessly, trying to clutch onto something, anything. I shifted a foot forward, and lunged forward to grab the wire while the log shifted beneath me. I had barely made it, and it was time for me to let go of my other hand. And this time, I just couldn't do it. My hand came free, but I couldn't move my feet. The log tilted wider and wider with each swing, yet I still couldn't move. I was, you could say, "frozen to the spot". It freaked me out. Finally, heart pounding, I mustered enough courage to stick a shaky foot out ahead of me and again lunge to the safety wire. The log was swinging a ton, but I was holding on with both hands. I nearly ran the rest of the way, and jumped onto the sturdy platform. That was the worst obstacle yet. And the next one only made my knees shakier.

The next was a standing swing, and I watched as an adult before me slammed his ankles onto the platform. Ouch. I definitely did not want to do that. I freaked out again, and my hands sweated buckets as I grabbed on fearfully to the swing and took off. Fortunately, I didn't hurt myself, and it was over in a millisecond. And that was it. The rest was easy peasy, and I did it fine (though not as good as my dad and Jasmine). after that, though, Jasmine and my dad wanted to do a blue trail. And I did not. I'd rather go on a green than a blue. So I did. I took another green trail by myself while Jasmine and my dad did a blue one that I was too afraid to do. This green one was better, without scary obstacles like the last. It was probably my favorite one out of all of the ones that I'd done so far. Watching my dad and Jasmine do the blue one, I did not regret not going on it at all. I was actually really glad that I didn't agree to go on it. Green was enough for me. When we finished, the park closed down, and we took a lift back to our room. It had been a day of fun, fun, and more fun.

A "Sunrise", Hike into Bear Country, and Climbing Through the Rain - 8

08.08.14 

Waking up today was not fun. First of all, I had to wake up before five to see the sunrise. Secondly, I set my alarm way too loud and I was too disoriented to turn it off, so it blared for a good half-minute before I realized that my phone was right next to me and I could reach it. But as soon as I was out of bed, I was ready to see the sun.

Moraine Lake

The lake where we were watching the sunrise was really, really breathtaking. The lake was a gorgeous cobalt blue color, and I could see the reflection of the mountain in the snow really clearly. It took my breath away, but maybe that was because it was also freezing cold. 

While Jasmine and I were waiting for the sun to rise from behind the mountains and cloud, we sat with blankets wrapped around us and stared sleepily at the lake. Jasmine, with her wrapped blanket and too-big hat, looked somewhat like a hobo. So we waited and waited, and then waited some more. It was past the time we had expected to see the sun. Then where was this beautiful sunrise we had woken up early for? It never came. There were too many clouds, and we just left. Yep, a big disappointment because we were told that "it would change our life".

After our dissatisfaction at not seeing the sunrise, we decided to go on a bear trail to the "Consolation Lakes". If I could see a bear, I thought, it would make up for waking up early and everything else. So I was alert and ready to make friends with any bear I saw, whether or not it was hungry and looking for food. Jasmine was also delighted, and my dad was just neutral. My mom, though, had many problems with the idea. "What if we see a bear?" And I responded that we would be really lucky. "What if the bear attacks?" Then I responded that we'd be even luckier. And she went on and on with the questions. Eventually we did go, but all the way through the forest, she would not stop worrying. "Stay in a tight group!" "No more than 3 meters apart!" "Did I hear a sound?!"

I was elated at first, but my mom's constant chatter started to make me nervous. She had made my dad go first (he was the sacrifice if needed), Jasmine second (so my dad could protect her), my mom third (she was also surrounded and protected), and me last (a sacrifice also just in case a bear wanted to come up from behind). I didn't mind taking up the lead at first, because the chances of seeing a bear were slim to none. But halfway through I started getting anxious. I turned around often just to check no one was following us. And of course, there was no one so I was just hearing things.

(from under a tree)

About halfway down the trail, my mom asked, "Is the sky getting darker?" The sky already was pretty dark because of the clouds (which had prevented the sun from coming out) but I also felt like the day was already turning into night; and it wasn't even noon yet. Everyone fell into a hushed silence, and watched eerily as the sky turned dark. And unsurprisingly, after a minute my mom took to talking again. But then the best thing happened: it started to rain. Could our day really get any worse? I didn't think so at that point. We kept walking because no one wanted to turn back (other than my mom); after all, it was just rain, right? Wrong.

A few minutes into the drizzle, the rain got heavier. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bear-shaped something, and when I turned around the look twice and find that it was only a tree trunk, I heard a loud BOOM and the ground shook. I nearly jumped out of my shoes. All at once, my mom's mouth was off again. "That was so scary!" "Should we turn back?" We all tried to calm her down, saying that we were closer to the end than to the beginning, so we might as well keep going. As we walked, the rain just got heavier and we had to huddle under a tree. When the rain slowed, we kept going. And hid under a tree. And kept going.

Finally, we saw the lake. Actually, we weren't brave enough to walk over the slippery rocks to the lake, so we just stayed near the river instead. The view wasn't bad though; the fog covered the tips of the mountain and it looked really cool, like nothing I'd ever seen before. 

Stream next to Consolation Lakes

But I was still half hoping to see a bear. We headed back after a while, still with a gloomy sky overhead. My mom was still going off about the threats of bears while Jasmine and I tried to console her, while also finding her worries amusing. After a while, we passed the first group of people on the trail and my mom's fears deflated like a balloon. All of a sudden, she was ready to get out food to eat even though she knew the bears could've smelled it. It even seemed like the sky lightened up (it really did).

But once she finished her bread, the worries came back, and I'm pretty sure clouds again covered the sky. "Will they come out because they smelled food?" "It's dark again." "How much further?" And my worries came back with her words. Was someone following me? No. Did I see something move? No. I felt really idiotic, looking behind my shoulder every minute. And finally, finally we got out of the trail! Unfortunately, there was no bear. It was still fun though, listening to my mom be scared the whole way through.

I was really ready to sleep by then, but we weren't going to. After stopping for a quick sandwich we headed to Lake Louise. Lake Louise was really pretty, and it was a turquoise-gray color. 

Lake Louise

We took a hike, heading for the Lake Agnes Teahouse (and the lake itself, but I was going for the food). It was a 3.4 km hike, and I set out determined to reach the top. But it wasn't that easy. You can probably guess what happened next. It rained again. Harder this time. The rain was soaking through my rain jacket, my pants, and it was creating mud rivers down the trail that made my feet wet too. And wet feet are the worst feeling ever.

My hair was sticking together, and I had to watch every step for fear that I would get mud everywhere. I just wanted to get out of the rain, but we had a long and uphill hike to go. It was awful. My legs hurt and my feet hurt and I was wet and cold. You could say that I was not as determined and happy as before. Plus there were no bears. It just made for a terrible hike. When we finally reached the lake, I just ran in and took my raincoat off. My shirt was sopping wet and I dripped everywhere. It was a mess. We got a table inside next to masses of other wet people, and ordered food. The food was alright... but the tea was good. I mean, it's a tea house, but the tea was still really good. And it was hot, which was the best. After eating, we had to go back down, unfortunately, but we waited until the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out for moments at a time.

By Lake Louise

As soon as I put on my still-damp raincoat and stepped outside, the cold hit me like a train. Suddenly I couldn't feel my fingers and my teeth chattered. My teeth have never chattered before, and it was weird but also a really cool sensation. I would be standing there and all of a sudden I would shake and my teeth would sound like a woodpecker. I felt like they would break, but it still felt cool (or should I say cold?). The sun, annoyingly, would peek out of the clouds for a few seconds and then disappear, just to leave us disappointed and freezing again. Our family, wanting to get down and out of the wet clothes, set off at a steady pace. I was just a shivering, shaking, freezing mess all the way down, but hey, I made it. Half-alive. The bathroom was heaven (it was warm, so don't judge) and I stood in there not wanting to leave. The car was also heaven, and I took off my wet socks and wiggled my toes with a sigh. It felt great. I still couldn't feel my fingers, much less wiggle them, but I was happier than I was on the mountain. The rest of my day passed in a blur; it was nothing compared to the torturous morning I had. Looking back now, it wasn't too bad and there were some highlights, but I definitely would not want to do it again. Maybe I would when the weather isn't terrible.