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comment by ButterflyEffect
ButterflyEffect  ·  2485 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 5th, 2017

Good Things

I'm moving at the end of the month. I'm going to Jasper and Banff in 10 days. I signed up for a crazy trail relay race next month. I went to Bellingham for the first time and liked it a lot.

Bad Things

This foot injury is progressing slower than I would like, though it is progressing. Has me a bit nervous for all the hiking coming up and I'm not running nearly as much as I would like.





oyster  ·  2485 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What's the day we are going hiking ? I need to book it off.

ButterflyEffect  ·  2485 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Friday the 21st or Saturday the 22nd, take your pick.

oyster  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'll book off both and see what I get. Saturday could always be for resting legs and day drinking outside. If it's nice we could go to the lake ( only none glacier fed lake here so only place that's swimmable for extended periods of time) and float around. It's normally not too busy.

ButterflyEffect  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm so down for day drinking and not strenuous things, as I will probably be a bit out of it by that point.

oyster  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

If you've got a floaty bring it. The water is really nice but you still can't stay in it fully for too long.

user-inactivated  ·  2485 days ago  ·  link  ·  

i want to know how banff is. are you driving? flying? what's around there? how do i vacation there? these are questions i've had on the backburner for about a decade.

rezzeJ  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I spent three weeks in Canada in 2014. We were around the Jasper and Banff are for around half of that.

Rather than Banff directly, we stayed in nearby Canmore. There's loads of awesome hikes to do in the surrounding area. And if you go up to the Nordic Centre in the summer, you can hire bikes and go around all the cross-country skiing trails. I definitely recommend a hike up to the ink pots in the Banff National Park.

It's such a beautiful area and it's my favourite holiday I've had in my life so far. I would not hesitate at the opportunity to go back. You can read my trip report for a bit more information and pictures :).

veen  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Funny, I ended up on skis for the first time at the Canmore Nordic Centre back when I was in Calgary.

So many great hikes there. Should've done more! ButterflyEffect, Kananaskis County has a few gorgeous hikes:

ButterflyEffect  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Now that's a good looking peak. There's an amazing amount of hikes out there, any plans to revisit in the future?

veen  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've been lucky to go there twice already, but I'd go back in a heartbeat. My dream is to do an epic East Coast / PNW / BC / AB road trip. Start in Yosemite, end in Edmonton.

rezzeJ  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    My dream is to do an epic East Coast / PNW / BC / AB road trip. Start in Yosemite, end in Edmonton.

Count me in! That would be incredible.

user-inactivated  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

oh wow. this is on the list now. so you can mountain bike on the ski trails when there's no snow? i can't think of anything i'd rather do, assuming there's beer involved at some point.

rezzeJ  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    so you can mountain bike on the ski trails when there's no snow?

Exactly. As far as I can remember there's a various levels of day passes. The most basic let's you follow the main trail which is fully tarmac. The next ones up allow you to go off road and down smaller and more wild tracks. It's basically a number of different circuits with various offshoots:

Though I didn't get to check them out too much as my brother went over the handlebars before we had a chance. They looked awesome from what I saw. There's also a small dirt park next to the main center building.

Re: the beer. There's a number of great places to drink and eat in town, which is only about a 20 minute walk from the trails. I can remember a pretty rad brewery pub we went to.

user-inactivated  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

alright. 2019 here i come!

ButterflyEffect  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    are you driving?

Yes. It's ~10.5 hours to Jasper from here, then another couple down to Banff from there.

    flying?

No, though I suppose you could fly into Calgary and drive from there.

    what's around there?

Jasper National Park, Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, Kootenay National Park. Lake Louise, the town of Banff, uhm maybe other things that I'm 100% unaware of (likely lots of this).

    how do i vacation there?

Option 1: Go daycamping or backpacking through yonder woods.

Option 2: Find a hostel, room, or couch in the Lake Louise area and go exploring!

I'll likely have more valuable input at the end of this month.

user-inactivated  ·  2484 days ago  ·  link  ·  

i guess you're camping just based on what you usually do but i'd be very curious about the hostel situation up there. i get cheapish flights to calgary sometimes.

lemme know

ButterflyEffect  ·  2483 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Apparently there's a bunch of hostels scattered about the area. Who knew.

oyster  ·  2482 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Truly a mystery.