Banff and Yoho National Parks

7/7/11
This morning, our breakfast was poached egg (we did not have enough oil to fry eggs) sandwiches with chicken breast and hot chocolate. The whole grain bread was nutty and delicious. After the meal we drove to Spiral Tunnels, where we saw a long train going through the tunnels. Two years ago we met a couple from Montreal.

We went to Nature Bridge in Yoho National Park next. It was a river with black rocks of odd shapes. We left soon and drove to Emerald Lake. The water was sparkly as it shimmered in the sun, so beautiful that the four of us took a walk around the lake. We stopped to take a look through the telescope to look at the fossil quarries called Burgess Shale.

After we left Emerald Lake, we drove through a switchback and arrived at Takakkaw Falls. Takakkaw means “it is magnificent”, and it certainly was. There was a lot of water this year, which made the waterfall look very powerful and energetic. It splashed us with cold water, which cooled all of us down effectively.

Our next stop was Marble Canyon. The temperature was very high, so I did not enjoy walking along the otherwise wonderful site. There was no shade where we could escape the sun’s fiery blaze; all the trees were burnt down eight years ago, and they haven’t started growing yet. The only place I liked being at was a bridge where cold wind gusted with the flowing water. We soon went to Paint Pots, where we had to walk across a log on the flooded trail. It was a challenge for us; our balance was not good. We saw a brown hare which hid beneath some twigs as soon as it saw us. Dad took many pictures of the cute animal. The mud was a strange orange color, and soon a sign told us that people once mined for ochre here. Our exhausted legs started protesting, so we drove back to our hotel soon after.

After dinner, Dad started to light a fire again. This time, he followed the instructions, and we were successful. The fire proved to be necessary when black out at eight o’clock. The night was very cold, but the fire provided more than enough warmth for Judy and I (Mom and Dad had to suffer the cold because they didn’t want to sleep in the living room). However, the cheerful crackling of the fire kept me from falling asleep. As the fire was dying and the crackling grew softer, I thought I could fall asleep, but the couple staying upstairs arrived. At first they greeted they room with a loud, “Hi, we’re home!” After about ten minutes, they started fighting. The floorboard creaked tremendously and the ceiling light started shaking as well. It was a miracle that the ceiling did not fall down. I kept hearing, “David!” and “Stay away from me!” and “You’re hurting me, David!” Finally, at about midnight (three hours after I went to bed), the police came and the couple quieted for about five minutes. After the police left they continued fighting.

The only good news was that the electricity came (finally!) after midnight, and the couple quiet down a bit for me to fall into slumber.