After our stay with a friend in the city of Calgary, we finally drove down 116 km for the mountains in Johnston Canyon for hiking. The rugged wilderness, seven gushing waterfalls, a picturesque walking trail alongside a deep canyon, the beat of the falls keeping time with your trek- all this thrown in makes Johnston Canyon a heady mix of a romantic as well as an adventurous experience.
We checked into the much famed Johnston Canyon resort. We were mighty pleased with the quaint log cabins conveniently located between Banff and Lake Louise and away from the hustle and bustle of the hot tourist zone.
The trail begins from the parking lot on a paved walkway for the first 1 km to the Lower Falls. Here, the water plunges 10 m into a depression below. When we reached the Lower falls we crawled through a low cave opening to reach the waterfalls right where it crashes down. The sound created by the crashing water on rocks in all gusto seemed like music to the ears. We stood there enjoying the spray of cold water, cupped our hands and also tasted the pristine water straight from nature.
We had heard that one gets a glimpse of wild life on the treks and I was thankful not to have bumped into a wild bear.
The trail from the Lower falls to the Upper falls and to the Ink Pots gets increasingly difficult. The water at the Upper Falls cascades down more than 30 m and a viewing platform has been constructed for a breath taking view of the same. At this point, the trail leaves the creek and continues on to the Ink Pots in spectacular open forest meadow. The Ink Pots are six clear greenish pools filled with spring water that remains at a constant 1-degree Celsius year-round and though few people continue beyond the Upper falls on account of the tough climb the view of the Ink Pots makes the effort worthwhile.
We sat there smiling to ourselves and taking in the tranquility of Nature as much as we could. We also had a small snack of sandwiches we had carried and decided that we should come back again for a small lunch by the Ink Pots.
We returned to our resort mesmerized by the power and beauty of the Nature in Canyon and thirsting to explore more of it in Canada.
