After lots of fabulous and tough walks in illecilleouet we realise we’ve pretty much all destroyed our walking boots and need some more as well as a few more light technical tops suitable for the heat and long walks. We’re not big shoppers but had to head to Canmore to find what we needed. A couple of great outdoor shops there sorted us out and we moved on to kannanaskis. Originally we’d planned to go straight to Waterton which is the Canadian side of glacier national park but decide to stop via kannanaskis first. We arrive late and the fcfs site backing onto the kannaskis lake we planned to go to was full, after driving round a little we found a spot at the lower lakes campground late. We wake up early and Alex is desperate to fish so we head to the lower lake to have breakfast and a spot of fishing planning to come back to the site later as there doesn’t seem to be anyone about to settle up and see if we can stay another night. It’s a different landscape here - slightly more friendly scale mountains and beautiful lakes and we realise we’ve lost an hour as we’re in Alberta in a different time zone to BC. I start to cook a sausage sarnie when a conservation office called Dan appears. We’re in trouble - the camp Manager was apparently on site and thought we were dining and dashing! We spend some time chatting to dan and he realises we made a bit of a mistake but had fully intended to pay and he very kindly doesn’t fine us (which he could have done) once we start properly talking he’s so kind to Alex and shows him his grizzly bear tracker and we track a grizzly across the lake. He gives Alex a sticker and a tattoo for mini conservation officers and he shares with us the best fishing spots on the upper lake, he also comes back to the campground with us and helps us get a spot for the night. After he recommends a couple of the shows provided in the parks amphitheatres (including one about night skies and fireflies) he heads off to track more grizzlies and dissuade them from entering campgrounds. He reminds me of the character in one of Alex's books with a friendly rivalry with a grizzly - th ted one who seems to know him and gives him the evil eye as he once had to fire a rubber buller towards her to dissuade her from entering a campground. Incredibly kind chap. We feel suitably naughty having neither of us ever had a brush with the law!!
Once we’re settled into the camp site dan has recommended a fishing spot on the upper lake so we get out on the bikes to cycle there, there are paved cycle tracks through the woods so it’s a stunning ride.
We get to the lake and walk the 30 mins or so to the creek entering the lake and find a lovely fisherman in the spot we were seeking called Andrew. As we get chatting to Andrew we realise he know Zack who took us out on the 3 valleys lake as he is from revelStoke - small world!
After we lose our spinner Andrew kindly sets up a fly rig for us and gives us one of his beautiful hand tied flies! Alex is mesmerised by all the flies in his case and is desperate for some of his own. Alex then almost immediately catches a fish and we catch 4 beautiful cutthroat torut between us - Alex is other the moon and it’s such a joyful experience watching him get excited - Andrew is helping to net them and bring them in and really enjoys Alex’s enthusiasm too! It’s funny for us we don’t even have a net as we never catch anything so we agree we need to get Alex some proper fishing kit! On this lake we could keep 2 cutthroat but Andrew prefers to release them here (as they’re indigenous and other species are invasive) so we respect his approach and don’t take any home for tea - we keep hoping we’ll catch a rainbow to have for dinner. Sadly we break Alexs rod and lose the lucky fly but Alex states it’s the best day ever. Andrew then moved to our spot and proceeds to catch 3 in a row - amazing and lets Alex help net his fish. Funnily he promises to send a picture to Zack of Alex catching fish to tease him after we didn’t do so well at 3 valleys! As a Parting gift Andrew gives Alex 2 flies - such a lovely kind man. We’ve found Canadian fishermen the nicest humans ever - their kindness towards Alex has just been lovely to experience.
We have seriously soggy feet and trews from jumping into the water to net fish (we never catch anything so don’t even have our own net). We Cycle home with a very happy bean and stop at a trading post on the way and manage to pick up a cheap and cheerful rod so we can back to another reccommended spot on rawson lake tomorrow and we cook a lovely Curry. Dan reccommended the night skies and fireflies show so we head there cycling as fast as we can so we’re not late and it is absolutely brilliant - the highlight being the show person pretending to be a firefly trying to attract a mate and he’s juggling and breathing fire! Alex was transfixed and we all feel inspired to watch the night sky as kannaskis is in a dark sky area.
We Cycle back to the van and have a huge roaring fire! Fire pits here are much bigger and we go to sleep happy with Alex still talking about his fish.
We have a lovely start with bacon butties but have to move to another site and the campground is full and we decide we want one more night in the area so we manage to get a spot at canyon campground a few miles away. We decide to break in our new boots and do the short but tough and steep walk up to rawson lake and take the fishing gear. It’s a stunning view and we have a couple of nibbles but no fishies.
As we head back to the van we stop at the creek from yesterday for another go and on my first cast (Alex had asked me to do) I catch a huge rainbow over the 50cm size limit that we can bring home for dinner woohoo!
Alex is beyond excited we caught one and can eat it and we feel like pros as this is the first proper fish we’ve caught without help. As we all back to the van we see a converted old yellow school bus and chat with Lucy it’s owner who is offering sup lessons and book for an improver lesson for me and beginner for Alex for the next day.
We head back to our site and cook our rainbow on the fire with some lemon garlic and ginger and it’s delish and big enough for the 3 of us!
We agree we need to go back to Canmore as there is a nice fishing shop there - it’s time for Alex to have a semi-decent rod and for us to have a second one maybe to get some books to help us learn a bit more.
We make a plan for the parks we’d like to see in the US starting with glacier, Yellowstone and the tetons.
We wake up early and fuel Ourselves with some bacon butties ready for our sup lesson. Lucy is just lovely and shows us her 2 dogs, lovely ginger puss and tortoise she has living in her van and we’re soon out on the water. Alex does amazingly and although initially nervous so soon up on his feet and paddling round the islands like a pro on his little kids paddleboard, I pick up Lots of great techniques too - so much more to learn! We have some amazing photos from out on the water surrounded by the mountains and lucy gives us a little printed photo memento - amazing morning!
We pack away just in time as a storm is coming in and get back to Canmore and the fishing shop in time spend a happy hour with miles explaining and helping Alex get setup and we also get an extra rod for us!
A quick dinner and a tasting flight at the grizzly bear brewery ends a great day and we drive towards Waterton in search of a spot to camp. We find the hard knot brewery in a little town called black diamond on the way to waterton in the middle of ranch country. It’s a harvest host and we arrived just before 10 and expect it to be buzzing as it’s a Friday night and it’s online blurb states it’s just like an English pub. We get there and it’s closed and definitively not like any decent British pub on a Friday!!
Emma
Comments