Banff, Alberta - April 18, 2017 (Day 5)

My day started off earlier than I anticipated it would considering how tired I was from my adventures from the day before. At 8:30AM I had my hiking boots on and I was ready to hike Tunnel Mountain. It was suppose to be an easy trek... however, due to weather conditions it wasn't so easy, and the inclines were anything but slight! Due to how badly iced the trail was, the road leading to the trail was closed which added more distance to the trek. 

Despite slipping and sliding everywhere, I still made the trek and the views were definitely worth it! Upon entering Banff I was given a pamphlet that helps you identify bear, wolf and cougar prints and poop as there are so many in the area... during my trek today cougar prints were present and this made me a little uneasy especially since I had been hiking 2 hours without having yet seen a single human! As I continued my trek, bear poop appeared... about 20 minutes later a human appeared and boy was I ever happy... I had one good look at the girl and at that moment I was confident that I could out run her and that I was now safe. All jokes aside, I was very happy to no longer be hiking completely alone.  

Below are some pictures from today's trail =)

I finished my trail and made my way back to my hotel by 3:30PM. I decided to take it easy for the rest of the day as my body is truly sore and aching from all the previous day's adventures and tomorrow will be a very strenuous day. I am quite exhausted despite having done so little today... however, I still wanted to do something.

I made my way down to the Banff Gondola and hitched my way up to the lookout to see what view it may hold, and man  am I happy I decided to do so. The lookout offers a bird's eye view of 6  Canadian Rockies. 

 

When I was done taking in the fresh mountain air, the beautiful scenery and the sounds of nature I decided I would head back into town and grab myself some dinner. I ate a delicious Elk burger at the Elk & Oarsman Bar and Grill and then felt like I wasn't quite ready to call it a night so I decided why not hike Bow Valley Trail... It wasn't a long one and the trial was rated fairly easy.

 

Of course, any time I decide to do an easy trail it's never really easy... This trail would have been incredibly easy, if it hadn't started to rain hard. The trail was slippery, it was hard to see ahead of me and there were large puddles everywhere and lots of mud. When I hit the end of the trail the rain lightened and I was able to snap these two pictures above. And then it started to pour again until I arrived to my hotel! 

When I got in I immediately kicked up my feet and started to blog about today's adventures. Now that this blog is complete I am debating whether I should or shouldn't go for a late night drive and see what animals may grace me with their presence.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has been reading along =) It's always nice knowing your time and effort is being appreciated by someone. 

Sending everyone back home lots of love.

- San