It did rain some more overnight, but not all night thankfully as my tent seems not to be as waterproof as one would hope. There was quite a lot of water under my sleeping pad and dripping down the wall near my head. Everything felt damp and I emerged from my tent into a cold fog. I had a sense it would clear, but didn’t want to wait to get going. My hands were very cold taking down my wet tent and it was all full of grit from the tent pad, yuck. I got going in my full rain gear, the trail meandered though some pine trees and large boulders and the sun soon made an appearance.

I got warm after about an hour and took off my rain gear, which was probably a mistake since the trail was one continuous carwash and it was still quite cold out making it unpleasant to keep getting wet over and over.

The trail eventually came out into the open, traversing a vegetated slope before climbing up to Citadel pass.

After passing by Howard Douglas lake, the trail continues for several kms through an open alpine plateau with views of Sunshine mountain  and ski resort.

The path was smooth and it didn’t take long to get to the ski resort, where I bought my gondola ticket to get down to the base of the mountain, where I can take a shuttle into Banff. I wasn’t able to reserve a campsite in this popular area so had a bunk booked in a hostel in Banff instead.

I had cell service while waiting for the shuttle and realized that the Air Canada cabin crew personnel will very likely be striking on the day of my return flight. I decided to change my flight to tomorrow, the day before the strike starts since I can easily get to Calgary from Banff tomorrow and then I won’t get stuck if this strike happens (there were no flights available on Monday with alternate carriers). I have to admit to shedding some tears, I’m not feeling ready for this adventure to end, even if this is the most sensible and responsible thing to do. 

Banff was jammed full of tourists, an unpleasant jolt to the system. I checked into my hostel and showered before heading back out into the melee to find dinner. I got a seat at the bar in a resto-pub and had a pizza with elk sausage on it, among other things. I couldn’t manage to finish it because I saved room for an ice cream. One scoop in a cup this time, just perfect.

The hostel is a few kms from the center of town, but it’s on a bus line. I planned to catch the bus back, but it was completely full so I ended up walking, what’s a few more Kms!

Everything went smoothly on Friday travelling to Calgary and then to Montreal. I realized one of the things I miss most from everyday life is good coffee. I had 2 flat whites Friday morning in a cafe and would have chosen them over a shower or flushing toilet any day.