More camping in 2021, Lake Louise this time with a Saturday trip to Johnson Lake. It was a bit of a smoky trip with all the BC forest fires this year, although the campground itself didn’t seem as bad as the highway. We managed!
Signature coffee station of course! I’ve been debating getting an actual camp stove to see if water will boil in my large kettle any faster. I’m not entirely convinced it will. The only downside to morning coffee while camping is the wait for water to boil in the morning, it takes far too long! When I get up, I need coffee NOW, not 20-30 minutes from now.
I attempted the truck tent awning again. Using the rope tie-downs staked into the ground was essential to keep the stand-alone posts sturdy enough. And do you know what works better than a rubber mallet for hammering tent stakes into solid rock hard ground? A sledgehammer. WIN! The stakes didn’t even bend 🙂
It wasn’t windy or raining though so this setup didn’t truly get tested but it worked well as is!
And what camping trip would be complete without one of these guys:
Saturday took us to Johnson Lake in Banff National Park. Super close to the town of Banff, complete with a sandy beach! Had no idea such a place existed in the mountains so it was nice to discover it!
The lake was crazy busy of course with the weather being 25+ Celsius. Parking lot was full and vehicles parked all up the road that comes to the lake. It was a beautiful spot though! Most of the action seemed to be at one end of the lake, with a little cove that amazingly had water that wasn’t freezing cold. People were swimming and lots were out on paddleboards and inflatables.
I had been debating getting an inflatable kayak for years. I’d still prefer a hard shelled one but the inflatable is definitely more compact and easier to carry around. So I went for it. We shall see how long it lasts!
There is apparently at 3.4 km pathway all the way around the lake so it would be worth coming back and doing that hike for the scenery and exercise. Anyone doing this walk would want to be armed with bear spray I think. And a whistle. And anything else loud.
Ended the day with a campfire of sorts. There was a fire ban on at the campground (no surprise), but propane fire pits were allowed and someone in my group actually had one. Not quite the same but still nice to have while camping.
That’s all for this trip! Hopefully I’ll get out at least one more time this year. It is certainly nice to escape the city for a few days during the summer months.
