16/07/2022 Floating from Banff to Canmore
What to expect
Floating down Bow River on SUPs
After a great night in our mountain cabin at the Banff Gate Mountain Resort with Blake’s sister Erin and her husband Michael, we were off to new adventures the next day: floating down Bow River from Banff to Canmore. We parked one car in Banff and one car in Canmore and then pumped up our four stand-up paddleboards in Banff right by the waterfall.
My first impression was: shoot, are we floating down this waterfall? Luckily, we were not. This part of the Bow River in between Banff and Canmore is not open to tourism (or at least no tourist companies are operating there). But with Michael being a certified outdoor guide, I trusted his judgement.
Beautiful float
After a short introduction to the safety measures and how to paddle when the rapids pick up, we went onto the river and started our four-hour-adventure. It was truly amazing!! There was no one else on the river and we were surrounded by the huge Canadian Rockies and stunning nature. We either stood, sat or lay on our boards (depending on the rapids and turns we had to take).
At one point we stopped our boards at a little island, jumped off and had some snacks and drinks in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.
A perfect day
After ending the float right where we had parked the one car, we picked up the other car back in Banff and drove back to our mountain cabin where we had some drinks on our deck while watching sunset.
It was a pretty perfect day!
17/07/2022 Hike in Canmore and going-away party in Calgary
Hiking near Canmore
In the morning we went for a little walk near our mountain cabin in Canmore, which turned into quite the hike where we crossed rivers on fallen trees. Again, with Michael, the outdoor guy, I felt pretty safe that we’d be finding our way back to the car. With Blake alone probably not so much – no offense 😉.
Going-away party/ surprise engagement party with friends
Back in Calgary, we got everything ready for our going-away party that afternoon. Blake wanted to have the going-away party as a surprise engagement party for his friends. In his mind I was coming in late for the party so that everyone could see the ring at once. But I didn’t want to be the centre of attention like that (to me that almost sounded like me jumping out of a cake shouting “Look at me and my ring!” – Probably too much of a wild imagination here on my end). So we ended up doing a slide show where the last photo showed a picture of the proposal (which I was much happier with 😉).
Ending the night in a hot tub
The party and the surprise went well and in the end it was only three of Blake’s friends left. This is why we went back to one of their houses to sit in their hot tub in their backyard. It seems like many of Blake’s friends own a hot tub, but I guess with the weather going below minus 30 degrees in winter, it’s worth having one.
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