Feeling the burn! We are feeling the “burn” in our calves, in our thighs, in our feet and in our stomachs. What a great two days! Since Sunday August 21st we have hiked and walked 42 miles, along cliff edges, through dirt, a few puddles, and some rocky paths, up and down, across swinging bridges, and occasionally on sidewalks. The hikes on the eastern side of Glacier NP were some of Kathy’s favorites. We hiked 11 miles yesterday and 11.7 miles the day before, but the trails were shaded by conifers, the winds blew nice and cool, and despite the predictions, we had no rain. We hiked to Lake Grinnell yesterday and along the way spotted a mom moose along with her baby. Dave finally got to see a grizzly, but way too far away to justify “lethal force” and he had to keep his bear spray holstered. We planted ourselves next to the lake and enjoyed a leisurely lunch before heading back.
Getting up this morning we celebrated our last day in the motel in East Glacier and were excited to head out for the day. We drove back into Glacier to try and find some of the elusive wild sheep, but none were around and we turned around disappointed. We headed to the Canadian border with our passports in hand and the ArriveCan arrival form ready to present at the border. Presenting our passports and a little bit of chit chat and we were off. The big question that Dave had related to the obligatory questions from the border agent. “Do you have any weapons? Guns? Mace? Pepper Spray?” Dave responded that he had bear spray. The officer said that was fine. Guess that does not count as a weapon when heading into bear country, who knew? Off we went. We drove through flat farm fields that were reminiscent of long stretches through the Midwest, miles and miles of hay was all we could see. Suddenly we were greeted by the Rockies in all their majesty. We stopped in Canmore, Alberta, and walked around to kill some time before we could check in. What a beautiful resort town and completely opposite of the town we just left. We were hopeful that our new accommodations were also the opposite of the one we just left. Upon arriving – YAY!! We can eat a meal at a table, get out of bed without have to walk sideways against the wall, and, yes! we cannot take a shower and brush our teeth in the sink simultaneously.
We drove back to Canmore and decided to stop at a store for some cereal and milk in the morning and pick up dinner. The decision was a bold one for Kathy, traditional Indian food. Feeling daring after conquering some of the hikes we have done, Kathy ordered Tandoori Momo’s, a traditional chicken dumpling, while Dave had Tikka Masala. We each also ordered a traditional green salad to get some veggies in us. Excited, we drove back to our room and opened the packages. Kathy started digging into her dumplings while they were still warm and raved about the taste. Dave did a deep dive into his salad, which is really a vegetable platter consisting of a stack of sliced carrots, sliced cucumbers, sliced red onion, sliced tomatoes, and what looked like green beans. Not everything was as it seemed……..the green beans were actually some kind of extremely hot pepper! Dave tried eating cucumbers, rice, drinking – nothing helped and his mouth was not just burning but was on FIRE!!! His Tikka Masala – apparently the National Dish of England – is a chicken dish is a sauce similar to marinara sauce. Once he recovered from his “green bean”, he enjoyed the rest of the meal. Kathy did try the “green bean”/chili pepper and took a small bite which translated to a much smaller fire, but, hey! she did try it, even knowing it was going to burn.
Tomorrow we head out to explore the local area, hoping that the hiking is just as great! Banff and Kananaskis is beautiful and we expect we will find some great trails, Kathy hopes we don’t find any bears and Dave hopes we find a bear so that he gets to deploy his bear spray.
