~*~ Banff National Park Backpacking & Buttkicking Adventure ~*~
Alberta,
Canada
Dates: August 5
to August 13, 2005
Hikers: Kate (MsKatieBear), Allie (MtBackpacker), Brad (Alpha Male/Alpha God), Anna (Mockingbird) and Kim (lilmountaingirl)
Mileage:
Elevation
Gain/Loss:
“We are
completely harmless, I just wish the Canadian Government would see it that
way.” ~MsKatieBear
Banff
Buttkicker Prologue
MsKatie picked me
up at home on Thursday afternoon, 8/4/05 around 1:15pm. We had a plane to catch in Philadelphia at 5:30pm and wanted to be sure we had plenty of
time. Though we arrived at the airport without any trouble, it seems that
trouble was gaining fast on us. Before we even had our e-tickets in hand, the
flight had been delayed by about an hour due to “a storm in Minneapolis”. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat
and then headed into a little Irish bar in the terminal for a drink (or 3).
Feeling pretty happy, we set off to our gate only to discover the flight had
been delayed yet again. It was now 2 ½ hours off…exactly the amount of time we
had for our layover in Minneapolis.
Needless to say,
we finally took off around 7:45pm, after calling Monty to let her know that there was a chance
we would be missing our connecting flight. We didn’t really think we would…since
Northwest Airlines has about a 55% rate of delay. Our connection was to leave Minneapolis at 9:27pm. After asking the flight attendant what
gate we needed (F-10), we inquired about the tight connection and what to do.
His response? “I guess you could run really fast.” Gee, thanks.
We landed at 9:21pm, giving us six minutes to get to our
connection. After pushing our way through about 22 teenagers who had an hour to
get to their flight, we ran…and I mean we RAN through the Minneapolis/St. Paul
airport. As we passed under each clock, I yelled out the time… “4 minutes! 3
minutes! 2 minutes!” Could they put the gates any further apart? We came
screeching to a halt at our gate at precisely 9:27pm, just in time to hear a fellow passenger
scream “F***!!!” The flight had already left. We were stuck in Minnesota and since Northwest Air apparently does
not control the weather, they refused to put us up for the night. Earliest
flight out was 9:20am
the following day.
MsKB and I
plopped ourselves in the airport, ticked off and ready to cry. We called Monty to let her know we wouldn’t be arriving
until the next day. We were ready to call it quits when yet another stranded
passenger (this one from Seattle) came to our aid. Katie and I have a history of strange men
coming to our rescue. Anyway, he told us to get up and follow him. So we did.
Right into a cab. He handed me his cell phone and I reserved a room at the same
place he was staying. We checked into the hotel and then met up with Kurt from Seattle who took us into Minneapolis, bought us dinner and drinks and took our
mind off the situation.
Friday morning
came and our flight actually left on time. It was uneventful which was
incredibly helpful, despite the fact we had the two backseats of the plane, directly
across from the bathroom. As we descended into Bozeman, MsKB and I literally started shaking
with excitement. We all but ran through the airport and out to baggage claim
where Monty and PJ were waiting by the giant grizzly
bear. I let out a yelp and we went running for them. And the witches were
united at last!!! We happily waited for our luggage…which didn’t show up. No
packs, no boots, no gear. Ah hell. Thankfully, we found out our bags were
coming in on the 1pm
flight and would be delivered to Monty’s
house for us by that evening. Phew…
The four of us
loaded into Monty’s car and headed out for lunch. We ate at
the Cat’s Eye which was reallllllly good. We spent the remainder of the
afternoon in 
Walmart and the gear stores gathering the
last pieces that we needed for Banff. Lots of food, plenty of fuel and a few
odds and ends for the travelers. We were pleased to find our luggage and gear
at Monty’s when we returned. Monty’s cousin, Anna, was arriving by car from South Dakota later that night so we went for pizza and
Moose Drool, went to the doggy park with Ruffers (the greatest dog ever!) and
back home. Then Anna called ~ she had to drive an hour back to SD because she
couldn’t find her boots, only to discover her boyfriend had put them in her pack
and she had them all along. (So you can see this trip started off really well
for all of us). Monty then took us to Molly’s for a few beers before we went home to
organize and do a final shakedown of our gear. I should add that MsKatie and I
sulked like a couple of children when Monty made us leave Molly’s. I’m not kidding…we stood outside her
car and sulked. We’re so mature.
By 2am, we were all packed and Anna arrived. We had brief introductions
before retiring for the night, excited about the drive and the adventure that
lay ahead! If we only knew…
An early wake up
call, a trip to Wheat Montana for some strawberry-cream cheese cinnamon
buns & coffee and we hit the road! Five people, five states, five packs and
five different tastes in music. We laughed our way through Montana ~ stopping in Great Falls for lunch before continuing on to the
border.
We were detained
at the border and had some technical difficulties which resulted in a difficult
decision and about a 5 hour delay in our plans. Though we did manage to score
two pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream from a random truck driver
which we deemed “pre-trail magic”. We called Alpha Male, who was already in Lake Louise and let him know we would be very late.
He calmly took charge of the situation, spoke with the people at the hostel and
arranged our arrival. He also took time to secure a new permit since we were
going to have to modify our route due to the late arrival. We decided to spend
Sunday being “tourons” and checking out the sights near Banff.
At 5:30am on Sunday morning, we wearily pulled into
Castle Mountain Hostel, fell out of the car and found our way to the beds. I’m
quite certain that we were all asleep before our heads hit the pillow. In the
past 60 hours, MsKB and I had a grand total of about 8 hours sleep. Ugh…this
was going to be interesting.
Day 1 – “And then there were 5…” (Anna) Our Touron Day
in the Banff area
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