Banff, Jasper, Seattle
i’m back from banff (a bad name, in kevin’s opinion), jasper and seattle. thanks to sean for the stove, spoon, candle lantern, driving skills. thanks to brice for the bowl, fleece, frisby, and picture of me and sean looking like hott woodsmen. it’s good to travel with competent friends when you yourself are incompetent and/or unprepared.
lucky for us, there was good scenery (despite the smoke) on the drive up to canadia; waitresses/gas station attendees/grocery store employees. i got to listen to the new t.A.T.u album on brice’s iPod (the rest of the time was devoted to the Strokes).
the trip broke down like this (only because i like lists):
- 12-14 hours driving - I think it’s safe to say that we got a lot of good laughs at the dodge caliber’s expense. the two best things about it were that it wasn’t a pt cruiser and that the transmission didn’t drop onto the ground when shifted from neutral (while rolling) into park. it did sound like several teeth got bent, though.
- 2 nights car-camping at Lake Louise - Not a bad campsite. we met some swiss babes who wanted to share our campsite with us (seriously) and resisted the urge to piss on the bear fence. unfortunately for everyone involved, we got to the liquor store 18 minutes too late due to the time zone difference.
- 3-day/2-night backpacking trip in the Egypt Lake area - What would we have done without spice packets on this trip?
- 1 night car-camping at worst site ever in Banff. - First R.V. with matching (detail-wise) honda box spotted. It was also sporting a satellite dish.
- drive from Banff to Jasper - we thought we’d do better up north given the incomming haze from the forest fire in Washington.
- mountain biking on dual-suspension Treks - vroom
- hike in the Edith Cavell area - our first hike without rain gear became our first hike that we could have used rain gear.
- 12 hours driving back to Seattle - some time to spend reminiscing about our brokeback mountain moments.
some things you want on a backpacking trip:
a fleece, a candle lantern, two nalgene bottles (per person), zip lock bags, spices, tea, spork/utentsils, knife, bowl/tupperware, camp suds, spice packet, camera, water filter, stove, thermarest
