Fri, May 6 2011 - The Ink Pots - Legendary Ed's 89th Birthday - Part 1Slowpokes & Dawdlers & Photographers (View Original Event Details)
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Today is Ed's actual 89th birthday !! We all met at the trailhead. The weather turned out in the form of three seasons on today's hike ! Snow on trail, sunny sky, cool temp, then snowing at lunch, and finally raining once we got back to the cars ! Weather Gods love Ed's birthday LOL !!!!
We got a great turnout considering this event was held on a Friday. The trail for Moose Meadows was listed as icy & slushy. Since we got a foot of snow in the mountains last week, I figured we'd be up to our ankles or worse, in wet snow. So we all decided to hike up Johnston Canyon and return the same way. The trail was not icy due to that snowfall, rather it was soft slippery snow.
It was a pleasant hike up to the upperfalls. Already, there was a bus of tourists hiking in the canyon, slip sliding away, but overall, not crowded with tourists like in the summer months. We continued hiking for about 20 minutes past the upper falls, then the snow got deep and we couldn't hike any further. However, it turned out to be the perfect place for lunch ! Ed's birthday lunch was celebrated with a delicious cake, red & white wines ! During our lunch, it started snowing - felt like we were in a snow globe for Ed's B-day !
We hiked back on our breadcrumb trail, got back to the parking lot, and headed to St-James Gate Pub in Banff. In honour of the birthday boy, they gave him a really really good scotch that he sipped :) We had a lovely supper and headed back home.
Thank you all for bringing all the birthday "gear" - a great job from everyone - and thank you for joining Ed on his special day !
Happy Trails,
Karen D.