Day 14 - Aug 17th.

The last two times we had been to Banff and Jasper Parks we had not had much time to hike along the great trails available here.  This time we decided to make sure we had a chance to visit at least one of the great hiking trails.  We chose Johnston Canyon since it was fairly close to the campsite and it had come highly recommended to us from Dusty Boots.

The description of the trail is there are two waterfalls, the Lower Falls and the Upper Falls, and a set of "Ink Pots" which are small springs of clear blue and green water.  Total round trip is 7.2 miles.

The description is somewhat lacking in the amount of waterfalls.  Through the canyon runs Johnston Creek cutting down through limestone creating numerous falls, of which the two largest are described in most of the brochures.  All the rest are left out and this is an injustice to the trail.

One of the numerous small falls along the canyon.

Another of the small falls.

And another of the small waterfalls.

 
Some sections of the trail are along a walkway built into the walls of the canyon just above the creek bed.  In these areas the sun only gets down into the canyon in the middle of the day. This provides a great respite from the heat of the day with cool breezes coming through and ferns and mosses hanging down from above giving it a somewhat fairy tale appearance.

Rick and Nancy along the fern and moss covered canyon walls

Edie on the walkway where the sunshine on gets here at mid day!!

There is a small cave that has been dug in the wall of the Lower Falls and this allows you to get up close to the side of the falls. It is very wet and slippery inside this small cave. The lower falls tumbles over 2 sections and you can view it from close up from the bridge and viewing platform that has been built into the walls. 

Lower Falls, the cave is just outside this picture to the right.

As you get near the Upper Falls you will find a beautiful Travertine Drape.  That is Algae that grows in the limestone and adds minerals to the walls slowly building up more rock over time.

Travertine Drape just before the upper falls.

When we got to the Upper Falls the sun was shining just right to cause the falls to glow as if illuminated from within, later in the day the falls are in shadow and loose the beautiful glow. The Upper Falls drops straight down but is a bit harder to get a good shot of. Again they have provided plenty of platforms for you to view the falls from.

Upper Falls

From this point to the Ink Pots the trail is no longer paved and is much steeper.  It winds into and out of the trees along the canyon.  Make sure you take enough water along for your hike, there is no available drinking water unless you take along a proper filtration system.  The Ink Pots are 5 springs that where quite a bit of water comes rushing up out of the ground. While the Ink Pots are pretty and quite interesting I have to question if the additional 3.7 miles of uphill hiking is worth the effort.

One of the five Ink Pots along the trail where the water bubbles up and cascades down into Johnston Creek

Coming back out of the canyon we stopped at the restaurant for lunch and an ice cream cone. Largest single scoop ice cream I have ever had!!  Overall the hike was great, but by the next day we all knew we had gone 7.2 miles of mountain trails.