Day 14 - Friday 4th September, 2015

We were up early – showered and changed and we were out the door and in Town for 8.30am at “Coyotes”. We had tried to go there before for breakfast as we'd heard they were really good, but we got there too late the other day (our watches weren't set to Alberta time – still Vancouver time – 1hour difference).

We had Buttermilk Pancakes with real Canadian Maple Syrup. OMG, they were huge and thick and oh so fluffy!!! Steve proceeded to spill his maple syrup all over the table, so our waitress very kindly gave him some more! :) We ate and ate and ate, and neither of us finished them. But boy were they good!! :)

We checked out of the YWCA and we made our way to one of the biggest tourist spots – the Johnson Canyon. An easy 30min walk to the Canyon and another Hours walk up to the Upper Set of waterfalls. Upper Falls and Lower Falls – 2.7km each way.

BOY was this tourist spot busy!! We were there by 10.10am and the carpark was just about full. The pathways are beautifully laid out, but not very wide, and with the amount of people stopping every 20 seconds to take a “selfie”, it made the walk somewhat frustrating.

Both the falls are beautiful, with smaller cascades to see along the way. We know why it is a major tourist spot – beautiful and very easy access. There are numerous falls along the route up to the Upper Falls, so we managed to get quite a few different images of the falls along the way.

It wasn't until a few hours later when we got to Canmore to check in to our hotel for OOAK that we realised we'll be back to Johnson Canyon!! lol I wont be taking ALL my gear this time just the tripod and the 16-35mm will do the job! :)

So we arrived in Canmore and with an hour to kill before we can check into our room, we made our way to the local Safeway supermarket!! WOW – had so much fun walking around the isles. So many things we've heard about on American TV shows, but don't get at home…. I had a great time. Steve bought some donuts and chips and Mars Bars as snacks for the next few days.

So back to the Ramada in Canmore. We asked for a room over the Road – as the back of the hotel is on the Train-line….and its a VERY BUSY freight train-line. It will still keep us awake – we know it will, but at least there is half a hotel buffering the noise.

We are due to meet the OOAK crew in reception at 6.30pm to head out to the Vermillion Lakes for sunset. Wont be much of a sunset though – its been drab and rainy and very low hanging cloud all day. Great for waterfalls and canyons, but no good for sunsets!

Its been 2 degree's most of the day and tonight they are forecasting snow in Canmore. Hmm – they said it would likely get to 25 or 30 degree's…. you wont need your thermals they said. So I left most of it at home didn't I ! ARGHH – well I have a little bit, and I will be living in them for the next 12 days. If I stink by the 10^th day – then they can deal with it! Lol

BRING ON THE OOAK ADVENTURE!  SOOOO EXCITED!!

We met the OOAK gang in the foyer of the Ramada at 6.30pm to jump into cars and head off to the Vermillion Lakes for sunset. It was great to meet everyone in person and we were all so excited to be finally here in Canada on this photography trip of a lifetime!

Now, the weather was pretty ordinary. We were all certain we wouldn't be capturing any sunset, but we used the time wisely by acquiring our new Novoflex Pano Kit and learning how to use it. Some slower than others! (me = slow)!

No sunset of course, but we still had a good time by the lake. From there it was a quick 2min drive back into Banff for a pub meal and to talk all things photography and to get to know our crew! We have an awesome bunch of people on this trip, so we are in for an EPIC time!!

Made it back to the hotel by 11am and we were told to be in the foyer for a 6am start.

We missed the late FB message that said “be in the foyer for 5.45am.

Animal Count: 0

(well, there were wood ducks at the lake, but they don't really count!)