We headed up the road, but mile after mile were tightly controlled provincial park areas. We saw one campground near a lake, but it was full. We were examining our maps and the GPS to try and find a place that we could camp. After driving for about 2 hours, we decided to take the next highway back towards Canmore.
It was getting towards evening, and the sky was turning pink and yellow. As we pulled onto the small highway back towards Canmore we ran into a herd of Rocky Mountain sheep! It was a herd of females, and a bunch of babies - they were hilarious to watch jump over the guardrails.
We headed up a few more miles up the road - and we spotted TWO MOOSE. Van trip goal achieved!! I had especially wanted to see a moose on this trip. Standing right up on the edge of the road, enjoying the pool of water in the shoulder were two moose, a bull and a female. We must have watched them for a half an hour just chewing water plants. Almost more entertaining were the other rubberneckers who stopped to look at the moose. People were perched outside of their sunroofs and leaning outside of the windows with huge telephoto lenses on their cameras.
In 24 hours we had seen elk, bear, bighorn sheep, and moose up close and personal. What a place!
We decided we should stop at a picnic area to eat some dinner. We pulled off at a ski resort area and made dinner at some picnic tables - down by the river. We decided that we should just camp there for the night. We were at a trailhead - and it was obvious other cars were left there for a few days for hikers that were in the back-country. As long as it wasn't obvious we weren't sleeping in the van, we might be able to get away with it. We were tired, and it was getting dark, so we decided to risk it.
The next morning, we squeaked out of the picnic area and headed to our climbing destination for the day. We headed to Cougar Canyon - another local's crag in Canmore. We'd read and heard a lot about it and we were excited to try it out. The crag is known as a 5.10-heaven. We were just getting comfortable with climbing 5.10s but we wanted to check it out.
The approach was easy, and exciting. The first half is a paved trail along cougar creek. After a few minutes, the trail winds away from the creek and climbers walk along the mostly dry and rocky creek bed up-stream. We walked along the large smooth rocks and pebbles. A few times we needed to cross the river - there were some large rocks we could hop across to the other side. This was more precarious than I was expecting - hopping with a large pack on your back full of gear is a bit more difficult. One of the crossings we ended up walking across a log like a balance beam. I gathered my zen thoughts and my inner olympic-gymnast and balanced my way across.
There were several other climbers headed up the canyon, Which was nice, we could follow them to find the way.
Finally we made it to the first wall. We saw people all over the rock like ants! We even recognized some climbers we had seen at Grassi Lakes a few days before.
We decided to head up a few more walls to a nice 5.9 climb we had picked out in our guidebook. We wanted to start with something well within our grade. The area was full of climbers - it was fun to see so many other people enjoying the sport.
We set up for the climb, and Joey sent the route - no problem. It was an exciting climb, there was some crack climbing, and some overhung sections. One crux had you headed over a small roof - it was a bit bouldery there. The rock was pretty nice, it had regular cleavage that was positive, so it made for a lot of great foot-holds. The route was pretty long too.
Joey sent this climb, no problem :)
Dead Dog Cafe 5.9 - "Climb to a large ledge and tackle a slab that miraculously seems to sprout good holds. From the large triangle-shaped roof, step right onto a steep face with lots of air below your heels" -- guide book
I started up the climb, and was taking my typical 'slow-and-steady' approach. I take a while to examine the available holds and very deliberately place my hands and feet. Joey is very patient when I climb. I was about 15' above the ground and headed over a bulge on the rock. There was a nice horn I was headed towards to put me in a good position to get me over the bulge. I got the horn, and then shifted my weight onto it.
CRACK.
A lot of things happened at once. Mainly - gravity took hold and I was falling. My mouth was a bit slower than my brain - I yelled "Falling!" and "ROCK!!"
The horn I had grabbed onto made like an anchorman and broke-off. (That's Joey's pun btw.) It was a pretty big flake that pulled off - bigger than my head. A few other chips broke off of the face as the horn fell too.
I was worried about Joey - I didn't want a rock that size headed in his direction. He had seen the rock when I fell and ran the other way. He avoided the missile, and helped cushion my fall in the process. Double bonus.
I slammed into the wall with the balls of my feet. Afterwards I just hung there for a few seconds just to take stock. My right foot hurt - a lot. It looked like I had sprained it. Joey let me down and we took a breather from the ground.
The rock ended up smashing into my pack - I'm glad Joey got out of the way and that our gear wasn't smashed. We were both glad we had helmets.
After flexing my foot and stretching it out on the ground for a few minutes, I needed to get back on the rock. After something like that happens, I need to get right back on otherwise I'm worried I'll never want to. I wanted to send this climb, it looked pretty sweet anyway.
I climbed very cautiously. I noticed several holds that sounded hollow when pounded, and avoided them. I was surprised that a route at such a popular crag wasn't clean. I suppose it was just a function of the rock.
At some of the overhung sections, my foot was complaining. I didn't climb the route as cleanly as I would have otherwise, but I made it to the top - conquering the climb.
After climbing, I realized I might have a bit more of a twisted ankle than I thought. We packed up our gear - and I loaned Joey some of my heavier equipment and water. My ankle wasn't liking the steep belay station - it was tough to change out of my climbing shoes.
We inched our way back down to the canyon floor - and headed back towards the first wall. The belay stations there were really flat - and it was only mid-afternoon. I was happy to belay Joey on a few more routes while I dipped my ankle in the freezing creek.
I ended up climbing again - I couldn't help it - it was so tempting. It was a very short 10a that looked pretty fun. I made a point of not using my right foot in certain orientations - so it took me a bit longer than it might have and I took a rest to shift my feet, but I made it. Sweet success.
Joey messing around on Innuendo, 10a
Adrianne belaying Joey at the top of Innuendo
In several river crossings, Joey jogged my pack over to the other side for me so I only had to contend with my ankle. He offered to carry me several times - but I thought that was ridiculous. I hobbled my way back up the bank. The river was only 5' to 7' wide and maybe a foot deep, so worst case I'd just wade across the river. The log crossing still loomed in my mind.
At the log, Joey grabbed my pack and hiked it across. He's really very good at balancing. The river was about 7' wide at this point, and I really didn't want to fall from the log's height into the rocky river. Joey ended up walking with me across the log - only he went backwards. A real pro! I felt a lot better balancing with an extra hand.
I was pretty happy making it across the log - the rest of the hike out was no problem. Once I made it to the car, I propped up my foot. I was not going anywhere else fast.
As a treat, we decided to go out for dinner to a nice Thai restaurant that was recommended in our climbing guide book. We had a hilarious time talking to the owner of the restaurant - he was Austrian - and had a lot to say about Joey's surname. He had a really impressive selection of beers, and the food was delicious. We were happy campers - it was just what we needed.
We ended up camping a few miles down the road in a "campsite". It was recommended by the camping center. Basically, we parked in a field. We didn't care, we were full and tired, and happy to find a place to sleep after an exciting day.
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