Mountains Along Our Path by Betsy Campbell

Author:Betsy Campbell [Prince, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hallard Press LLC

Part 2

Banff – Sunday and Monday

Cleo Simon, AKA Runningbehind

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unday morning Blueridgebelle and I were quiet in our sadness as she prepared for her drive to the airport. Our thoughts were focused on family and her father’s funeral at the end of the day. I wanted to be with her and Maurene, Womenwithspirit. I would visit at a later date as my sister asked me to do.

Blueridgebelle booking her flight from Tuesday to Sunday, instead of Tuesday to Tuesday like the rest of us, was fate at work. She did not need to make any changes in her ticket.

The three of us remaining were all feeling sorrowful that morning, but we decided to keep our plans to hike the Moraine Lake area. Solemnly, that was where we went.

Moraine Lake was located in the beautiful Valley of the Ten Peaks. It was a glacially fed lake and therefore was an intense turquoise blue. We loved walking the trails taking in the awesome views of the lake and surrounding mountain peaks. We did count ten of them. All of the beauty around us lifted our spirits and gave us a resurgence of faith and hope.

During our hike, we always kept track of Blueridgebelle’s travel progress. We noted the time she left Canada, changed planes, and landed in South Carolina. When it was time for my brother-in-law’s funeral, we stopped for a while and sent our love by way of prayers for all of the family. Even though we were miles apart we felt spiritually connected.

Somewhere I had found a brochure about hiking in Sunshine Meadows. I told the gals we needed to do that our last day in Banff. Thunderfoot thought it sounded great, but Cloudsplitter was not sold. The catch was that we would ride a shuttle to the top of the mountain and then hike the meadows at 7,500 feet. Cloudsplitter wanted to hike to the top of the mountain and then hike the meadows. In her way of thinking to take a bus was a waste of a perfectly good mountain. Thunderfoot and I finally convinced her that it was a time issue as we had to be back in Calgary before dark. Reluctantly she agreed to take the shuttle.

We did have one short detour to make as Cloudsplitter wanted us to see the Banff Hoodoos. Hoodoos are tower-like rock formations created through the natural process of erosion. It was a short hike to reach them and we then took pictures of our very first hoodoo sighting.

When we arrived at the shuttle station, we were told the “nice new” van pictured in the brochure had broken down and that a replacement would arrive shortly. We heard it before we saw it, and we were shocked to see a huge, old school bus come up the narrow road and stop in front of us. That was our ride to the top. We debated the safety issue, but the driver assured us he had taken that bus up many times. The opportunity to do that was now, so we got on the bus.

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