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inf3ct3dd · 7 months

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ellie headcanons pt.3,,,!!

warnings: mentions of boobs, ass (lmao) , mild sexual content, use of the d-slur (jokingly)

content: loser!ellie x reader :3 my pookieeee

authors note: these r actually my favorite things to write ever like im so glad yall like them :333

pt. 2. taglist!!! masterlist!!!!

☆ REALLY likes beef jerky. she’ll just sit there and chew…

- her hands r just constantly freezing. like DEAD PERSON COLD ITS SCARYYYY!!! she definitely uses ur boobs as handwarmers and its JARRING because her hands are actually so cold 😞😞!!!

- HER FEET TOO!!! she has some sort of circulation issues bc you’ll be in bed together and she’ll put her feet on you and you’ll just turn into a cartoon ice cube 😕😕

- the SECOND u have some sort of drama she is seated. like she is so MESSY she will talk shit abt someone she knows absolutely nothing abt just bc u don’t like them. anyone you hate she hates 💪🏽💪🏽

- speaking of she is literally so sassy 😞😞 like she will literally full body turn away from you and look at the window while you drive if she’s mad at you.

- every time you say something even remotely sexual she’s looking at you like 🤨 and trying not to laugh. if you texted her “im coming” she’d burst out laughing and write back like “geez we’re just going to the zoo…didn’t know u were THAT excited”

- has the humor of a middle school boy. she has an actual problem w deez nuts jokes 😞😞 she thinks its SOOOO FUNNY to give u fake backshots whenever you bend over around her. fake moans and everything 💔💔

- a pharb AND a barb. she definitely knows all of super bass by heart, and she knows how to play savior complex on the guitar. duality of women!!!

- every time you say something nice to her she’s like “ew thats gay” and then she gets upset when u get upset for it 😞 so RUDE actually!!!

- really likes doing facemasks with you because you always put them on for her, and because you look really stupid with them on.

- this video. js this whole video like!!! she definitely has that dinosaur hand sanitizer AND that backpack!!

- likes rings cuz she thinks they make her look cool, but she literally cannot keep them for more than a month. they get lost SO EASILY!!!

- knows a concerning amount of things about the roman empire.

- definitely saw the barbie movie with you, and got so embarrassed at the ken guitar scene ☹️ “do i do that??” and you had to hold back laughter and tell her no

- if you have little siblings, they LOVE HER. she is so good with kids its insane. she would definitely do the griddy w ur little brother and you would NEVER let her live it down

- if you take her to a family gathering, she’s either talking with your uncles or hanging out with your younger cousins. she’s scared of your cousins your age bc they’re “cool like you”

- definitely bought you lego flowers at one point and sat on the floor and built them with you

- has those glow-in-the-dark stars on her bedroom ceiling

- would absolutely lick your salt lamp “for science”

- one time you put her hair in pigtails and she wore it the whole day, and refused to let her friends make fun of it cuz her “wife” did them

- talks about you like a 40 year old man talks about his wife. “gotta get home to the wife” definitely has “happy wife happy life!” on a tshirt

- built the two of you a house on minecraft and put your beds next to each otherrrr :((

- carved your name on her skateboard and guitar

- had an AWFUL emo phase in middle school. terrible. was absolutely an avid tumblr user

- such a nerd about vinyls. would take u on dates to her favorite vinyl store, and buy you a new vinyl player because “yours damages your vinyls, and the audio quality is shit” (you randomly bought it on amazon)

- just knows so many facts…about things…. like she’s always talking to you like “oh my god babe did you know that-“

- would get “jealous” of your pets whenever you’d pet them or hold them in front of her. just going up to your cat like “she likes me more than you”

- made herself one of those “i love my girlfriend” tshirts with your face on it

- your dad definitely loves her because they have so much in common. grilling, fishing,camping, she’s like the ultimate dad-dyke

- can fall asleep ANYWHERE. like the second she’s tired she’s just 😴😴 and she’s definitely using you as a pillow

- one time the two of you went to a family party and you found her asleep on two folded chairs

- you’re her wallpaper on all her devices.

- every time you ask her what she’s doing and she’s playing guitar shes like “just fingering my guitar”. she thinks its SOOOO HILARIOUS

- definitely says white ppl shit all the time on accident . one time she said “lets rock and roll” when you two were going somewhere and she literally didn’t talk for 5 minutes cuz you could not stop laughing

- LOVES burts bees !!! her lips always taste like their strawberry chapstick and its wonderful

- has a pair of lightning mcqueen crocs

- LOVESSSS when you paint her nails and do her makeup (she just likes you sitting on her lap)

- definitely one of those girls thats like. obsessed w doctor pepper. its a serious problem 😞😞!!!

- has a little shoe box full of receipts, polaroids of you, and little souvenirs from your dates. :((

- literally melts when you scratch her back

- very into horror games/analog horror. definitely binge watched markipliers “faith” gameplay and talked about it nonstop

- miles morales is def her fave superhero. has so many of his comics and LOVES the spiderverse movies. calls you her gwen 😞😞

taglist!!! if ur name is crossed i cant tag u :((

@syrenada @dinaissoprettyoml @kingofmylastkiss @as2rid @greencacty @melissabarrerass @bratydoll @lov3lylotus @forelliesposts @echostinn @f3r4lfr0gg3r @r3wbeef @leatheredhearts @mousymaven @mina-281 @princessguardian444 @calystas-morning-tea @horror-whoree @slutshies @bearieio @mag-mfm @bubs-world @paran0id0blivi0n @sawaagyapong @bbygrlshelbs @gayh0rr0r @pl9ys @ellieslilslvvt @dollietes @elliesmellsbadd @ibloom4u @ddreabea @beestar120 @brunettedolls-blog @girlwonderchloe @elliesgflol @maris-koffin @emonopolyman @iloveeyousblog @fr3sh-tragedies @ilovaffles @certifedcrybunny @elleatethat @baldph0bic @clouded-whispers @4rt3m1ss @saggykneecaps @swtsuna @ell1esslutt @minixmel @yuyans-stuff @owmoiralover @thecowardwrites @lunascerebro @elliestrwbrry @iwantsoda @teeveegirl @dinasmoon @urnewghostfriend

#ellie williams x reader #loser!ellie #ellie x reader #ellie x y/n #ellie x you #ellie williams x you #ellie williams headcanons #ellie williams fanfic #ellie tlou #ellie the last of us #tlou2 #tlou fanfiction #tlou x reader #lesbian #wlw

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bike42 · 2 years

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Banff / Calgary July 2022

Sunday, 10 July 2022

We learned the only real way to visit Lake Moraine and Lake Louise was by shuttle bus, as parking was limited to about 50 spots and people lined up for those spots before sunrise! The shuttle system is new this year, and we were skeptical about getting tickets for that as they said reservations had opened in April and filled up right away! When I checked last night, there were two openings for today’s 8:10-9am shuttle window. We were up early, and drove the 50 minutes to the Lake Louise ski area “Park and Ride,” just in time for our shuttle to Lake Moraine.

It was chilly when we got out of the car. It had been sunny in Banff, but clouded over on our way north. We already have seen that the weather changes rapidly here, but we felt prepared for anything! I put my down vest over two long-sleeved shirts, and added a hat and Smartwool gloves (always in my pack for days like today!). I also found some handwarmers in my pack – didn’t use them, but good to know they were there if we needed them!!

We had the worse driver ever driving the bus to Lake Moraine – it was as scary of a drive as when we drove along the road in Peru that was part of a landslide and in danger of sliding very far down to the river. This guy was not confident, stayed too far to the right, and surged with the gas pedal. We were glad when the ride was done and doubly glad that we had better drivers the rest of our trip (almost all the bus and Uber drivers we interacted with on this trip were Asian – Canada must have a been immigration system than we currently do)!

At Lake Moraine, we joined the tourists heading down the short path and the first thing we saw was a poster warning of bear presence. At the lake overlook, all we saw besides dozens of tourists, were chipmunks – and several canoes out on what looked like a chilly lake. The sun poked out, illuminating the beautiful blue-green color of all the lakes and rivers here. The glacial-fed alpine lakes in the Rocky Mountains are among the clearest (and the coldest) in the world. Fine rock dust, produced by massive glaciers rubbing against bedrock, stays suspended in the water, reflecting light and creating the turquoise colors.

Once we’d done the overlook, our options were (1) gift and coffee shop and the lodge, (2) Consolation Lake – about 4 miles out and back, or (3) serious hikes into Paradise Valley – about 20 miles of connected trails could get us over to Lake Louise, more than we knew we could do today.

As we started on the trail to Consolation Lake, there was a more serious bear warning – saying “Group Access is Recommended,” … it didn’t say “Mandatory,” but suggested that hikers travel in tight, loud groups of at least 4 people. I thought there would be enough people on the trail to constitute a “group,” but Jeff was hesitant. As I sat on a rock and tightened my boots, a pair of women walked by and entered the trail. Not only were they armed with bear spray, I whispered to Jeff that we could outrun them if we needed to, so I persuaded him to follow the ladies. We didn’t get far and there was a rock scramble across an old avalanche wash / stream. The ladies turned back, but others were coming down the trail from both directions so we felt ok on our own (just a little weary, walking the trail talking louder than we normally would). We got to a swampy section of the trail and I noticed the blueberry bushes weren’t in bloom yet, so I felt better knowing there would be no reason for bears to be there today!

As we neared the lake, something moving in the woods caught my eye and a marmot hopped along the rocks and crossed the trail fairly close to me. Moved like a cat!

At the lake, there were large rocks that had to be scaled – lots of climbing and jumping. JT held back and I went forward another 100 yards or so, but it was tiring work! There were about a half dozen people hanging out there, and we encountered about another 10 or so on our 2-mile hike back, so we weren’t entirely alone.

Perfect timing, we caught the shuttle between the lakes – a smaller bus with a competent driver. We had a snack on the bus, and it started to rain so we covered our packs and traded rain jackets for our top layers. I have a really nice Gore-Tex Arcteryx rain jacket that I bought for Kilimanjaro, but until today – hadn’t worn it in the rain!! Its quite warm, so usually I just hike with a poncho and umbrella in the rain. Today I got a chance to test it out and it was wonderful – water just ran off like on a duck’s back!!

We got off the bus in Lake Louise, and entered pandemonium. Hundreds of people just milling about on the shore of the beautiful lake, with the iconic Fairmont chateau gracing its shoreline. We started walking toward the Lake Agnes trailhead, and there was a trail behind the hotel with a serious bear warning – not just yellow (caution), but red! We joined the throng of people heading up the trail to the Lake Agnes tea house – the trail was as wide as a road, and fairly smooth – which was good with the number of people going up and down. My mind went away from bears as I was so preoccupied with people watching!! It was quite a multicultural scene – many languages heard, and many people not really dressed for a wilderness hike!

At one point, we were standing still for some reason, and we heard an avalanche occurring somewhere - we couldn’t see anything though and it wasn’t close by. We’d heard them before in the fog in New Zealand, which was really unsettling, even though the guide said “that’s across the valley – won’t happen here!”

It was a pretty hike, with views of the lake getting more awesome as we climbed. There was a cascade running from Lake Agnes into Mirror Lake – stunning scenery. Although the sun had poked out, the clouds were swirling as we reached Lake Agnes. We stood in the “take out” line at the Tea House and ordered tuna sandwiches, soup, tea for me and hot chocolate for Jeff. I waited for the food while Jeff went off to make new friends at a table near the lake we shared with a couple from Boston. We ate our lunch and chatted with them. They’ve been here more than a dozen times, and were knowledgeable about the trails – I’d wanted to take an alternative, longer way back … but Jeff was skeptical.

Just as we finished eating, a storm blew in – the temperature dropped and we had real rain, not just the drizzle we’d experienced earlier today. People scrambled – some back down the trail, some packed into the Tea House, and others huddled together under the roof awning.

We packed up and walked across the bridge to snap a few photos. My hands, even in gloves, were absolutely freezing – shocking, to go from lunch in a t-shirt to freezing in 10 minutes!

We started out down the alternative route, down about a hundred steps and then down a steep slope, now muddy and slippery. Jeff had the good sense to say we needed to turn back and take the main trail down, thankful for that!! We were at about 7000 ft, and heading back up those stairs was tough! But we went up and back down the trail and by Mirror Lake, the rain had nearly stopped.

We had a great walk down with fewer people, and were surprised to see dozens of people heading back up the trail! We sat by the lake for a few minutes, then headed out to find our shuttle. The shuttle worked well, with just about a 10-minute wait for our ride back to the Park and Ride.

We headed back to Banff, with a stop at the IGA grocery store (pandemonium!), to buy stuff for sandwiches and more yogurt and bananas for our breakfasts. We cleaned up, and had a glass of wine on our balcony, watching the wedding that we’d seen the rehearsal for yesterday (its not like we were being voyeurs, they rehearsed right below our balcony!).

We went to Prow for burgers and beer, then back for cribbage – another split tonight, but I’m getting discouraged!!

Total hike was 9.23 miles today with 1847 ft of elevation

Monday, 11 July 2022

We slept in this morning. I got up, did yoga, ate breakfast and took a nap. I guess we’re getting pretty good a relaxing!! There is a group from Backroads staying here as their van is parked near our room. Every morning, they’re gone early – off on some adventure. While we’re still disappointed that we’re not in the Yukon, we’re sure making the most of this!

We ate lunch on our balcony, then walked into town to see about renting a canoe. We’d stopped in on Saturday, and learned all the details then. We couldn’t paddle the Bow River, as it was at its banks and moving fast. Instead, they directed us to go up the creek to Vermilion Lake. We came to a fork and I directed Jeff to stay with the larger creek. Of course, it was a wrong turn. The guy at the rental place told us we’d have to portage over two beaver dams in order to get to the lake. We came to a downed pine tree, and figured we’d gone the right way, but true to form for us – we decided to see where it’d go! We both had to get out on the tree to drag the canoe over, fun challenge for us!! Then we came to two downed trees, one from each bank. It was a tricky maneuver, but Jeff steered us between the two trees – using our paddles to push off the tree, and branches to pull us along. We were high enough in the stable canoe that I wasn’t afraid of being sucked under the tree and into a strainer … but a kayak might have felt different!

We saw another series of downed trees and decided to give up. There had been a path along the side of the river, so we thought we’d portage the canoe back around to before the first tree. Jeff went to scout the portage while I stayed with the canoe. He was gone a long time and I became worried – he was talking to another couple that had also come down the wrong creek! We portaged the canoe – it was heavy and Jeff still has a bum shoulder from a fall in Greece.

I took over the stern after our portage – it had been a long time since we’d paddled a canoe and it was so much fun! The strokes I learned as a kid at Camp U-Nah-Li-Ya are burned into my memory!! Up the right creek, we easy hauled the canoe over the two beaver dams – nothing like we’d seen on the Mississippi!!

When we reached the lake, it was reminiscent of our Mississippi River trip with the multi channels and grass / wild rice. We carefully studied the landmarks so we’d find the right channel when we were ready to go back! The trip back was with the current, so much faster! We had wanted to take single kayaks instead of the canoe, but felt great to be working together and we enjoyed our time. I’d be lying if I didn’t also feel sad that we weren’t paddling on the Yukon River though!!

We walked back to the cascade gardens and explored the back gardens – interesting patterns of annuals, probably not enough of a growing season for many perennials! The lilacs are just staring to bloom, and peonies will bloom soon (they bloom in May for us).

We walked down the main street, and found a sports bar. There we ordered pizza, salad and beer and watched some of the Calgary Stampede rodeo on the large screen TV – amazing!!

We walked back up to our resort, cleaned up and relaxed. Jeff suggested we head to Prow for dessert, and we sat at the bar and tried to order a Brandy Alexander. The bartender wasn’t very experience (he was consulting the book for simple drinks), and we looked it up for him. He said they have a drink just like that (with coffee infused vodka, bailey’s, Kahlua, and some other stuff plus ice cream). We called in a “fail,” but it was interesting. We also had a slice of cheesecake, which wasn’t as good as their lava cake! Another cribbage split again!

Tuesday, 12 July 2022

Jeff had Googled “best hikes in Banff” and came up with a list of the top ten. From those, we selected the ones that would top out around 7000 feet, as above that is the avalanche threat zone with the level of snow still in the mountains.

On our drive to Lake Louise on Sunday, I spotted the Bourgeau Lake trailhead just about 10 km north of Banff, and that hike met our criteria: on the top ten list and 7000 ft at the top. The description in the Canadian Rockies Trial Guide we bought in Vancouver confirmed it was a good choice for us too.

The parking lot was nearly full when we arrived, confirming we wouldn’t be alone on the trail. We set out about 10am. The trail was wonderfully soft pine needle bed, with occasional rocks and roots – but mainly delightful to walk on. We didn’t have to get very far before the din of the highway was drowned out by the sound of moving water and the wind in the trees.

We arrived at a clearing with lots of broken trees, and I realized that a fairly recent avalanche or landslide had taken down the trees! I was long enough ago that the sunlight brought different flowers, but the way the rocks were arranged, you could still see how tough it was to reclaim the trail through there!

We were treated to numerous waterfalls and river crossings. There were several people going down, and others starting up with us, but just the right amount of people after the loads of them at Lake Louise a few days ago!

We climbed to about 7000 feet, and the trail opened into an alpine meadow that was just starting to bloom with glacier lilies and marsh marigolds - soon to be lots of berries. There were patches of snow here and there, and the trail was muddy in spots. We got to the lake, rock hopped across the river again and sat on a large rock to enjoy the view while eating our sandwiches. There was a little chipmuck that sniffed us out and same over. For some reason, he was chewing on the bottom of my mud-caked pole!!

It was three hours up for us, and just two hours down – we both felt good and were able to walk down at a faster pace than we generally do, and only took one break! We felt terrific, but were exhausted when we arrived back at the car.

It was a warmer day today. We expected coolness up at the lake, but didn’t need to put on layers today.

We drove back to resort, arriving by 4pm. We grabbed some beers from our fridge and hit the hot tub. There was a couple from Scotland in the hot tub, they’d just arrived but had spent the last two days at the Stampede so it was good to get their take on that. They own a horse farm, so had a particular interest in the Stampede! He was really hard for us to understand – she did a lot of translating for us! I didn’t have my glasses on and Jeff didn’t have his hearing aids in – funny how one sense being dulled affects the others! Soon two other (unrelated) ladies from Scotland joined us and filled us with tales of what they’d done (Rocky Mountaineer to Jasper). After an hour, we were all pruned up so we said goodbye and headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. We drove to town as we weren’t sure we’d be able to climb back up afterwards!

Since we had the car, we took the long way back which went by A&W since Jeff had been dreaming of a root beer float all day! Disappointing result, but a beautiful drive where we came upon a small heard of elk grazing along the road.

Beautiful evening, played cribbage on our balcony until it got too dark to see the pegs (split again).

Total hike was 10 miles today with 2326 ft of elevation

Wednesday, 12 July 2022

Another lazy morning, finished up breakfast about 10am, and walked down the hill to town to rent bikes. We’d stopped in last night to check it out, and today a helpful clerk gave us great suggestions on possible rides.

We headed out of town towards Lake Minnewanka (a huge reservoir with two dams). Along the way, we stopped at Two Jack Lake, where many people were out on the water in kayaks and SUPs. We rode a nice bike trail out of town, and highway around the lakes – traffic was light and respectful, and the road surface was good but hilly! There were a number of bus tours, and the tourists would jump out for a few photos at a viewpoint, and back in to speed off to the next stop. Much better to be enjoying it from the seat of a bicycle!!

We’d stopped once for me to adjust the height of my bike seat and Jeff noted a large herd of elk across the meadow. Might have missed them if we hadn’t stopped. As we approached the Lake Minnewanka dam, cars were pulling over suddenly in the way that generally signals an animal sighting. I was praying it wasn’t a bear! Turned out to be a mountain goat, running along the shoulder towards us. I grabbed my phone and started recording a movie. I figured if he/she attacked me, at least I’d get a recording of it. He ran right past me, and past Jeff too – its still a great recording and I’m glad there was no attack!!

I was surprised to see a boat concession and snack shop as we neared Lake Minnewanka. There were a lot of people there, and we sat on a bench and ate our sandwiches and watched tourists trying to kayak against the wind, and others doing donuts in rented little boats?!

We rode back to Banff, mostly downhill and fun – with the exception of melting snow creating a river across the road – so cold when that water hit my back!! We locked up the bikes and walked to an ice cream shop, then back for another 10 miles on the golf course loop. That route brought us through a really cool path along the lake with local art in nature exhibits, and to the Bow River rapids and waterfall – whoa! Made me glad we didn’t paddle our canoe down this way the other day!!

We turned the bikes in and walked back to our resort for showers and a rest, the we drove back to town for dinner at a chaotic Greek restaurant, but good food. We ended our dinner with baklava and Metaxa.

Back to our room for cribbage - my slump continues, JT won both games with a skunk the second game, puts him up 9 to 4 for the series!

Total mileage today = 27.5 miles, 919 feet of elevation gain (4956 max)

Thursday, 13 July 2022

Another lazy morning, yoga and breakfast in the room. We researched how to run the Roam shuttle bus to Banff Upper Hot Springs, and downloaded the app with tickets to Jeff’s phone. We were headed to another hike that met our criteria: on the list, and tops out at the snow line!

We got on the bus early, and before we left downtown Banff, it was packed with standing room early. About half of the bus got off at the Hot Springs stop – a few of us to hike, the rest headed to the Hot Springs. The rest were likely riding to the next stop to take the gondola to the top ($70 round trip!).

We headed out on the Sulphur Mountain trail, zigzagging under the gondola. Two German couples started out just after us, and passed us moving pretty fast. A few switchbacks later, we found the two ladies sitting down and gasping, and the two guys trying to decide what to do. The ladies and one guy turned back, the other guy set off again at a quick pace, but after about 15 minutes we saw him heading down too.

It was a fairly steep incline, and a hot day - more work than I had anticipated it would be!

When we got to the top, it was a bit of a surreal environment with hundreds of families that had ridden to the top! At the top was a multistory facility with a restaurant, cafe, gift shop, and interactive displays including a small theatre.

We sat on the deck and ate our sandwiches and fruit, enjoying the scenery and people watching. After our lunch, we hiked the 0.6 km boardwalk hike to Sanson Peak (7500 ft), along with the gondola throngs! Our book calls this the “most lavish alpine trail in Canada,” an apt description!!People of all nationalities and body types! We’d hoped to take an alternative path (old road that serviced a former astronomical lab, now called the “Westside Trail”), but were disappointed to see it blocked off with a threat of $25,000 fine for entering the area. The road would have been longer, and less steep than what we’d hiked up, ending at Cave in Basin where we’d have caught another Roam shuttle. Jeff didn’t want to risk his knees going down the steep incline, so we popped the $78 for two one-way tickets down – 8 minutes!!

At the bottom, they have you exit past the photo shop (they take a photo of you as you’re loading at the top), through the gift shop, past the Starbucks… felt like a Disney ride! We went out to the bus stop and waited 20-minutes for a super packed bus. We jammed into the bus anyway. COVID be dammed!!

We got off the bus below our hill, and walked up to our resort. We hit the hot tub again, all to ourselves this time. When we got back to our room, another small wedding was happening! We cleaned up and went to our last dinner at the Prow. They know us there now!!

Evening cribbage on the balcony- split again. After cribbage, we walked down to the meadow to see if the elk were out. They weren’t but we found a sign with the roster of wedding rentals! Back to our room, we packed up to get ready for early departure tomorrow morning.

Total hike was 7.88 miles today with 2437 ft of elevation

Friday, 14 July 2022

We left Banff about 8am, with a final drive through the town we’ve come to know so well. It was really an amazing week to immerse ourselves into Banff without a tight itinerary.

Leaving the mountains and seeing them in the rear-view mirror always makes me sad, but we’ll be back in the Colorado Rockies next month!

We drove to the airport and dropped the car, then walked across the street to the airport Marriott where I’d reserved an expensive room, but we know we’ll be out late and have a 6:30am departure tomorrow morning!! We were happy they let us check is, as it was about 10am. We got stuff laid out for tonight and tomorrow, then headed out to find the bus to downtown. I was in my new cowboy boots and we both had our new hats on – but we would have looked odd in Calgary if we hadn’t been dressed like that!

We misjudged the stop for bus 300 to downtown, so after it went past, we ran after it, caught it, and the driver was patient enough for us to figure out the ticket machine and we were able to board the waiting bus. We didn’t exactly know where we were going, so after about 30 minutes we were downtown and I was following the map on my phone and it seemed like we were heading in the opposite direction we wanted to go, so we got off and started walking. That was awesome, as we came upon a street that was blocked off for 4 blocks with a Stampede party going on! Reminded us of the Kentucky Derby as people greeted you in Louisville with “Happy Derby Day,” today they were saying “Happy Stampede!” Some ladies at an information booth gave us a map and schedule of today’s events at the Stampede, and a brochure on transportation so maybe we could find bus 300 after its over tonight?!

We walked down there street, stopped for a parade of people on horses, past the Olympic Plaza where a concert was going on, and followed the crowd into the Stampede Grounds. It was a hot day – not quite noon. The process at the gate was casual, and they didn’t much care that Jeff had a backpack with water bottles.

It took us awhile to get the layout of the grounds. We went into one of the pavilions and watched the “Canadian National Miniature Horse Show,” which was a little on the creepy side to me. Full sized adults being pulled in carts by miniature horses. But it felt good to sit out of the heat for a bit!

Next, we walked to the “Elbow River Camp,” where we sat in the sun and watched a spectacular “Powwow Demo.” Great drumming / chanting / dancing. Most enjoyable was a young man doing a “hoop dance,” technique that had been passed on from his grandfather.

From there, we headed back inside to the largest building, the “BMO Market, Western Oasis and Wine Garden.” We’d hoped to catch the Canine Stars “Dog Bowl,” but that showing was up to capacity. We bought fresh squeezed lemonade and sat and watched some of the presentations going on in the Market. Then we wandered to the back of the building where we found a fantastic nature photography display, a small stage with a talented singer, and the wine garden. We sat and had a glass of wine, then went to line up for the next Canine Star show (which did not disappoint) – rescued dogs taught to jump, catch frisbees, etc.

Back outside, we grabbed some dinner from food carts and found a small spot to sit on the grass in the shade while we ate. Then we headed to “Nashville North,” which was a large tent with musical acts, expensive drinks, and people watching that was out of this world! Pretty, young, scantily clad ladies mixing with rodeo guys. We stayed there until it was time to go to the evening show at the grandstand. The show started with Chuckwagon Races, which were really fun to watch, Indian bareback relay races (my favorite), several musical acts, the Young Canadian dancers, and a firework finale, the likes of which we’d never seen – it left us breathless.

We didn’t intend to stay for the whole show, but we were glued to our seats and didn’t want to leave. Of course, we felt differently about that when we joined the thousands of attendees streaming out! We got on a bus headed toward downtown, but it was so mired in traffic we went nowhere for thirty minutes or so. Downtown, we decided to get off and maybe walk to find the bus back to the airport. but it was already after midnight! A check of Uber showed about a 10-minute wait, so we called the Uber and a nice driver deposited us at the Airport Marriott about 1am. We took quick showers to wash the grime of the day off, and fell into bed.

4am alarm was painful, and by 4:30a we were waiting to check into our Delta flight. There was only one gate agent and we were 45 minutes there! The security line was long, but we got through without issue and had time to grab breakfast before our 6am flight to Minneapolis. We hadn’t had much to drink at the Stampede, but we felt hungover just the same!!

Throughout this trip, I really couldn’t shake the disappointment of not doing our Yukon adventure. We did a lot of great stuff and saw some spectacular sites. The Stampede adventure was one of the highlights for me – especially since I’d never heard of it!! The First Nation performances were moving, yet sad when you think of what the white man did to dissemble their culture. Its great that they’re able to share it with us in this way.

#calgarystampede2022 banffhiking

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