And so it was with mixed feelings that we retreated once again for another night in Canmore. It was sad that our boat was a write off, but mostly we were happy just to have retrieved everything from the river.
As prospective canoe loan applicants, Gary and I surely must have lay somewhere at the bottom of the barrel. Fresh off this formidable foible, I figured we'd be black listed from Fredericton to Fernie. So, imagine our delight when that night, Gary Parkstrom from the Mountain Parks Watershed Association volunteered his canoe for the remainder of our trip!
Wasting no time, we departed from Lake Louise the next day. The river downstream of Lake Louise was placid compared to the upstream portion. We enjoyed revisiting the sights of our cycling trip from water level. One sight that didn't escape Gary's attention on the return voyage was the Dairy Queen in Cochrane. He kept it a secret from me until we'd finished a large spaghetti dinner and packed up the dishes on our last night of the trip. It was already ten o'clock and dry lightning was cracking in the distance. If anyone saw the two guys running through town in raincoats and Teva's that night, they wouldn't have known of the ceremonial importance of our pilgrimage.
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