To The Mountains I Go: Banff Adventure Part 2: Johnston's Canyon & Ink Pots

Johnston Canyon

Distance : 4.8 km return

Elevation Gain : 120 m

Time Required : 1.5 hours

Difficulty : Easy

Trailhead : Johnston Canyon Parking Lot

This interpretive walkway follows the edge of Johnston Canyon – at times clinging to the walls of the canyon itself (handrails are included) – and leads excited hikers to the stunning, cascading waters of the Lower and Upper Falls. This hike is open in winter as well (look for ice climbers on the frozen waterfalls!), but may require the use of ice cleats, available for rental in Banff.

Ink Pots

Distance : 5.4 km one way

Elevation Gain : 215 m

Time Required : 4 hour

Difficulty : Moderate

Trailhead : Johnson Canyon parking lot

After experiencing the waterfalls along the Johnston Canyon trail, continue beyond its Upper Falls to reach a set of brilliantly coloured pools.

Access: Take Trans Can (hwy 1) onto Bow Valley Trail and there is lots of signs to follow.

Experience:

So part 2! The sisters really wanted to see the falls, and never been to the ink pots so we hurried off! We were hustling because we wanted to be back by 7pm. The place was PACKED! There was so many people! We just passed them and stopped only to take pictures of the main waterfalls. It was beautiful as usual! We then made our way to the Ink Pots and it was harder than I imagined it would be. Maybe it was because I already did one hike and this was the second one. Lets just say it felt longer than it should have.

Sister Clegg and I made nicknames for each other and Sister Maynes. I'm Sweaty, Sister Clegg is Smurfy, and Sister Maynes is Bubbles. We even made our own song that will be in the top 10 hits one day. Its called Sweaty Head. Hahaha!

We made it to the ink pots and we took some nice pics. I ran out of water to I filled it in the neighboring river, and I am not dead so it was a very good decision on my part. The pots are a bright green/blue color, and they were bubbly! It was cool.

The sky began to look nasty and we heard some thunder so we started to head back. It rained a bit on us, but nothing to terrible. I went forward with Sister Nelson because I was so excited to get back to the car. I don't know what kept me moving but I honestly think it was because I had a beat going over and over again in my head that made my legs move at a nice pace. We made it to the car and my butt is sore. I figured we did about 7.5hours of hiking in one day. That's a pretty long day. We all did so well and all had a blast!