This time last week we were in Calgary, Alberta enjoying time with family. We went up for our nephew's baptism and stayed about 5 days. We had a lot of fun visiting family and just being together. It's been so long since the girls and I were last in Calgary - almost two years! Now that we live so much closer, we won't ever go that long in between visits and I can't wait to explore Alberta with my family. I have a running list of things to do and see when we go up. One thing that I want to try to do every trip, is drive through Banff and stop for a hike. If you haven't been to Banff, you should fix that and go because it's gorgeous. I had chosen an easy hike - Silverton Falls (trailhead is at the Rockbound lake parking lot, right by Johnston Canyon) for our little family to do. The mountains and trees were perfectly flocked with snow and before we arrived at the trailhead big, fat snowflakes began to fall. It was completely perfect. Holly and Greta were thrilled to be in the snow and going for a hike. I said to Conor that what we had been doing wrong with all our hikes up to this point was we weren't hiking in snow. It was amazing.
We made it to the falls and this is were it got a lot colder! The frozen creek came right up to the path, but it didn't register with Holly that it was ice and she walked out a few feet. I called out to her quickly knowing what she was doing and knowing what would happen, but it was too late. The ice broke and the poor girl was soaked up to her hips! She managed to scramble out okay and we quickly took off her wet clothing and wrapped her in my coat. Fortunately it wasn't very cold (only a little below freezing), and we hadn't made it more than 15-20 minutes from the parking lot. Everything was fine and some kind strangers who came upon us right after she fell in brought us a fleece blanket. It all turned out okay, just a little startling!
Conor and I have since talked about the event and shared our perspectives. Maybe this was an important lesson for our girls to learn. The dangers of ice. Maybe it'll save them from a future fatality. If not, it sure has left us with a strong standing memory of Banff!
