I somehow managed to get through my whole life before Canada without ever actually camping. I've stayed in shacks at campsites, shared bunk rooms with numerous people, but never actually pitched a tent.
Camping is very popular in this part of the world. The moment that enough snow has melted to open up the hiking trails in the Rockies, most people start pitching tents. However, there are the die-hard enthusiasts who actually camp nearly all year round. In snow.
MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) http://www.mec.ca/Main/home.jsp;jsessionid=GxtWGMdLRDb1v7R3YtrMV2jTLGSfVLDxwGfPyRJSbJxN9G4FZxZ7!1583577009?bmLocale=en&bmUID=1190227350557
...is Canada's must-shopping experience for anything you might need for spending time outdoors. Similar quality to Kathmandu but much cheaper and with a huge selection.
Laura's friend KC is a keen snowboarder. Despite looking 23 years old, she also works in some executive management role for a stockbroking company, actually does always look like she's stepped out of a salon, and her eyes and smile have a movie-star sparkle naturally. She is also one of the loveliest, most easygoing girls. She and her sister, who is a leggier, more Swedish backpacker version of KC, were organising a camping overnight trip at Banff, an hour away from Calgary in mid-June.
They asked me if they should go on a "big trip" of Australia and would they be made welcome by the people. I heard at least 8 million Australian men in my head shouting, "YES !!!" as I told them that they would have no problems at all.
The "snowboarding gang" showed up and Laura and I met a whole bunch of new people. I found out what snowboarders do on the off-season. They like being in the mountains but are not interested in hiking. They partied hard into the night with Jeremy, the shirtless teddy bear around a roaring open fire where we flamed hot dogs for dinner and marshmellows. I called it an early night sometime after midnight, to dire threats from the others that they would leave the real bears to get me for piking out early.
In actuality, I am scared of bears. Although our campsite was near Banff town, no matter how much you party into the night, all food scraps, rubbish and drinks have to be locked in your car or in bearproof bins at night, because bears can smell food in any container from a distance. The next morning, but for the tents and cars, it looked like no-one was there. The esky (cooler) with the sign was posted at the gate of the campground as a warning. The photographed cooler was one that had actually been mauled by a bear.
Laura's tent is small. Really small. You need to either be very comfortable in the other person's personal space, or carry a large bag of mints for both of you to get through the experience.
Laura is also not a hugger so once we were both in our sleeping bags, I gave her a wholly unwanted hug (spoon) as payback for leaving me up the dinosaur. I now have a reputation as an "aggressive spooner" for my around-the-waist-crocodile-wrestling-technique, which equally applies to Texans.
The next morning we had pancakes with real blueberries and maple syrup, cooked on a gas-fired frypan in the sunlight and shade of the towering pine trees. The picture-perfect peaceful scene was only broken by a few birds and one of the younger snowboarders losing last night's dinner and drinks not-too far in the distance. Her boyfriend was encouraging, calling, "Just get it all up honey" while he continued making our pancakes.
Laura and I packed up the tent and set out for hiking at Morainne Lake and Lake Miniwanka (which can, laughably be pronounced as it is written).
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