Day 8 – Dinosaur Provincial Park-Calgary, Alberta

Day 8 – Dinosaur Provincial Park-Calgary, Alberta

We woke up at around the same time as yesterday, about 0700 hrs. We had a lecture on how to correctly pack our backpacks and sleeping bags, as well as our air mattresses. We ate a small breakfast before we began packing everything away.

We packed up both tents with relative ease. For those who have never packed up a tent should know that it’s a real team effort. We have to make sure all the lines are tied, all the pegs are pulled out, then collectively, we have to clean off and fold the fly, the actual tent, and finally the tarp. Sometimes you have to roll them up, and someone rolls, some have to clean anything that we missed, and everyone else has to push the air out to make it easier for the person to roll the tent up. And then you have to work together to make everything fit back into the tent bag. (In my opinion, this is the hardest part, making everything fit!)

We packed all of our belongings, along with the equipment into the Sprinter. And then we were off! Off to Calgary; our last day in civilization before Rocky. We stopped in the Chinatown in Calgary, and ate lunch there. We all paid for ourselves, because we didn’t eat from our stocks of bread that Billy offered us. But I know I’ve been craving Chinese food…:D

We explored downtown a bit after our scrumptious Asian lunch. We went to the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre. We didn’t stay for too long, just had a quick peek around. I got a chance to see some traditional brush paintings on display. We also heard a Chinese band practicing in another room. We looked around a mall in Chinatown. It was anime and bubble tea central! It was almost like Pacific Mall in Markham, for those who have been there.

The citizens of Calgary are very nice. They helped us with the parking meter, and taught us how to use it. And while we were in the mall, a friendly couple chatted with Billy and told us of this great hiking trail that we may hike tomorrow.

Ohhh! It’s hailing right now as we’re in the motel. It’d really be fun if we were camped out right now. Wow…now the hail is getting bigger.

Well, we waited until the storm passed before we went to get our dinner. Originally we had wanted to get steaks for dinner. However, we couldn’t find a good steakhouse to eat at. So we ended up getting pizza and chicken wings and bringing them back to the motel to eat.

It’s already pretty late here, and we’ll need our energy for the hike in Kananaski Country tomorrow. So goodnight everybody! :D