COMMUNICATION: It goes two ways

By: MJ + PJ

In Canada we elected to not suffer the burden of network roaming charges. Our phones were used as GPS devices and not for communication unless connected to WiFi. Which is manageable if you are a single party of one vehicle.

On a particularly productive day in Banff National Park we split from our cousin during the first hike in Johnston Canyon. We had a general plan to meet up at Lake Lousie and then continue to two recommended points in Yoho NP. 

We hiked back to our vehicle hoping to see them, as it was around lunchtime. No such luck. As we were buckling up to drive away we noticed a green card on the windscreen. We were disappointed that we had been issued a ticket for an unwitting offense, until we realized it was a note. The note, authored by our cousin, explained where they were headed. We rejoiced at her ingenuity and old-school approach. 

Off we went to Lake Louise. Since it was the Canada Day long weekend parking was difficult and using the shuttles was advised. We abided as we had a lot to see and time was of the essence. At the overflow parking lot we found her car, parked next to it, and returned the note with our plan and time estimates. Our odds of finding each other were looking good. But alas, there was no sign of them anywhere at Lake Louise.

When we returned to our vehicle after spending almost 2 hours exploring Lake Louise we found their car and our note still in place. Weird – did we miss something at Lake Louise that they stayed and got to see? We amended our note with our Yoho plan, and off we went as a fairly consistent rain started to fall. You can get wet exploring, or sit in your wet tent. Ain’t nobody got time for a wet tent! 

Emerald Lake in Yoho NP was next on our list, followed by a winding drive up to Takakkaw Falls. There was no sign of our traveling buddies at Emerald Lake, and no sign of them at Takakkaw Falls… until we got back to our car. Which seemed impossible. How could they have seen the falls, and not us, if it was a fairly short out and back trail?

Turns out that they were either in the restroom, or had walked the other side of a line of trees in the parking lot at the very time we were starting the trail. So close! 

We headed back to camp expecting to find them, but they had continued to Emerald Lake (the reverse of what we had done). They arrive back to camp about 45 min later. After exploring the parks for 10 hours in proximity but never together, we had quite a reunion discussion!

A few days later, PJ saw some other hikers using an old but cheap and reliable method, which was like a eureka moment. The advice from this story of near misses is that if you are traveling with a caravan of vehicles in networkless areas you should probably get a few hand-held or two-way radios (walkie-talkies) with which to communicate.

Your other option is to see if you can utilize your phone by notifying your phone carrier. Expect daily charges and conditions, but this may work if your trip is quite short and your use is quite low.