On Wednesday I started my day at 6am with eggs and hot chocolate. Joshua stopped by at 8am and we headed to Johnston Canyon. It is in Banff National Park about 30 minutes from Canmore. The temperature was about 0F at the start. The wind chill was around -5F. The trail is only 2.6km, a short hike. We were going to hike up the creek bed at the first ice climb but there was too much water around the start so we ended heading up the trail to end of the Canyon. There was some beautiful ice at the end of the canyon from WI2 to WI6 ice. I followed a WI2 slab where I was able to stand up and mostly side step up the slab. Then I did a traverse over to some more WI2 ice. The ice was much steeper on the next 2 pitches but still WI2. This climbing was challenging for me, doable and fun. The total climb was about 100 meters. Finishing a climb that has challenged me feels like I'm at the top of the world and anything is possible. After finishing another great day of ice climbing we headed down the creek bed for a little while then cut back up to the trail. I celebrated the day with a great steak dinner ok and maybe 1 or 2 beers.

On Thursday I twisted my knee a bit getting out of the truck. Good thing it was a rest day.