Badger Pass / Mystic Pass Loop - Banff National Park - Day One, Johnston Canyon to LUELLEN Lake

In 2017 or 2018, a friend and I visited Banff National Park for a long weekend of day hiking. One of our hikes was Johnston Canyon, up to the Ink Pots. Along the way I saw this brown sign that indicated other places and how many kms away they were. I was intrigued by this sign and took a picture for reference later…what later was at that point I didn’t know.
Once at the Ink Pots, a group of 4-5 young backpackers came from the opposite direction, and my mind was blown! I asked my friend…where did they come from? Where have they been?!! I felt an instantaneous Need to know what lay beyond the Ink Pots.
I truly believe that was the trip that sparked my desire to go from day hiker to backpacker.
6-7 years (and many other trails/miles/dreams) later… I FINALLY got to find out what lay beyond the Ink Pots! With having the PCT under my belt, my need to know details of the trail was much less significant, giving way to the spontaneousness of just going and finding out. I asked my courageous friend Nicole, if she would trust me in booking us permits for this loop I had only seen on a map, and come with me! Bless her heart she said Sure!! lol!
All I knew was about how many kms were between camps and the direction the trail was to go. I did no research into the trail itself, what to expect, elevation gains…nothing! There was a trail and bookable camps… the rest was just semantics! Let’s go on a true adventure!
After booking permits for Nicole and I, my friend from the PCT, Woodsy got wind of this cool trip and asked if he could join! Nicole graciously agreed that he could join. I checked for permits and every spot still had spots available! Wow! And so our group grew by one!
I am SO incredibly thankful and grateful that these two trusted me to take them out to the backcountry practically blind. It was an amazing experience and one of my most favourite trails/loops thus far in Canada!
Please enjoy this long awaited dream of mine come to fruition!
This video is day one - Johnston Canyon to LUELLEN Lake. 16-17kms plus or minus the kms the national parks system likes to delete from their signs 😜🤦‍♀️