Calgary During a Forest Fire

 It was supposed to be a relaxed Canadian Rockies trip for two guys. My brother and I decided to go hiking and travelling in Banff, Yoho and Jasper during the third week of August. The weather was supposed to be sunny and hot, and we were looking for a good time in the mountains. The last time I had visited was in 2019, and I was looking forward to doing a few things I had missed out then.

Suddenly, a day before I was to fly to Calgary, forest fires erupted everywhere. There were already fires in British Columbia, but the day before I was to fly, a new forest fire erupted in Canmore (only 20 minutes away from Banff).

I landed in Calgary to apocalyptic scenes. It was something out of a Batman nightmare movie, with the world burning and a strange orange haze everywhere.

The temperature was 38 degrees, and it was HOT! Not to mention, a brown haze and smoke filled the air everywhere. I had never seen Calgary like this.

My brother and I drove to the Peace Bridge. You can see pictures from my time there in 2016 (5 years ago!) by clicking here. Note how clean it is and how brilliant it looks in sunny weather and blue skies. And what a contrast it was to these pictures right here!

The weather almost reminded me of UAE. Hot, dusty, haze and smoke and sand everywhere. When I looked at the setting sun, disappearing in a bunch of smog, it reminded me of Dhaka. 

Hopefully for the people of the area, rain was in the forecast. When I had seen the weather previously, I had groaned at the rain. Yet, sometimes what we hate is good for us. The rain would clear away all the smoke and fire.

For now, we had a change in plans. Tomorrow we were supposed to be in Lake Louise, hiking. The smog and fires changed all of that. Instead, we were to go to Yoho where the air was supposedly much cleaner.

On to Yoho ...