Lakes, Hiking, and Driving

 Before I begin writing about yesterday's experience, I want to mention a few things I forgot in my exhausted stupor last night.

Wildlife

On the day of the glacier visit, we thought we might see some wildlife from the Skywalk, but the animals were elusive. We did see some Bighorn sheep climbing on a rock pile as we left the icefield.

During the Lake Minnewanka boat tour, we looked for wildlife, but only saw hikers. But as we drove through a residential area toward the highway, headed home for the night, we were surprised by a large group of 20 or so deer walking down both sides of the road. It was impressive!

Now let's talk about yesterday, the grand finale of our time in Banff. We packed up and checked out of our cute little apartment by 7:00 am to meet the Hop On Banff bus at the Banff Train Station. The Hop On Banff bus is a yellow school bus, which felt most appropriate for this teacher. It was also easy to spot in the ocean of tour buses whenever it was time to leave. There were actually two buses that allowed us to plan our day based on what we wanted to do. There were four drop-off and pick-up points, and we worked with our guide to figure out our best schedule.

The first stop was Johnston Canyon for about 90 minutes. This gave us a chance to hike to some waterfalls. The canyon was beautiful and the hike was mostly paved as we hiked up the side of the canyon along the rushing water. We saw a lot of small waterfalls and rapids, but our goal was to get to at least the Lower Falls. It was about 1.5 km to the lower falls with a climb of only 30 m. So the hike wasn't strenuous. There were quite a few people on the trail, and as we approached the viewpoint of the Lower Falls, it became pretty crowded. We felt like we were in a Disneyland line as Joe and I waited

about 20 minutes for an up-close view of the falls through a rock window. Meanwhile, David headed up the trail to the Upper Falls. This was about a 2 km hike, but the elevation was 120 m, so 4 times as steep. By the time Joe and I finished taking our photos at the Lower Falls, we were able to meet up with David . He only had enough time to get about 2/3 of the way to the top, but he still got to see some impressive falls. We headed back toward the trailhead, looked briefly through the gift shop, and caught the Hop On Banff bus for our next stop.

We drove on the bus for about 30 minutes to Lake Louise. Our guide pointed out mountain ranges and told us stories about the naming of both the mountains and the lake. Lake Louise was originally called "lake of the little fishes" by the Stoney Nakoda people, but the British later named it Lake Louise after Queen Victoria's daughter. Lake Louise is fed by the Victoria glacier so the names make sense. Lake Louise is a beautiful turquoise lake nestled in the mountains. There is a gigantic resort on one end, opposite the glacier. There were a number of long hikes that we didn't have time (or stamina) to complete, but we hiked along the lake edge and got close to where the glacier feeds into the lake. We saw some rock climbers on the side of the mountain and a lot of little squirrels that were pestering people who were sitting on the rocks, eating lunch. We spent about 2 hours at Lake Louise.

We hopped back on the bus for another 30-minute drive to Lake Moraine. Before getting there, we stopped for a quick photo op of Castle Mountain along with the river and valley below. Train tracks ran alongside the river. There is a train called the Rocky Mountaineer that travels along this track. It has glass domed cars for spectacular views. Lake Moraine, the hidden jewel of the Rocky Mountains, has only been well-known for about 10 years, but it has some of the most iconic views. It is surrounded by the 10-Peak mountain range, and is the main reason Joe wanted to come to Banff in the first place. We only had about an hour at Moraine Lake, but it was enough time to climb to the top of a gigantic rock pile to feast on the amazing view of the lake and mountains.

Our final stop on the Hop On Banff bus was the Lake Louise Gondolas. During the winter, this is a ski resort, but in the summer, you can ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and back down. During the 14-minute ride to the top, we enjoyed the quiet of the mountain, the sounds of birds, and the splendor of the mountainside. One person earlier in the day, spotted a grizzly bear grazing, but aside from birds, we only saw lots of gophers near the lodge. It was a nice relaxing end to our 9-hour trip around Banff.

The original plan was to return to the train station at 5:00 pm and then head to Emerald Lake. However, when we added the gondola ride, it added an hour to the trip. After speaking with our guide, she did not recommend trying to do Emerald Lake. It was over an hour to the lake and by the time we got there, it would be close to 8:00 pm. And then we would be driving over two hours to Calgary. So the decision was made to forego Emerald Lake. We will save it for another trip. As we headed back to the train station, we were excited to see a black bear in the brush and some more big-horn sheep.

We got in the car for a 90-minute drive to Calgary, where we will finish out our vacation.  As we said goodbye to Banff, Canmore, and the Rocky Mountains, I was happy that we made this trip. The beauty of the mountains and lakes was unbelievable and will stay with us for a long time.

Today is the Calgary Stampede, a different side of Canada. Time to get ready to go to the rodeo!

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