Banff, in different ways wasn’t quite what we expected. There is Banff, the ski town, and all around it- Banff, the National Park which includes Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. The park also borders a few other national parks, Yolo, Jasper, and Kootenai. It is vast, dense with 360 degree views of the Canadian rockies. The national parks flow into one another with out much clarity of where one ends and another begins. Unlike the U.S. parks, the Canadian parks do not have visitor centers and instead information kiosks and a small information center in town. We found the kiosks are more for the town and less for the park. On one hand, Banff was more wild in the sense there wasn’t any one or many identified spectacle but you were free to explore it all at your leisure. On the other hand, it was very crowded, difficult to park, and the crowds ranged from the young, the old, families, tour busses, and everything in between. The crowd felt more Disney and less mountaineer than what we have come to expect in the wilderness landmarks.

That being said, we did go on some great hikes with awe inspiring views on the Canadian rockies, glacial lakes and dense forest. The campgrounds inside the park perimeter where we stayed were well maintained and included more amenities than U.S. parks (showers, dishwasher stations, unlimited pre cut firewood). We liked camping there but also missed our dispersed sites with fewer human inhabitants.

The Canadian rocky mountains are grand, jutting from the landscape steeply, with a variety of formations- jagged cliffs, tree covered slopes, snow covered peaks,, glaciers revealing valleys with turquoise lakes, all superimposed alongside one another, creating an awe inspiring landscape that nearly takes your breath away. These mountains have their own weather. Clouds form within them, rise up to their peaks and down in their valleys, rainstorms can come suddenly and swiftly, staying for a while or shortly dispersing revealing rainbows through a clear again blue sky.

We took the scenic Icefield Parkway drive toward Jasper and stopped to hike a bit around Bow Lake, making some other stops at the base of some of the other mountains along the 100 mile parkway. If youre in the Banff area, we highly recommend this truly awesome drive.

Lake Louise, one of the most photographed glacial lakes in the world, lives up to the hype. We walked around her perimeter and hiked above it, viewing the turquoise water from all angles.

Kelly has been wanting to hike the famous Lake Agnes Tea House route for a few years. After figuring out the shuttle system to Lake Louise, we finally arrived and started the steep hike for some hot tea with a view. The hike and tea house did not disappoint. Lake Agnes is a charming glacial Valley lake all of its own, 3k meters up the mountains. Lake Agnes Tea House is a family owned business that has existed since 1901. Its original use was one as a refuge for Pacific Railway workers and hikers. Today, it remains a quaint, isolated haven awarding hikers after their steep climb with a warm cup of tea and delicious pastries for purchase. We sat up there a while, savoring our hiking rewards, watching chipmunks try to steal trail mix from hikers packs and the clouds lift from the valleys, revealing a serene glacial mountain landscape, quiet and vast.

We hiked down just in time to escape from the thunderstorm we could see rolling in from our summit hike of Big Beehive. We crowded under a wooden awning with many other travellers, avoiding the downpour and awaiting our shuttle to Lake Moraine. By the time we go there, the rain had cleared and the sky was blue, reflecting the Caribbean hues of the lake. Lake Moraine rivals Lake Louise in its beauty and clarity. The combination of those two lakes in a day was a unique and beautiful experience. And to top it off, we saw some Stellars Jay birds, deep irridescent violet birds with a fan of crown feathers mimicking a mowhawk. We have blue jays in the Midwest, but the mountains of the northwest are the habitat of these plum colored Stellars.


All in all, Banff was a unique experience, worth navigating the unexpected crowds but we left ready to get back to a less busy wilderness. Our next stop, Montana!






