Banff National Park - Day 1

What an amazing day we've had!

Amanda and Vince arrived in Calgary with no problems and met up with me and Kasey around 11:30. We drove west on the Trans Canada Highway to the town of Banff picking up our 6-day park pass along the way. 

We went to the visitors' centre and got some great maps and advice about how to spend our time in the area. We were warned that the Moraine Lakes hiking trails are restricted to parties of 4 or more due to recent grizzly bear activity. Glad the whole family is together now!

We walked along the Bow River to the falls and then to the famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. We wandered the halls of the hotel and enjoyed the views from their windows.

We got back to our car and headed to Lake Louise (where we'll be spending the next 4 nights) via the scenic Bow Valley Parkway. Along the road we saw black bears on two different occasions, a grizzly bear and several elk. What an amazing site to see them in their natural habitat.

We also stopped at Johnson Canyon to hike to lower and upper falls. There were lots of people on the trail on the lower end but as we climbed up to the upper falls we had much of this beautiful trail to ourselves. 

After our hike we drove to the Mountaineer Lodge in Lake Louise. We quickly checked in and then drove a couple of minutes more to enjoy sunset at Lake Louise.  It's so pretty it doesn't seem real. 

We are all very tired after a long day. Looking forward to a good night's sleep!