Banff National Park - Day 3 - Columbia Icefield and Peyto Lake

We started out the day at Laggan's Bakery for breakfast and then picked up sandwiches to take with us up to the Icefields. 

We drove about an hour and a half to the Columbia Icefield and took a tour on the Athabasca Glacier. 

While we were on the glacier we filled our bottles with the water streaming down the glacier.

After our tour of the glacier we headed back down the Icefields Parkway and stopped at Parker Ridge for a trail that led up to a great view of the Saskatchewan Glacier. 

The alpine flowers were beautiful to see on our way up to this view. 

The next stop on our way back to Lake Louise was Peyto Lake. Vince took the steep trail down to the lakeshore while the rest of us walked through a nature trail by the observation decks. 

We returned to our hotel with a couple of stops along the way for wildlife sightings. 2 more black bears and 1 more grizzly. They were further away from us this time but still fun to watch. 

Banff National Park - Day 2 - Lake Louise

This morning we packed up our backpacks and started out on the Plain of Six Glaciers trail. The trail started out easy along the shore of the lake. 

We climbed up and found our first patches of snow. 

Then the trail contined to climb, providing us great views above the lake. 

Towards the end of the trail we reached the tea house and took a break to catch our breath and get something to eat. 

Vince, Amanda and Kasey continued to the base of the glacier while I took a few more minutes to recover from the hike up. 

We hiked back down to - much easier than going up - then drove 10 minutes to Moraine Lake. Vince and Amanda rented canoes while Kasey and I enjoyed the views from the shore. 

 

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!

Boarding our first leg

Amanda and I got up at 3:30am. Made it to the airport by 4:15. Amanda was prechecked through security. I had a bit longer line. The plane is slightly larger than a school bus.

Day 4 - Road Trip to Calgary - We arrived!

Today was a long day of driving - Billings, MT to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

After about 6 hours of driving, we crossed the border into Canada. 

Arriving in Calgary, the trip odometer reads 1996.7 miles - after 4 days of driving. I'm ready to get out of the car and start hiking.

Vince and Amanda arrive tomorrow morning. Looking forward to having the family together to explore some of Canada's national parks!

Day 3 - Road Trip to Calgary - Billings, MT

Today was a fun day!

We had a great brunch with Patty before we hit the road passing through Wyoming and entering Montana. 

We were doing great on time so we made a stop at the Little Bighorn National Monument in southern Montana. We walked around the battlefield grounds and saw where Custer made his last stand. 

We're staying in Billings tonight. Tomorrow we'll cross the border to Canada. 

Day 2 - Road Trip to Calgary - Boulder, CO

Today we drove to Colorado. We stopped in Denver at the huge REI store and then had lunch at Ted's with my friends Dave Ruch and Patty McKenna. Kasey and I tried a bison burger. We were both impressed. 

Next we headed to Boulder with Patty. We walked down Pearl street and browsed through a bunch of unique stores. Then we walked thru some of the historic neighborhoods of Boulder and saw a bunch of beautiful homes. 

Our last adventure of the evening was a Taste of Boulder event followed by a concert at the Chautauqua Auditorium. The food was great and the concert was wonderful. What a great venue for music.

Tonight we spend the night with Patty in Niwot, CO. Tomorrow we head north to Billings, MT.