O, Canada. Can you just adopt me? Please? I’ll trade out my “por favor” for “s’il vous plaît” and I’ll learn to spell “color, “favorite,” and “neighbor” with a “u.” I spent my childhood near the border and was raised on the Canadian broadcast of Sesame Street, so I’ve been told I’m already an honorary Canadian anyway, eh? At any rate, I took off on a trip to Banff, Canada, and I brought a little grumpy Canadian with me to visit his home province of Alberta!
Banff is every bit as breath-taking in person as it is in photos. We started out with a visit to Moraine Lake.
It was here that I spotted my first pika of the trip! For those unfamiliar, pikas (pronounced pie-kuh) are mountain-dwelling rodents that are related to rabbits, and they’re STUPID CUTE. When they get spooked they make these ridiculous squeaking sounds to alert others. How is that adorable squeaking supposed to be alarming in any way?? It’s like nature did things wrong, but in the cutest way possible. They’re like little living squeaky toys, I just wanna squeeze one (but please don’t do that!). Look at this cuteness. They’re like something out of cartoon.
And of course if you visit Moraine Lake you have to visit Lake Louise too. We took a 12-mile loop hike starting from Lake Louise up to Mirror Lake (with the Big Beehive in the background), then to the Lake Agnes Teahouse, to the top of the Big Beehive (the hardest part of the hike), then to the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse before continuing on to the glaciers themselves, and back down to Lake Louise’s glistening lakeshore. It was a full day of hiking and we came back physically exhausted but mentally invigorated.
One part that wasn’t captured in photos was the earth-shatteringly loud CRACK that echoed through the air as we enjoyed some sandwiches at the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse. Turns out there was an avalanche high in the mountains. It wasn’t close enough to pose any danger to the park, but I’ll never forget how powerfully loud the sound was. All the nature documentaries in the world could never replicate hearing that sound in real life. One of those moments that humbles you even more as you’re exploring the vast expanse of planet earth.
Taking a leisurely drive down the Icefields Parkway is worth a day in itself, and was a great way to rest our legs after our 12 mile hiking day at Lake Louise. We took some detours to Yoho National Park and a quick visit into Jasper National Park to see the Athabasca Glacier as well. Three parks crossed off!
Johnston Canyon was also a great and easy hike, where most visitors reach the lower falls and turn back, some continue on to the upper falls, and even fewer go further out to the Ink Pots. The trail gets significantly quieter after the upper falls, which made for a lovely morning walk through the woods before we reach the clearing with sweeping views of the mountains and the colorful Ink Pots all around. Also saw a THICC butt on the trail, and we rewarded ourselves with ice cream in the end from the Johnston Canyon ice cream shack!
On our last full day we started our morning by summiting Tunnel Mountain, Banff’s most popular mountain. It’s an easily accessible mountain trail, where we spotted friendly locals going up and down for their morning jog. I can’t even imagine having that kind of view as your daily exercise, no wonder everyone was so happy and healthy out there. We spent the rest of the day exploring more of the area surrounding the town of Banff itself, and went to an Oktoberfest party with a great view! Logan seemed pretty happy with the beer.
At the end of the trip, Wolverine enjoyed his visit to his native Alberta so much that he decided to stay! I left him at a lovely little indie bookshop called Shelf Life Books in Calgary, where he was found and now has a new home in Scotland!
Six days, two provinces, three national parks, and a much-needed escape from every day life. Thanks for the literal breaths of fresh air, Canada. It was my first time visiting areas in Canada outside of Ontario and British Columbia, but I’m sure it won’t be my last. In the meantime, I’ve got a stash of ketchup chips to hold me over until I go back!
