Day 3 - Lake Louise and Banff
The next day we woke up a bit later than usual - probably around 7am or so, and after a quick breakfast we headed off to Moraine Lake. We had heard about this being a popular place - but didn't know it was THAT popular. We got there before 10am, and the entry was blocked off and there was a long line up of cars waiting to go in. So we head back down the mountain and got on a shuttle to Lake Louise instead.
We were a little bummed out because we wanted to go canoeing on Moraine Lake that morning, but we ended up canoeing on Lake Louise and in the end I think everything worked out.
We knew that Lake Louise is supposedly the "more famous" attraction in the area, there's more parking and lots more to do than at Moraine Lake. We took a shuttle up, but it would have actually been ok to drive up to Lake Louise and park there, that would have saved us time instead of waiting for the shuttle bus.
We got there just before 11am, and so waited in line for about 15 mins for the canoe station to open. It's $95 for 30 mins and $105 for 1 hour of canoeing - quite expensive I know, but I think it was worth it. We also wanted to canoe on Moraine Lake, but the next morning when we visited there, I think I would still have preferred Lake Louise.
We definitely got our money's worth - we paddled out to the middle of the lake and took a whole bunch of photos and admired the blue-green water, the evergreen covered mountains, and the snow capped peaks. It was also nice, because there were other canoes around - so we offered to help other take their photos and asked for their help with our photos; but not so crowded that we would get into each other's photos/way.
After we came down from the mountain, we headed back to our campsite at Johnston Canyon for lunch. Then we hiked into Johnston Canyon as this attraction was just too close to pass up. The hike is not difficult although at times it's steeper than I imagined it to be. At first I thought it would be a straight even path. This goes up a little and like any waterfall or canyon there's a lower falls and an upper falls. We only had time to walk up to the lower falls, but it was still stunning. And the cool thing is that there's a little cave that you can walk through and see the waterfall from a different angle.
above: walking through the canyon, the walls rise high above you
below: the lower falls of Johnston Canyon - there's a little cave to see the waterfall from a different angle
Afterwards, we drove down into the town of Banff and went to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. This is the site where they first discovered a natural hot spring, and the area around it eventually grew into Banff and the National Park that we have today.
above left: the round stone marks the place where 85 items were placed underground from 1985.
It was supposed to be opened at 50 years, but last year some thief came and opened it.
above right: the hole that led to the discovery of the first hot spring.
below: we filled up on natural spring water before leaving.
The town of Banff is not very big, but the main street/ block is full of restaurants and little shops selling souvenirs and local goods. We walked along the main street trying out the Beaver Tails (a fried flat donut coated in cinnamon sugar) - very yummy, but one serving is too much for one person. Then looked around for a restaurant for dinner.
After dinner, we headed to Banff Upper Hot Springs for a soak. Apparently, a lot of people had the same idea as us. There were about 20-30 people in line to pay the entrance fee, and when we got out to the pool (it's not a natural hot spring, but the pool is filled with hot spring water), it was FULL of people! There were also some pretty large groups of students.
If you forgot to bring your swimsuit you can rent a swimsuit from them, and it's styled like the swimsuits from an older era - which can make for some fun photos. We stayed for about an hour and then took a nice long, hot shower and washed our hair (which we couldn't do the last two nights as we didn't have a hair dryer and didn't want our hair and head to freeze during the night).
Day 4 - Moraine Lake and Lake Louise Ski Resort
The next morning we woke up SUPER EARLY, we wanted to get to Moraine Lake before the road closed and when we asked one of the staff yesterday they said to get there before 8am. We also had to pack up our camp before leaving because we will be leaving Banff and start making our journey back to Vancouver over the next two days.
I got up at 5am because I was cold and had a headache. Got changed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, boiled hot water and then woke up Jen. Everything was fine, until we had to pack up the pop up tent. We forgot how to do it properly.... and after several tries, we decided to watch the youtube video again. :)
We finally got the tent packed up and started on our way to Moraine Lake. You need to drive up the mountain like you're going to Lake Louise, but half way to Lake Louise, you will turn left into a drive way for Moraine Lake. From there it's another 11km (or sth like that) to get to Moraine Lake. The drive was quite long with lots of turns - be careful!
above: these logs are on the water and walking across is just as scary as a game of Pick-up Sticks
When we arrived there were already lots of cars parked. I think some people stay overnight at the lodge there so their cars and windows were all frosted/frozen.
We got there waaaaaayyyyyy too early to canoe, and it was really cold there as the sun wasn't shining down on us. We did get some nice photos by climbing up the rock pile, but I found the scenery was all the same. There was only one view. It was a little disappointing because during my research, most people said they like Moraine Lake more than Lake Louise, but I thought it was disappointing... maybe because we went there in the morning? I looked at where the sun was shining and think, because of the orientation of the lake, it might be a better place to go in the late afternoon to sunset.
After that we headed to the Lake Louise Ski Resort to have lunch. We took the ski lift up to the top and had lunch at Whitehorn Bistro. You can ride up in a cable car (all enclosed) or in an open ski lift - we opted for the open ski lift as the sun was out and we wanted to enjoy the view without a piece of glass in front of us.
The lunch at Whitehorn bistro was pretty good - we were always on the lookout for steak, and it was the best steak on this trip at Whitehorn bistro.
After lunch, we started on our drive back to Vancouver. Today we will make a couple of stops along the way to Revelstoke. On the way, we pass by the Spiral Tunnels. Theses are a set of tunnels where you will see the train go in one tunnel and continue on into another tunnel - I know this description is not very helpful...
Then we drove to see Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge. You will reach natural bridge first, this is a rock that used to be part of a waterfall, and because of erosion, it's now become a bridge made of natural material.
Then we kept driving further on the road and arrive at Emerald Lake. This lake is much larger than Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, and you can canoe here too! It's also a lot less expensive to canoe here. The area around Emerald Lake is also very picturesque. We walked around the Lake and there's a resort/lodge here and I think this would be a nice place to stop for a night/day.
From there we made our way to Revelstoke, where we stayed for the night.
Day 5 - Revelstoke's Pipe Mountain Coaster
At first, Jen wanted to go whitewater rafting..... but we missed the last rafting trip of the summer by a week. So we found some other activities to do - paragliding, pipe mountain coaster, taking a helicopter flight. I was quite interested in the pipe mountain coaster because I've never been on one and we found out about it as it was offered as part of a package with a whitewater rafting tour that we wanted to do.
So the first thing we did after breakfast was head up to Revelstoke Ski resort. Our energy was actually kind of low after the last few days of camping and packed itinerary, but going on the coaster definitely helped to bring it back up!
We went twice - the first time was a little scary with all the surprises - drops, the speed, the fact that you're only strapped in with a belt around your waist. The second time we knew what was coming up, so it was still enjoyable, but you are not as scared.
After that, we started on our way to Lake Country in the Okanagan. We checked in to our airbnb and then went out to visit some of the wineries.
The whole time during our trip, we kept wondering if we would encounter some grizzly bears or other wild animals, but we didn't see a single animal in Banff/Jasper. As we were leaving the winery, we suddenly saw deers galloping along the road. We stopped and there were like 10 coming down the hill. they turned the corner and disappeared. But we drove up the road and saw that they had sneaked into the vineyard and were eating the grapes!!! Those little thieves!
After we arrived back at our airbnb, we stayed in that night and watched Netflix.
Day 6 - Langley and Vancouver
Early next morning, we got in our car again and made our way back to Vancouver. The roads from Kelowna to Vancouver have lots of turns, and to add to that we had a huge downpour of rain (thankfully, we didn't have any rain the other days of our trip).
We stopped in Langley to meet up with Eve for lunch. No photos! But we did go and visit Eve again in Port Moody at the Eight Corner Tea Room - such a beautiful place.
