1 Week in Banff & Jasper National Park: Part 2

So we left Jasper on Wednesday and then continued our way south, transitioning from the Icefields Parkway to the Trans-Canada highway for just a bit before making our way to Lake Louise. The rest of the trip was spent in Banff National Park, which was more crowded, but probably because they have some of the prettiest and bluest lakes ever.

Our itinerary in Banff was as follows:

Wednesday: Our first stop in Banff was Peyto Lake, which was so incredibly blue and amazing. The color was truly unreal. And, just because it was on the way, we pulled over at Bow Lake to check it out. Then, we pulled up to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for our middle-of-the-trip hotel stay. The hotel location is beautiful, though the hotel itself is a bit dated. It is a super nice stay though to be right on the lake and it was a nice way for us to break up the camping.

After checking in, we walked around the lake a bit and enjoyed the scenery for a bit before heading to dinner at the Fairview Restaurant, inside our hotel. The meal was tasty and the service was excellent. In particular, they have a homemade sourdough which was quite memorable.

Thursday: I got up early in the morning to go for a run, though, it really ended up being more of a walk with a few minutes of jogging mixed in. It was gorgeous to be out there with so few people to enjoy the peace and serenity of the lake. Then, I woke up J so we could get ready and go for a canoe ride. We were able to get one pretty immediately (helps to be guests of the hotel, as they get priority) and while we were sorting out our paperwork, we found out there was a bear by the boat rental shack so we got to observe a young grizzly before hopping into our canoe.

We relaxed in our room for a bit before checking out and grabbing lunch at the Lakeview Lounge. We requested to be seated outside, which was mostly great, except for when a rogue squirrel got a little too close for comfort. Then, we hopped on a shuttle bus to Moraine Lake where we hiked up the rockpile and then around the lake, snapping gorgeous shot after gorgeous shot of the bright blue water.

In the evening, we drove away from the hotel to set up camp at Johnston Canyon.

Friday: We woke up on the earlier side so that we could hike Johnston Canyon before it got too crazy crowded. It was a really fun hike, despite the number of people, and we enjoyed it immensely. Then, we hopped in the car and headed to the Banff Gondola. We rode up, had lunch at the Sky Bistro, and then walked up to the summit where we saw a hoary marmot.

Our server at the Sky Bistro had recommended Mount Norquay as a place to spot mountain goats (which I really wanted to see) so we headed over. Though we saw some big horn sheep, there were no mountain goats to be found.

Later in the afternoon, we spent a little time in the town of Banff, stopping by Three Bears Brewery before browsing some shops. Then, we set up camp (our last site!) at Tunnel Mountain Village 1 where we had a true 'girl dinner' of everything that was leftover. We had shopped almost perfectly for our provisions; if we hadn't been rained out at Miette, it would have been the exact amount of food we needed for the trip.

Saturday: We got up much more leisurely than usual because we had no major plans. We ended up packing up our tent for the last time and then headed into town for brunch at Brazen. It was pretty delicious, particularly their loaded truffle fries. Then we wandered around town a bit before hitting the road again, this time to do the Lake Minnewanka loop. We saw a few more sheep by Two Jack Lake, which was cool, but was just a blatant reminder that we hadn't seen any goat.

So, we headed to Goat Pond (and Goat Peak and Goat Mountain) to try and find some goats. The road there was a gravel path, which made for some interesting driving, but the scenery was quite beautiful. We ended up seeing a male big horn with some really big horns, which was awesome. And though we didn't see any goats at the various 'goat' sites, on our way back down the mountain, we did encounter a big group of mountain goats, including the cutest little babies! We also saw another flock of sheep, also with a few baby lambs. I was ecstatic.

In the afternoon, we drove to Canmore and checked into The Malcolm, which was actually a really nice hotel. Canmore is actually a pretty cute town and I think I liked it better than Banff. For dinner, we went to 2496 where we partook in the chef's choice tasting menu and we loved it. I also loved the fun cocktails served in cute cups.

Sunday: we had to wake up super early in the morning to drop off our car, took an Uber to the airport, and then we headed back to the States. It was mildly stressful at the airport because the security lines were so long and then we also had to go through immigration, which meant we basically had no time to do any duty-free shopping or get souvenirs, but at least we made it through to boarding.

Here's my video diary:

xoxo.