Banff-Lake Louise

Finally arriving at the Canadian Rockies we stopped at Wapta Falls for a short hike. The first thing we noticed was the mosquitos…lots of them.

Later we set up camp at Lake Louise. It was Friday night and all of creation was in a queue to get into the campground. I guess Banff is popular.

The next day we set out to explore the Icefields Parkway; a scenic drive through the mountains to Jasper with the Columbia Icefields (30km long icefields that feeds 3 glaciers each running to the Artic, Pacific and Atlantic respectively-CHECK FACTS) in the middle. 

Stopping everywhere to take in the views of the jagged mountains, aqua-marine lakes and enormous glaciers, we arrived at the icefields only to discover that we hadn’t brought any nappies for G. Doh! So the decision was made to drive to Jasper, 65 miles away. 130 miles round trip for diapers is what a parent will do. We had an ice cream, bought some nappies and headed back again.

We stopped at Athabasca Falls and after a minor meltdown by Georgia regarding her dislike of wearing a jumper or raincoat, we enjoyed walking around these powerful falls.

We wanted to stop again at the Athabasca Glacier on our way home but another coat/jumper meltdown scuppered our attempts to climb to the toe of the glacier. Oh well, travelling with a 2.5 year old has its moments.

A beautiful morning greeted us at our campsite so we took a short journey to nearby Moraine Lake. We lucked out with a good parking spot at what was a busy destination. We spent the morning strolling beside the ice-blue lake. Georgia’s starting to become a very good hiker.

After the standard hot dog lunch at Eagle (usual backup to our in-motion sandwiches in War), we drove to Banff 45 minutes away. We took another hike near Banff 

then ended up walking the pretty, main street of Banff. We finished our busy day off by having dinner at The Keg, a local steak chain that is a tradition in this part of Canada and where Tim and his brother Nigel both worked at when they were younger. It was nice to eat out!

On the drive home, Karen swore she saw a moose, however, it’s head was down and tail swishing.  That was promising as she was getting disappointed by not seeing a bear (black, brown or grizzly), moose, mountain goat, big horn sheep, elk or caribou, as all the highway signs warned you.