Like the title says, we went back to beautiful Banff this year at the end of May for 9 days.
It was just as amazing as the first time. Maybe more so this time because we stayed at multiple campgrounds, closer the places we knew were going to visit. Moraine Lake, Peyto Lake, Bow Lake, etc.
This saved us a whole lot of driving and allowed us to spend more time at each location. For example we spent and entire day at Moraine Lake, and visited Peyto Lake twice, and Bow Lake 3 times.
This time, we were more focused on spending quality time in Banff, as opposed to racing off to each spot with an eye on the time. I highly recommend this approach.
Moraine Lake
As I mentioned earlier, we spent nearly an entire day here. We caught the first shuttle at 6am or there abouts, and stayed on the rockpile for most of it. We did do a short hike to the end of the lake, but that’s about it. Somewhere along the way, I got the bright idea to go to The Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise for lunch.
I use the word “bright”, because it was a great idea. We had the most amazing lunch at Louiza and a couple of drinks. They gave us blankets and everything. It seemed like we might have been their first customers. It really wasn’t very busy.
We definitely recommend this place if you’ve worked up at appetite hiking up to the Little Bee Hive, or Lake Agnes Teahouse.
Lake Louise
A must visit on any trip to Banff. Even if you’re just passing through. You have to stop here…it’s the law. And have lunch at the Fairmont when you do.
It’s not one of my favourite locations in Banff, though it is Sher’s. So I see it as a challenge to get a good picture here. So far, I’ve been mostly unsuccessful. Though I did get a couple of bangers of the canoe shack, and a couple of Sher.
You can judge for yourself, there’ll be a couple of images in the gallery. But I’m glad we stopped here. We even paid to park, even though the parking attendants hinted at not paying since it was close to the cut off where you didn’t need to pay anymore. It was hard to tell what the message being sent was. One of them was pretty cranky…
Emerald Lake
This wasn’t necessarily on our itinerary, but we passed through here anyway and did a quick hike part way down.
We actually learned something during that short hike. If you’re standing on the bridge that connects the the Lodge and Lake, and look towards the end of the lake on the left, you’ll see what appears to be a clear cut section of trees. This infact is where avalanches happen and nothing really grows there. I guess it gets wiped out nearly every winter.
Avalanche Path
Johnson Lake
Through our many trips to Two Jack Lakeside Campground and Vermillion Lakes, we passed the sign for this lake so many times and ignored it. This time, no-can-do. We actually made our way on this trip and we were surprised at what awaited us there.
This an amazing lake and picnic area.
A word to the wise though, apparently there some infected fish there and the mud and lake water are contaminated with some kind of bacteria that will make you pretty sick. They don’t want you going in the water, or touching the mud during a certain time of year. There’s even a washing station at the entrance, just in case you trip and fall and land in the lake…
Parks Canada has added lots of signage, you really can’t miss it.
Lake Minnewanka
On our first time in Banff National Park, we make a quick trip to Lake Minewanka. Though I don’t remember it. Sher says we did, so I guess I can’t argue.
This time I remember. We actually came here twice during this trip. The first time was just a drive through. We passed by just see if there was anything of note. I was deterred by the marina. It’s the first thing you see, and I wasn’t that impressed.
The second time we came by, a couple of days later and actually parked. It was pretty hot that day, and I didn’t feel much like walking. I’m glad we did though, as the views as walk passed the marina and toward the picnic area pretty spectacular. Surrounded by Mount Inglismaldiek, Mount Girouard, Mount Aylmer, Mount Astley, and Mount Peechee, it’s stop on your trip that shouldn’t be avoided.
Not too long, I read an article about a vehicle being found at the bottom of the lake. So this only adds to the attraction.
Looking for another reason to visit? How ’bout this?
Bow Lake/The Lodge at Bow Lake
We had a hard top campground at Silverhorn, which is just up the road from Bow Lake. So it was easy to visit, and visit we did. We spent quite a bit of time here. They almost know us by name at the Lodge at Bow Lake. They definitely recognized us.
The hot chocolate here is to die for. It’s best we’ve ever had, hands down.
Our first day here it was raining. But we didn’t let that stop us. It actually added to the appeal and made for some great pictures and video. I hope that’s obvious when you see them in the gallery.
We did to the Bow Glacier Falls Trail. Or at least part of it. Sher did more than I did. My feet were killing me and 4.6kms one way seemed a bit much for me. Eventually she turned around and came back, after leaving me to fend for myself for about 45 minutes…
The Wrap Up
I could go on and on about this trip.
We spent many peaceful mornings by Two Jack Lake. This was by design. This campground is so amazing, we wanted to spend as much time as we could just sitting and looking at it. I’d say we accomplished that.
We saw some pretty decent sunsets, at Vermillion Lakes, Two Jack Lakeside and even a little bit of one at Johnson Lake.
All in, it was an awesome trip. Will we do it again, for the 4th time? Most definitely. It would be even better if we lived in Alberta. We haven’t ruled this out. There have been discussions.
So until then, or until the next time…
Check out our trips to beautiful Banff, here and here.
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