Banff National Park Part I

This year's family hiking trip took us to our neighbor to the north and into beautiful Banff National Park. We've been wanting to go here for a while and figured it was the perfect time to go with the kids since M is still able to ride in the hiking backpack. We may be limited on our next few big hiking trips when she can't fit into the backpack, but is still too young to do anything major.

We had a very early flight to Calgary so we slept at a Marriott hotel at Newark the night before (thank you Marriott points!). The flight was about five hours long and luckily pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing! We rented a car, stopped for some lunch, and drove the hour and 10 minutes to Banff.

Since we couldn't check into our VRBO for a few hours we decided to walk around the town of Banff for a little bit to stretch our legs and get some energy out. The quaint, but lively town is surrounded in all directions by snowcapped rugged mountains, and the streets are full of boutique shops, delicious restaurants, and of course touristy stores selling name plates and t-shirts. We grabbed some ice cream, shopped a little, stopped at the local Safeway for groceries, and then drove to our townhouse in the nearby town of Canmore.

Because of the early wakeup and the two hour time change, the kids were asleep by 6pm and we followed soon after. Good thing the townhouse had blackout curtains as the sun didn't set until 10pm!

Everyone was up by 4:30 the next morning, which actually was a good thing because we had wanted to get to our first destination, Moraine Lake, early since it can get crowded and they close the parking lot by 8am. We left the house around 5:15 (the sun was already rising) and the next hour and ten minutes provided us with amazing views of mountains. The entire time (and I mean the ENTIRE time) M kept saying, "Looka da mountens"!

We got there around 6:25 and there were quite a few people there already. There's a trail to the left of the parking lot called the Rockpile Trail, which is about half a mile long and has you climbing up stairs and rocks to get to the top in order to get a nice view of Moraine Lake. The lake has an outstanding blue color to it, which is caused by the silt-like rock flour from the continuously melting glaciers surrounding it. I've never seen anything like it and it was stunning to see. J absolutely loved climbing the rocks to get to the top and was astounded to see the color of the water. "My favorite color" she exclaimed. She is one who really appreciates the scenery around her and this was no exception.

We walked back down to lake level and decided to stroll along the path and the water. The kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the cold water and touching it just to see how cold it really was. J thought it was hilarious that there was still snow on the sides of the lake... in JUNE!

We left Moraine Lake and drove to Lake Louise. It was about 8:15 and you could feel the parking lot getting packed. By 9am there were no spots left so good thing we all woke up early! We got some grub at the hotel cafe and then walked around the glistening lake. The colors were spectacular and the mountains surrounding the lake reflected off the water. It was just beautiful!

Holding dandelions that J picked... greeaaaatttt 

M refused to look at the camera

Afterward, we went to the Lake Louise gondola to take a ride that the girls would enjoy. The gondola took us up to almost 7,000 feet elevation and provided us with beautiful views of Lake Louise, Victoria Glacier, and the expansive mountains.

We left around 11 and headed back to Canmore. We had some nap/rest time and then spent about two hours in the pool, which the girls loved. Dinner at a restaurant called Blake left us feeling happy and full. What a great first couple of days!