We spent our 3rd Honeymoon in the incredible Canadian Rockies visiting 3 of Canada's National Parks. Jasper, Yoho and Banff National Parks are AMAZING!
We flew into Calgary and spent the night there before picking up the campervan that we rented. The van itself was fantastic, however, we strongly do not recommend the rental company we went through. (Ridiculously poor customer service, which is absolutely opposite of everywhere else we went in Canada.)
On our first day on the road, we drove to the town of Canmore where we hit up the grocery store and loaded up on supplies for the next few days of camping. We booked our camping reservations way back in February and got the very last site available. Our campground, Rampart Creek Campground, was located almost exactly halfway between Banff and Jasper, which made it less crowded than any of the big sites and the perfect location for us.
On our way to our campground on the very first day, we saw a bear! He was awesome, just trotting down the side of the road, munching on berries. He was obviously a National Park bear (they know they are safe so they are just chilling). The other people driving by in their cars, however, were not so cool. When you see wildlife you should 1. slow down 2. take some pictures and 3. STAY IN YOUR CAR. Then, 4. leave/move on. These fools were letting their kids get out of the car and move closer to the animals...not cool. Our camp host later told us about a family last year who's kid got attacked by the bear and then the National Park Service fined the family $20,000 for harassing the bear. This is their home, we are just visiting.
The next day we headed North towards Jasper. We stopped along the way at the Columbia Icefields and hiked to the foot of a glacier. We drove on to Sunwapta Falls and then we did a hike called the Valley of the 5 Lakes. Most of the lakes in the area are glacier made. The silt and sediment left over from the glacier is suspended in the water and When the sunlight that reflects off the rock powder... this is what gives the lakes their spectacular turquoise/blueish green color. At different times of the day the same lake can look a completely different color.
After the hike we visited the adorable town of Jasper and had lunch at the Jasper Pizza Place. On the way back to camp we stopped by the Athabasca Falls and headed to back to camp. We made a wonderful dinner of Mac and Cheese with sausages and Ryan made a fantastic campfire for my s'mores.
The following day, we headed North again, towards Jasper. We stopped by the glacier and hiked up a different side. This side had markers along the way that showed where the foot of the glacier was every few years since 1918. The progression of retreat was astounding and quite sad. After the glacier hike we jumped back in the van and headed to Medicine Lake, where we saw bald eagles and a ton of dead trees. Then we went on to Maligne Lake for a nice little hike up to a view point where we watched families struggle to row their canoes back to the boathouse as the storm winds picked up. The rain kicked in then too so we drove back to Jasper and got a few more supplies at the grocery store before heading back to camp.
On the way back to camp we saw two different bears. We only saw Black Bears on our trip but the Banff/Jasper area is known for their Grizzly Bear population as well.
Day 5 was our scheduled "Do Nothing Day." We slept in (the van has some nice blackout curtains and the rain made sleeping very nice) and then had a slow breakfast of bacon and eggs. We hung out at the camp and read some in our books under the awning of the campervan. For lunch we ventured out to the restaurant at the Glacier and enjoyed a nice buffet overlooking the Icefields. On the way back to camp we saw Mountain Goats on the side of the road and stopped by our favorite gas station/convenient store for some ice cream! Then we made a big dinner of steak and veggies and hung out at camp. Our campground had a amazing river just a bit away from our spot so we walked over there and watched the sunset at 10:30-11:00pm.
The next day we knew we needed to beat the crowds. Everything I had read about seeing any of the bigger/ more well known sights said that we needed to be there EARLY. Before the tour buses and before the families. So, on this day we did just that. We got up early, ate some quick oatmeal and hit the road. We headed southwest towards Yoho National Park to go to Emerald Lake. This was by far one of our favorite days. We arrived there right at 9:00am when the boat house opened and were one of 5 canoes on the lake for our hour. It was so peaceful and so beautiful. As we were leaving the buses and crowds arrived. We had basically had the place to ourselves and no one else that day would be able to say that. On the way back toward camp we stopped in the town of Field, British Columbia and had lunch at Truffle Pigs Bistro....it was fantastic! We hung out in Yoho for a while, we saw the trains and some smaller waterfalls along the road. We headed back to camp and hung out throughout the afternoon and then decided to let someone else make dinner, we headed to the Crossing restaurant and enjoyed some Bison burgers and Duck Fat fries.
On Day 7 we headed East and essentially out of the park. We went to Kootenay Ecological Reserve and hiked over a crazy suspension bridge and through a beautiful valley. The rain picked up quite a bit that day so we spent a lot of time driving around and seeing the beauty of Canada. On the way we saw another bear, some goats and a few deer.
The next day we packed up and said good-bye to our campsite. We stopped by Lake Peyto and Bow Lake for some beautiful photos and then went to the dumping station and cleaned out the grey and black water from the campervan and got ready for the bougie part of our trip.
To celebrate our Anniversary we decided to spend one night at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. This was by far one of the fanciest and most beautiful places we have ever stayed. Our room over looked the lake and we were treated like royalty. We enjoyed room service and WONDERFUL showers and fancy robes inside our room and then had a fantastic dinner at the Fairview Restaurant.
The next day we had to say good-bye to all of the beauty. We checked out of a room, returned the van and headed to the airport to come home. A cool thing about flying in and out of Calgary Airport is that they do U.S. customs before you board so when you get off the plane at home... you are home. No need to wait in line or anything. Canada was a great country to visit. We loved our short flight and the fantastic scenery.
Banff has been on our Bucket List for a while and it was just as amazing as we thought it would be.
