We pack up ready to head to Banff and have a little pit stop at Olive Lake as it’s meant to be a good place to spot colourful little brook trout and would give Alex a little chance to fish. The lake is pretty but no fish to be found and after a few casts we head back on our way.
The weather is a bit grim but we are immediately cheered as we head into some fenced woodland and Zara yells bear!! We park up quickly and dash out to see the bear (we should really stay in the car but it’s behind a fence!) We are stunned and in awe of the beautiful black bear snuffling in the edge of the woods and are treated as it starts to walk to a wildlife underpass and we follow it across the road and have a truly magical moment where he pops out of the underpass and turns to look straight at us. Guy even manages to capture him on camera. An unforgettable moment.
We’re buzzing and the drizzly weather can no longer bring us down so we stop at marble canyon where 6 little bridges zigzag across turquoise melt water from the glaciers that have carved their path deep into the sedimentary rock. Due to the rain the water is raging and a beautiful site to see and hear.
It’s rainy down at canyon level but as we get back in the van and climb into the mountains this turns into snow and the temperature is 2 degrees. It feels very odd this oscillating of temperatures between stunning 25 degrees hot to 2 degrees and snow within a day!
We pass the Continental divide which indicates where rivers will flow in 2 different directions and is the high point in the middle of the Rockies.
Arriving in Banff, a pretty little town feels reminiscent of alpine towns in Europe and is nestled in the mountains and full of outdoorsy shops and rock and crystal shops - right up our street. Zara finds lots of lovely souvenirs to take home and our patches which we’ve been collecting as we travel (I plan to make a large picture possibly in the shape of a bear or a continent and frame it when we get home). After some tasty Vietnamese followed by shared beavers tail for the kids (yes we still call Za a kid even though she’s 24 and a doctor!) We get some new walking boots for Za as she’s managed to soggify her non waterproof shoes at marble canyon and we plan some serious walks over the next few weeks (it’s become a running joke that she didn’t pack her walking boots from home for a trip to the Rockies!) We also pick up some bear spray - the walls we’re doing are quite off the beaten track and it’s bear territory - hikers carries it here for safety so after our lesson of how to deploy our “weapon” we head to our Banff campsite. We’ve booked parks Canada sites throughout the Rockies as it’s tricky to boondock and it’s super busy as it’s getting to peak season, we get our fire on as soon as we arrive. It’s becoming a lovely ritual of collecting firewood and setting our fire - we’ve decided we need a chopping axe though to split up the big chunks of wood you can collect at the camp sites if you have a fire permit. We’re all a bit too excited at the prospect of messing about with an axe!
We head out the next day to Cave and basin which is where the Banff hot springs originated and was the birthplace of parks canada. It smells sulphurous and like rotten eggs and is home to Banff spring snails that cling to the algae and can be found nowhere else. Alex loves spotting the snails on the patches of slime - little boy’s dream!
Our next stop is Emerald lake in Yoho park. There are still lots of rain clouds shrouding the mountains but we are stunned by the emerald colour of the lake and have a wonderful couple of hours walking around it, checking out the alluvial fan filling the lake back in and watching swallows drink on the wing, loons diving and fish jumping.
This is our first experience of the truly stunning glacial lake colouring, it’s created by rock flour that is ground off the rocks by glaciers and carried into the lakes, causing light to refract and create the spectacular blues and turquoises throughout the Rockies lakes. The more rock flour the muddier looking the water - there’s a perfect amount that makes the lakes green turquoise and blue! We also learn that rock flour doesn’t allow much light through the water so very few plants grow and there is limited aquatic life because of this.
As we finish our walk we spot a family fishing and they catch a little brook trout and Alex has a happy time talking fishing and having a go with this family’s rod - they even give him a new spinner to try!
When we manage to tear Alex away from fishing we head back towards Banff and stop at something called the spiral tunnels. It turns out to be a super cool railway structure - in order to manage the steep inclines which trains don’t really like, the railway company carved a set of tunnels in the rock which spiral and allow trains to maintain speed. We can’t believe our luck when we see the rocky mountaineer train pass through the first tunnel and we see it emerge form the 2nd - a seriously impressive piece of engineering!
The next day it’s set to be a sunny day so we’re up early as we know parking is usually full by 8ish at lake Louise, we manage to get in and parked (relief!) and are amazed by the colour of the lake.
It’s heaving busy here as expected as one of the Rockies highlights and we quickly start our epic hike to the 6 plains glaciers and back country tea house. We’re astonished at the ugly hotel that has been allowed or be built right at the lake shore - a real eyesore.
This is a serious walk and after Alex did so well up to the Stanley glacier we’re confident he can do it. It’s a steady climb through forest and we get glimpses back at the amazing lake, we see and hear Pikas up here which are the most adorable little creatures with fluffy ears and their squeaky whistle sound gave the ski town of whistler it’s name. We all want to take one home.
We make it to the tea house which is incredible and has been operating since the 50s. The tea house is in the middle of nowhere- they have a helicopter drop off supplies at the beginning of the season and the staff hike up and stay for 5 days at a time carrying fresh supplies with them and carrying rubbish down. They have the most beautiful retired sled dog called Rocksha who is the employee of the month every month and is also the deputy manager. The food here was lush and well earned and we have fun watching the plentiful chipmunks and ground hogs scampering about trying to steal crumbs and even see a Stella’s jay. Alex enjoys filling our water bottles from the stream and he sits with Guy on the rocks near the tea house watching the pikas and they spot a hoary marmot (cue childish jokes about the name).
Zara and I brave the last bit of the trail up to where you can see all 6 glaciers - it’s got some sheer drops which mr. C doesn’t like and Alex’s little leggies are getting tired - it’s amazing and we even hear an avalanche. Guy apparently saw it and got a photo of the puff of snow! It starts snowing as we leave and pick up the boys and take the steady trek back down to the lake.
When we arrive back to our site we have some well deserved chunky burgers in the sun with a beer and enjoy our hammock which we picked up and is slung between a couple of trees.
We’ve got a window of great weather predicted so we book an early shuttle to lake moraine (the parks Canada ones were all fully booked and the sunrise shuttles were all fully booked too). You can’t drive down to lake moraine and have to take a shuttle and we get up super early at 4.30 and catch our 6.30 shuttle down the Lake. This gets us there in the beautiful morning sun and in relative peace and quiet before larger tour buses arrive. It’s stunning, peaceful and we’ve never seen such an incredibly beautiful lake and mountains. We wander along the lake shore pretty much on our own and savour the views - it’s glorious and deservedly on the $20 bill for Canada.
Zara heads off to try and do a teams call to verify her identity for her doctory research and we hire a canoe to paddle on the lake . This has been a bucket list of mine - we nearly don’t do it as the $140 hire fee for the canoe for an hour is massively overpriced but it’s amazing, joyful a totally different perspective on the lake and mountains and worth every penny. We marvel at the scree slopes, towering peaks and fish jumping in the turquoise water. It’s easy to forget the water has only just melted after winter and just a couple of weeks ago people were canoeing here through candle ice. Alex enjoys steering the canoe and helping to paddle too!
We pick up Zara who didn’t manage to do her call as the mean staff at the lodge cafe wouldn’t give her the Wi-Fi password despite buying coffee as she wasn’t staying at the lodge (evil!!).
We have a quick warming hot Choccy as it’s pretty chilly and start our walk to the Larches which is another big steep walk up to a view of the 10 peaks surrounding lake Moraine. The signs at the trail head indicating we should travel in tight groups of 4 due to bear activity make us grateful for our bear spray. It’s a hard slog with slightly tired legs but well rewarded as the trail opens out to alpine meadows and the most incredible 360 degree view of the 10 peaks. Perfect spot for a picnic (which may be the best ever) before we descend.
We make it back down the mountain and hope to get a shuttle back to lake Louise village as we’ve missed our booked slot due to the long walk. There’s an unruly large family waiting with us for a shuttle with a group of kids who start lobbing things at the approaching bus - I shout at them to stop and the bus driver comes out to tell off the children - the family gets angry at the intervention by the driver and he kindly rescues us and takes us back to our stop even though he’s not our shuttle provider to save us being cooped up in a small bus with the crazy family! Nothing like a bit of drama!
We pick up some vino and Wendy and have the most amazing relaxed evening making pizzas with artichokes and prosciutto, chatting, drinking our wine round the fire - literally the perfect day (bar the crazy family!!) we’re enjoying ourselves so much our fire is still going at 11.10 and the parks Canada wardens ask us to put it out (very strict here on fires out after 11!)
Emma
Amazing pics!