August 4-8, 2024: Canadian Rockies

As mentioned, our planned trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks took a turn for the worse when wildfires broke out and Jasper National Park and a large portion of the Icefields Parkway were closed (to say nothing of the devastation that hit the city of Jasper). We decided to stick it out and at least visit Banff National Park, and the question was how well that would work out.

The visit was exceptional. In fact, this area of the Canadian Rockies may have supplanted Grand Teton National Park as our favorite place on earth. In fact, in fact, we decided that four days here wasn’t nearly enough and we’re toying with the idea of coming back again next year for two weeks.

Our enthusiasm is a little surprising since the trip did not start out all that well. Assuming we could use our standard M.O., we decided to pop on over to the Banff National Park Visitor Center. Except the visitor center isn’t in Banff National Park, it’s in downtown Banff and one doesn’t “pop over” to it. We tried to drive there, got parked in slow-moving traffic for an hour, not surprisingly since there’s nowhere else to park, gave up, came back to the campground, took a shuttle bus back to downtown, only to find that the visitor center isn’t a “visitor center” like we’re used to but instead a counter with a few mostly unhelpful staffers and essentially no maps, no trail guides, no recommendations, and little value to the visit. And all of that was made worse by the fact that the town of Banff is like Jackson, Wyoming, or any other “resort” destination in a “scenic” location: block after block of trendy bars and restaurants with streets jammed elbow-to-elbow with mostly foreign tourists.

Good grief. Jasper is closed, most of the Icefields Parkway is closed, we’re on our own to figure things out, and we’re wondering … what to do, what to do?

We needn’t have worried. This whole area is breathtaking. Pretty much just follow your nose and you’ll be fine.

Getting up on the first morning, this was the view from our campsite:

Tunnel Mountain forms the backdrop to our aptly named campground: Tunnel Mountain Village.

So, off we go to hike to Johnston Falls. That hike proceeds up an essentially impassable canyon, except that Parks Canada has made the impassable passable by building a cantilevered walkway bolted to the sheer rock walls of the canyon.

And Johnston Falls itself was worth the hike:

But, a waterfall’s a waterfall. That’s not what made the day special. That happened when we started up the southern portion of the Icefields Parkway that remained open. [Most of the pictures that follow are clipped … click on the picture for a full view.]

These are just a couple of the dozens of dramatic views driving along the Icefields Parkway.
Bow Lake, fed by the Bow Lake Glacier.

So, after a L-O-N-G day of hiking and touring, we decided that Day 1 was definitely a success.

Day 2 started out fine, with more scenic views, but wasn’t our favorite after we got stuck at Lake Louise, another locale stuff with, literally, thousands of mostly foreign tourists jammed into a teeny space.

I think this place is called “Morant’s Curve,” but it doesn’t matter. There are literally hundreds of scenic areas, all with dramatic peaks, turquoise waters, and lush forests.

By Day 3 we were back to hiking and touring in our usual way, this time into neighboring Yoho National Park in British Columbia.

Emerald Lake. And no, this is not Photoshopped. This is actually what the scene looks like. It’s called Emerald Lake because it actually is emerald green (due to the rock flour suspended in the water).
For most of the 3.3 mile hike around the lake, we were pretty much alone.
Even on the far side of the lake, without the lake to provide the foreground for a photo, the views are breathtaking!

This day not only reignited our enthusiasm for the area, it awakened us to a reality we hadn’t considered: Yoho National Park wasn’t even on our list of places to go. In fact, we hadn’t even heard of Yoho National Park. Which got us wondering, what else is there in this area that wasn’t on our list?

By Day 4, we realized that, even with Jasper National Park and most of the Icefields Parkway closed, presuming to “explore” Banff National Park and the surrounding area in four days is silly. So, we picked a couple locations for easy hikes and decided to save the rest for the next trip.

On our two-mile hike to these viewpoints at Waterfowl Lakes, we saw a grand total of two people!
From the overlook at Peyto Lake.

Just one more thought about this area. Since the days when we first met, Wendy and I have enjoyed picnics. We don’t go to pubs or fancy restaurants, we don’t indulge ourselves on the finest delicacies from the world’s best chefs, we just like to sit in the woods, and have a sandwich and an apple, and enjoy the world around us. But in this place, “enjoying the world around us” takes on a dramatic flavor that makes a picnic much more than just that.

The Canadian Rockies really is our new favorite place on earth, and we really are working on a way to get back here again next year.

For today, it’s off to Glacier National Park, which is also our favorite place on earth. Then it’ll be off to Grand Teton National Park, which is also our favorite on earth. Then Dubois, Wyoming, which is also our favorite place on earth. So many favorites, so little time …