Banff, Alberta Canada
Saturday, August 9th - Jan & Sean, Banff, Johnston Creek and Road to Jasper
Today was a wonderful day! We met up with Jan and Sean Laycox (Christa and Jan went to school together and have known each other since Kindergarten :). We didn’t have any plans that day, so we headed out in Sean’s rental car to Johnston Creek. There were two sets of waterfalls and the hike was crowded, but so beautiful.
After our visit to the falls we jumped in the car and headed north towards Jasper. We didn’t get to Jasper, but we made it to the ice fields and glaciers. Sorry for all the photos, but it was so amazing to see all of these beautiful mountains and amazing glaciers. God’s work is really amazing.
We ended the day with a BBQ at the campground.
Sunday August 10th - Lake Moraine and Lake Louise
Banff National Park is home to beautiful lakes and glaciers, but the main attractions are Lake Moraine and Lake Louise. They do not allow private vehicles into this area of the park so we hoped on a bus and did a tour. We got to do a bit of hiking at each lake. Even though Lake Louise is most famous I think Lake Moraine is the best :)
Our first stop was Lake Moraine - we climbed the Rock Pile Trail to get some amazing views of the lake and the Ten Peaks. The color of the lake is something that can’t be described and the pictures don’t do it justice.
We then hopped on our bus and headed down to Lake Louise. This is also a beautiful lakes that boasts a five-star resort and a nice hiking trail along the lake. This was also beautiful and gorgeous!
Monday, August 11th - Tram, Hot Springs, Biking
Sean really wanted to go on the Tram and we were all like - well OK if you reallly want to. I have to say “THANK YOU SEAN’. The views from the tram and the boardwalk on Sulphur Mountain were magnificent.
We headed down the tram and walked up to the Hot Springs. In 1883 the railroad workers from the Northern Pacific railway discovered the hot springs in Banff. This prompted the Northern Pacific Railway to build the Banff Springs Hotel (now the Fairmont Banff Springs) to lure tourists to the area. Well, Canada wasn’t having that so they made the area a park - the first Canadian National Park. They expanded the park over the years. In 1911, they created all sorts of restrictions for the town of Banff including - you can only own a home in Banff if you are employed by the National Park or own a business that is operating in Banff. Also, you cannot hand down your property to heirs unless they work in the park. This is how they keep the population down and have basically zero growth.
After a little shopping and a quick lunch at the brewery we headed out on our bikes. We biked along the Bow river, where they had art in the trees (very cool). The headed to the Bow Falls and did a loop around the Fairmont Golf Course. It was awesome as it is just a loop with no cars on it so we had the road to ourselves :).
We then headed to the Fairmont (built in the late 1880’s then burnt in 1926 and rebuilt). The Fairmont is built in the Swiss Chateau architecture (Chateau is French for Castle). We headed up the lounge and Sean scored us hte best table in the entire place :)
We ended the day with a bike ride around Lake Vermillion. It was just stunning.
Banff was beautiful and we were so grateful to enjoy it with Jan and Sean! Thank you Banff!!!!
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