Banff, The Trip of a Lifetime

Sharing all of the details on our bucket list trip to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada

When Tyler and I first started talking about moving to the PNW for the summer, I told him about how Banff, Canada had been on my bucket list of places to visit for years. I mentioned that if we did move to Washington it could be the perfect opportunity for us to visit Banff, as we would already be so far north, potentially making it a more cost-effective trip. Turns out it had been on his bucket list too and he was on board for making this trip happen. I wish I could remember how I originally became interested in Banff, but I do know that I had been talking about it with friends before I even knew Tyler. Once we knew for sure that we would be moving to Washington state, Tyler began researching the best times to visit Banff and made our accommodations while we were still in California. Summer into early Fall are the best times of the year to visit Banff due to the heavy amount of snow they receive in the winter months. We planned our trip for mid-June in hopes of beating some of the summer crowds.

Tyler deserves every bit of credit for making our trip the success that it was. He spent around 6 hours researching, reading other blogs, watching YouTube videos, and scouring Instagram for tips and tricks to plan every detail of our trip so meticulously. His research, preparation, and effort truly made this one of the best trips we have had together.

We flew out of Seattle for Calgary, Alberta on a Wednesday and wasted no time in heading to Banff National Park after we picked up our rental car. We of course had to made a quick pit stop at Tim Hortons on the way for donut holes, coffee, and snacks. I was excited to share the famous Canadian fast food spot with Tyler. I had first been to Tim Hortons the summer after high school graduation during a mission trip to Saskatchewan, Canada. It was even better than I had remembered and we might have found ourselves back there several times throughout our trip.

It was about a two hour drive from Calgary to Banff National Park where we made our first stop, Peyto Lake. Peyto Lake was absolutely breathtaking and the perfect first view to give us a little taste of what to expect from the glacier lakes of the Canadian Rockies. We were able to stop at Peyto several times on this trip as it was only a short hike to the viewpoints. During our first stop at Peyto, the skies were still cloudy from storms that Banff had earlier in the week, which can significantly impact the color of the glacier lakes. We wanted to be sure to see the true color of Peyto on a sunny day, which we were able to see later in the week! The deep, rich blue color of Peyto was just spectacular and one of our favorite views of the trip.

Our next two days (Thursday/Friday) were spent at the famous Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. These are the glacier-fed alpine lakes that Banff is most well-known for as they both boast the unique bright turquoise glacier water. The color of these lakes is created by the “rock flour” which is essentially a dust-like sediment that is created when glaciers rub against bedrock. As the glaciers melt, the streams carry this flour down into the lake where it is suspended in the water. The sunlight is then refracted off of the flour which creates the exceptional turquoise colors. Lake Louise was certainly the star of the show and the main attraction of our trip, and she was even more magnificent than we imagined. Lake Louise is where we spent most of our time during our visit, hiking, canoeing, and sitting in awe of the view. I truly believe that Lake Louise is one of the wonders of our world. There are not enough words to describe how beautiful, breathtaking, and majestic Lake Louise is.

Moraine Lake is about a 25-minute shuttle ride from Lake Louise and is the smaller of the two lakes, but just as stunning. Since it was still fairly early in the summer, Moraine Lake was not as full as it typically would be. We were told by our shuttle driver that the glaciers were melting late this year and that Moraine Lake had actually just thawed a couple weeks before our visit (thank goodness!). Moraine Lake typically offers canoeing as well, but since the lake was not full yet the rentals were not open for the season. We enjoyed a peaceful early morning at Moraine Lake on Friday and were able to watch it magically brighten as the sun continued to rise. Moraine Lake is now only accessible by shuttles due to its increasing popularity over the past few years. We had our shuttle pick us up in the afternoon and spent the rest of Friday back at Lake Louise. If we ever make it back to the Canadian Rockies we would love to visit later in the summer to be able to see a full Moraine Lake.

Saturday we spent the day exploring Jasper National Park (mostly by car) which is only a couple of hours away from Banff. Jasper is well-known for “Icefields Parkway” which is a stunning part of the park showing off the Rockies. Jasper was less busy and touristy than Banff from our experience, but still beautiful. We made several stops in Jasper to see different viewpoints and even saw a bear, an Elk, and mountain goats from the side of the road. I told Tyler that I had hoped to see a bear during the trip but only if it was from a car - my wish came true! One observation that Tyler and I were surprised by was how much grander the Rocky Mountains in Canada were compared to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The scale of the Canadian Rockies seemed to be on a whole other level. We were so glad we could fit in a day driving through Jasper. The views, even from the car, were so worth it.

By Sunday we were both absolutely physically exhausted from the past several days of early mornings, late evenings, and hours of hiking/walking. We had planned to ride the Banff gondola on Sunday and hike, but were met with rainy weather. Not too upset about this, we changed plans and explored the town of Banff, visited the Fairmont golf course, and then headed back to Calgary for our flight the next morning.

Our trip to Banff was incredible and a trip that we will never get over! We were able to escape the city and retreat deep into the Canadian Rocky Mountain wilderness. Replace the city noise with the chirps of the birds, the gentle breeze, and the streams of clear running glacier water. The steady bustle with the stillness of nature. The skyline of buildings with the skyline of the Canadian Rockies.

We highly recommend a trip to Banff to anyone and everyone, nature lovers or not! You will simply be in awe of what you are seeing - it is God’s magnificence on full display and makes you feel as though you are experiencing a piece of heaven on Earth. We are so thankful to have been able to spend time in Banff and will cherish our memories made there forever.

Love always,

The Wandering Wrights