DAYS 41 & 42 - "I don't have a wide enough lens."

We have reached as far northwest as we will get on this adventure: Banff, Alberta.

Having kept a close eye on the fires that took a devastating toll on Jasper, we decided, even if it was a bit smokey, we were too close not to try and see what we can see.

We scooted out of Calgary, past the winter Olympic ruins, back to a fair stretch of farmland and, all of a sudden...Canadian Rockies! No gradual progression, just, BOOM...majestic mountain peaks filling the entire windshield.

Less than an hour and a half drive from the city, we had most of the day to figure out the lay of the land: what we could see today and what we had to schedule for tomorrow.

We putzed around the town of Banff, finding lunch at a rooftop brewery, then wandering the streets filled with shops and people.

It’s not like Crater Lake or Zion, it’s more akin to Park City or Tahoe: an ever-expanding village that used to be quaint and is now an outdoor mall with a grand view.

Hiking to the Bow River rapids and waterfalls, we exhausted village-life and retreated to Canmore where our AirBnb three-story townhouse awaited our arrival; complete with terrace and mountain views, perfect for sipping wine.

The next day was our big full day in the park.

To assist with crowd control, private vehicles are not allowed at some points of interest so you have to reserve seats on shuttles. This practice certainly doesn’t hurt park profits either...

Lake Louise and Lake Morraine were must-sees and we met our shuttle at the Banff train station at 8:00AM, pumped for our 4-hour tour, where I admit it was nice to just be a worriless passenger scouring the mountains for wildlife.

Lake Louise

We landed at Lake Louise, where the personal parking lot had been full/closed since 7:00AM, and walked the short trail through the trees to the shoreline.

The foliage and the crowd seemed to part at the perfect time and...whoa...

The glaciers towered over the lake like Gods rising straight up out of the water...absolutely stunning.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before.

Lake Louise was named after Queen Victoria’s daughter when the Europeans arrived, but before that, the First Nation called it Lake of Little Fish, because of all the small rainbow trout.

The lake itself sits at about 5700-feet while the glaciers above the water rise to an 11,000-foot elevation; their peaks playing hide and seek in the drifting clouds when we arrived.

And the water glows.

It gets its milky blue color from a fine sediment suspended in the water. They call it “Rock Flour” and it comes from the grinding of bedrock by glacial erosion.

It’s glacial milk and it’s spectacular.

Lake Morraine was our next stop and it was equally amazing. Surrounded by 10 peaks, this location is even further off the beaten trail and you couldn’t get there if you weren’t on a shuttle or tour.

After our shuttle adventure, and a couple of really decent Head Smashed IPAs at lunch, we chose to skip the gondola and opted instead for the chairlift up Mt. Norquay.

Nothing like a 1950’s open-air two-seater rickety chairlift to help David get over his slight fear of heights!

Nobody panicked, nobody fell off, and there was hardly anybody else up top!

It was a serene ride, fresh air in our faces and deer with velvet antlers grazing 25’ below us. So much better than being trapped in a bubble with a bunch of strangers.

We enjoyed the views from the top, not quite pristine due to some lingering smoke, but certainly not terrible.

Overall, Banff was absolutely worth the effort. There’s more hiking we would have liked to do, although Johnston Canyon was beautiful, but seeing the lakes was essential.

Next up, Glacier National Park!

We’re USA bound, heading to my old stomping grounds, Big Sky Country in Montana.

DAY 43