Friday, September 25, 2015

our Canadian adventure, part I: Banff




Last week, the hubs and I returned from our vacation in the Canadian rockies. The scenery there is like nothing I've experienced before...surreal and utterly magnificent. The mountains are towering and beautiful, the water is serene and the most perfect shade of turquoise. Our first stop was Banff National Park. I highly recommend visiting this area of the world.

Some of the highlights on my list from this park include: Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Lake Agnes Tea House, Big Beehive, the Banff Gondola, Lake Minnewanka, Castle Mountain, Johnston Canyon, and Bow Lake. I would recommend looking for hotels in Canmore (where we stayed) or Harvie Heights, as staying inside the town of Banff itself is quite pricey.

As far as restaurants go, we loved Chaya for awesome Japanese food, Nourish Bistro for creative vegetarian/vegan cuisine, Wild Flour for baked goods and hot drinks, and Whitebark Cafe, another great coffee shop with some yummy lunch options as well.

We went the first two weeks of September, which I felt was a great time to be there because the crowds had thinned down (from what I hear June-August is packed with tourists), the weather was cool but not freezing, and we got to watch the autumn colors start appearing during our stay.

On to the pictures!

 Bow Lake

 Bow Lake

saw a ton of these cute chipmunks 


 waterfall at the edge of Lake Moraine

 our canoe trip on Lake Moraine

 Lake Moraine

 Lake Moraine (with the Lensbaby)


 from the top of Sulphur Mountain

 top of Sulphur Mountain after the gondola ride 



 Johnston Canyon

 upper falls at Johnston Canyon

 Lake Minnewanka

 Lake Minnewanka

 Mirror Lake and the Big Beehive mountain (we hiked to the top)

 trail to the Big Beehive

 Pica near Lake Agnes

 Lake Agnes (the teahouse is the little building on the left, so good after a long hike!)

 Lake Louise from the top of Big Beehive

 Lake Louise

 view from sitting at the teahouse

 Lake Louise from the teahouse trail

 Lake Louise

Lake Louise

Lake Moraine on our first day, before it snowed!

We went to Jasper National Park for the second half of our trip, more about that next time!
Have you been to the Canadian Rockies? I'd love to hear your experiences in the comments :)

3 comments:

  1. Gorgeous!! I love your photos, what an incredible trip! I have been dreaming about Lake Louise for the past few years! I haven't been to that part of Canada yet. Only the Maritimes, Quebec, Niagara Falls, and Victoria, BC. It's high on my list though! :) Glad you had a great time! XO -Alexandra

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    1. Hi Alexandra! Thank you! Ooh Niagara Falls is definitely on my list :) you will love Lake Louise, the photos can't even do it justice. Thanks for reading!

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