It’s been a while since my last entry. After more than 2 months in Asia, we’re back in North America, and to be honest this is where my heart is. The beauty of North America’s natural landscape is far from unique, but it is the diversity of the western region that is unrivaled – from alpine forests topped by majestic glacial peaks, to rainforests enclosed in rugged coastlines and deserts fringed with red rock canyons. We have it all here, including the self destructing country that sits on this beautiful landscape. I will keep politics out of this blog, but let me say one thing – people who are not mad nor worried did not pay attention during history class.
Back to regular programming…
Faith and I had planned to meet up in Vancouver for her work conference in Whistler. Said conference was canceled at the last minute, so I made the executive decision that we go to the Canadian Rockies, the crown jewel of Canada, in my opinion. Our time in Vancouver coincided with the nationwide No Kings Day protest, and I was not going to pass up my first amendment rights just because I was on vacation.
Afterwards, it was a 9-hour drive to Golden for the night.
OK, no more politics, I promise.
The vast Canadian National Park straddling British Columbia and Alberta is composed of several different parks. With the well known ones such as Banff and Jasper as well as the lesser known ones – Mt. Revelstoke, Glacier, Yoho, Kootenay along the way from Kamloops to Banff. To do justice exploring this region, you would need more than 5 days, which was how much time we had and was barely enough time to scratch the surface. Short on time, I had to pick and choose points of interest, and cap hikes to 5 miles round trip. Luckily for us, the road to Banff is dotted with jewels requiring little to no hiking to reach.
Wapta Fall
The hike to Wapta fall is a easy 2.7-mile round trip trail.
Natural Bridge
The Natural Bridge is located right off the parking lot.
Emerald Lake
There’s the option to do a short hike around the lake or rent a canoe for $100CAD/hr, which we did neither as we needed to grab a late lunch in Banff before getting Faith to her scheduled Lake Louise and Moraine Lake shuttle. The shuttle system was implemented in the last few years to address overcrowding. When I went with mom and dad in 2014, we simply drove up to the lakes. Nowadays, you will need to secure a shuttle slot online ahead of time, and by the time I checked there was only one available. Since I had already been, I snatched up the last seat for Faith.
FIRE'd @ 47 