Canadian Rockies – Banff National Park

Canadian Rockies – Banff National Park

Sun sets particularly late in this part of the world and year. Seeing daylight at 10PM threw our rhythm off, but the extra hours allowed us to see and do more in the face of spending an inordinate amount of time driving from one point to another. Plan A was to wake up at 5AM to secure a coveted parking spot at the Lake Louise parking lot for a hike up Little Beehive to Lake Agnes, but we had forgotten to purchase a park pass for the duration of our stay. Unfortunately, we couldn’t purchase a park pass online, and the Banff visitor center does not open until 8AM so we had to pivot to plan B.

Johnston Canyon

The popular Johnston Canyon trail to the upper falls is an easy 3.4-mile round trip hike.

A section of the canyon reminded me a bit of the Saklīkent gorge in southern Türkiye
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Lower falls
Upper falls

Lunch in the car was followed by driving a short stretch of the Icefields Parkway before heading back to Banff for dinner. If there is one “must do” in this area, it is to drive on the Icefields Parkway. The views at every turn are stunning. The drive itself is almost as impressive as driving on South Island New Zealand. But the viewpoints here are on another other level of amazing. Sorry New Zealand.

Crowfoot Glacier

Crowfoot glacier at the southern edge of Bow Lake

Bow Lake

When the sun hits just right, you get stunning shades of cyan across the lake. And we had been blessed throughout this trip with great timing and natural lighting. Clouds would always be overhead as we’re driving, but as soon as we reached a spot, the skies would clear up.
A mirrored Bow lake the following morning when the wind hadn’t quite picked up.

Peyto Lake

Pronounce ‘pee-toe’, this lake has got to be the absolute highlight of my trip! The hike up to the viewing platform is on a short but steep paved path. There was a bit of jostling for angles, but people for the most part were polite and considerate.

If there is heaven, then I would imagine it to look like this.
With a little imagination, the lake looks like an upright fox. Perhaps “Vulpine Lake” would have been a more fitting name.
Pano
Video pano

Peyto lake is definitely a spot to linger. A packed dinner would have been nice, but the Indian food at Zyka back in town did not disappoint.

Heading back towards Banff offers this view of Crowfoot glacier.

3 thoughts on “Canadian Rockies – Banff National Park”

  1. Great post! I will have to revisit it when I finally pull the trigger on Banff (headed to Quebec City first this fall). Those turquoise waters and rainbow sighting are what hiking dreams are made of. Thanks for sharing.

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