Mountains, Glaciers, and Lakes: A Beautiful Banff Adventure

"The mountains are calling and I must go." ~ John Muir

We've been wanting to visit Banff for some time now and this summer was the perfect opportunity as we were looking for a closer-to-home international trip and one that was a little on the "simpler" side. I was certainly wrong about this trip being simple, and it ended up actually being quite complex and expensive, but it was so worth it!!

We flew from Sacramento to Calgary, drove to Banff, drove to Glacier National Park/Whitefish, Montana, drove back to Calgary, flew to Vancouver, then flew back home. I'm going to break this blog into 3 parts: Banff, Whitefish/Glacier, and Vancouver. Each was magical in its own way and deserves some special attention.

Day 1:

We had a very late night on 7/4 because of Kendall’s birthday party and the fireworks and then we had to clean the house until midnight because I hate coming home from vacation to a messy/dirty house.

We accidentally slept in until 0700 and had so much to do to get out of the house, but we made it on time at 1230 out the front door.

We had no issues checking in, getting a late lunch and then boarding our flight on Air Canada to Vancouver.

It was a smooth and on time flight and we landed at about 1800. We got beautiful views of Mt. Ranier!

Our flight to Calgary was a little delayed so that gave us time to get dinner. The airport dinner was soooo good!!! Funny thing was I kept forgetting everything was in Canadian dollars and I was so worried that everything was so expensive, when it actually wasn't that bad after the conversion to US dollars.

We took off from Calgary a little after 2000 and landed in Calgary a little after 2200. Poor kids got stuck in a row with a wall for a window! I’ve flown so many times and never had that happen!! Now I know that the Boeing 737 Max 8 is set up this way.

It was easy getting our luggage and rental (of note we got a new Chevy Traverse and I was so impressed with it)! We checked in at the Hampton Inn Calgary at about midnight and crashed.

Day 2:

Today we slept in, got the hotel breakfast and then packed up and hit the road at about 1100.

We headed to Marble Canyon first in Kootenay National Park. It was approximately a 2 hour drive with amazing views of the mountains. Calgary is pretty flat, but it quickly changes to massive mountains as you drive towards Banff.

The Marble Canyon hike was an easy mile hike roundtrip with amazing views of the canyon and turquoise water. The weather was perfect and there were so many pretty wildflowers.

Then we headed to Banff to get a late lunch/early dinner.

We ate at 3 Bears Brewery and it was awesome!!!

First, we didn’t have a reservation, but we still got an amazing table. Then our server was awesome. And the food and drinks were so delicious!!! And the food came so quick too. Just a great experience.

Kendall loved the bison ribs!

Then we got boba at Milk Tea Banff, which was also great!

We then headed to check in at Hidden Ridge Resort on Tunnel Mountain. Just a short drive from downtown.

Love this resort!!! Great rooms (we got a suite with a kitchen), they supplied us with breakfast, wine, and s'mores. The hot tub and pool are great too with a beautiful view!!! I would highly recommend staying here and it’s a fraction of the price of the Fairmont.

After check in we headed to the Tunnel Mountain trailhead to get some amazing views of Banff. Pro tip: If you go in the evening, the parking shouldn't be an issue. Technically you can hike from our resort, but it definitely added some extra distance to that hike. Of course we had our bear spray with us!!

It was a 2.7 mile roundtrip hike with about a 1,000 foot elevation gain. So not the easiest hike, but definitely doable and so worth it for the views of both sides of the mountain.

We headed back down at about 2000 and then headed to the hot tub at our resort followed by s'mores in the fireplace in our room,

What an awesome day!!!

Day 3:

We slept in today, made breakfast in the hotel and Camilla and I took a walk to town to get some morning treats.

We then went to Bow Falls.

Then headed to our reservation at Lake Louise.

It’s about an hour drive to the parking lot for the lake shuttle. It was easy to find parking and then it was a short walk to the bus. For our 1400 reservation, you can start checking in at 1345. We had arrived at about 1330, so we had some time to get some treats first.

It was about a 10 minute bus ride to the lake.

Then a quick walk to the lake. I had to take a quick look at the lake first and it was stunning.

When we first arrived there were so many people that it was hard to get a spot on the shoreline, but it started to clear out after we arrived.

We got some great pics of the lake.

Then headed to lunch at Louiza. This was a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant at the beautiful Fairmont that is right on the lake. I’d rate it 10/10. The service was great with very friendly staff. The food was amazing!!! Even the kids tried new things!! The girls had some pasta that was quite different than they typically eat and they also had asparagus and Aidan had calamari flatbread with arugula and some other veggies. My greek salad was so good!!!

Then off to the canoes. The lines had thinned by now (1600), but we still waited in line until about 1630. We rented 2 canoes to accommodate our family. Not cheap ($366 CAD), but definitely worth the experience! There was a pretty strong current to the mouth of the river and lots of people who didn’t know what they were doing, so you had to be careful. But overall a great experience!!

Then it was time to head back to our resort. There was a long line to get onto the bus, but it moved pretty quickly. They can fit a lot of people on those big buses. We even saw a black bear (too quick on the bus that didn’t stop to take pics)!!!! Gorgeous bear. It was about a 1.5 hour drive to get back to our hotel. Of note, we were fascinated by the wildlife overpasses and the indcredible mountains!

Mike and I had a planned date night so we stopped at Dominos to get the kids pizza and they hung out at the hotel while we went to dinner in town.

We had dinner at Bluebird Steak and Fondue. I’d rate it 7/10. Loved the vibe, decor and staff. I was disappointed they ran out of prime rib and the fondue menu was very short (2 items). For a restaurant that is known for prime rib and fondue, I was disasppointed. However, the fondue we got was so good and the drinks were also awesome. The steak Mike got was just ok because it really needed a sauce. Overall we did enjoy it though.

Then back to the hotel a little after 2200. Of note, sunset is at 2200 so it was still sort of light out. We did a little walk around the resort until it got too scary because it was dark and we know there are all sorts of animals out there!

Day 4:

We slept in again and then made breakfast in the room. We headed out at about 1130. The weather was absolutely perfect today.

We headed to Johnston Canyon first. It was about a 30 minute drive east on the way to Lake Moraine. We knew that there would be about a 3 mile roundtrip hike to the upper falls, but we had no idea this place would be so overrun with tourists. It took us about 20 minutes of just waiting in one spot and being VERY aggressive to find a parking spot, but we eventually did.

We started on our trek and there were so many people!! Some areas you walk on narrow platforms so there were some traffic jams.

We made it to lower falls (just a 0.5 mile walk).

There was a long line to get a close up look so we decided to move on to upper falls. The number of hikers thinned a little after lower falls. The river along the walk is so beautiful with the blue glacier water.

We finally made it to upper falls and there was another long line to see the waterfall. The line moved pretty quickly. We waited maybe 15-20 minutes and got a quick look of the falls and a famly selfie.

Then headed back down super quick so we had time to get lunch before our 1700 reservation at Lake Moraine. Of note, you have to wait in line to even see the falls.

Some people were trying to cut in line which was super annoying, but the people ahead of us stopped them. Not sure I would recommend this place given how busy it was. The waterfall was underwhelming and there are so many amazing things to see in and around Banff other than this..

We got down the hill just in time to get a snack there and then we headed about another 20 minutes to the park and ride at Lake Moraine. Fortunately we had enough time for the kids to get lunch there.

Then we headed to Lake Moraine on the shuttle at 1700. It was about a 20 minute ride to the lake. Going this time of day was nice because the crowds were not bad. This lake is insanely beautiful. A slightly different blue than Lake Louise.

We did the quick hike up Rock Pile Trail to get phenomenal views.

We took a bunch of pictures around the lake and left at about 1900.

We then headed straight to dinner at Pacini. We loved this place!!!! Great service and ambiance. Food and drinks were amazing!! The kids loved the bread bar which was just a genius idea.

Sun sets at 2200 here and we left at about 2215 and saw a beautiful sunset.

Day 5:

Mike and I woke up early to check out Wild Flour Bakery. Great coffee drinks and food there!! Loved the breakfast sandwich and lavender latte!

It’s about a 3 mile roundtrip walk to downtown from our resort which was about 30 minutes each way.

On the way back we ran into a huge elk grazing. Almost walked right into her!

Then Mike took the kids swimming while I packed. I did join them for a little bit. Such a beautiful pool area!

We were out of there exactly at 1100 and hit the road. It was pretty much a straight shot down highway 93. The views are stunning!! Although thanks to the wildlife fences and over and under passes, there was no wildlife to be seen except for some mountain goats.

We stopped for lunch at about 1300 at Horsethief Creek Pub & Eatery in Radium Hot Springs. Great place! Big menu, food was good, and service was quick.

Then we continued on to the US border. When we got there, there was only one car ahead of us. The boarder patrol took a quick look at our passports, asked us of our purchases and then we were on our way!

We made it to Whitefish at about 1800 so not too bad! Without stops it’s supposed to be a 5ish hour ride, but we made a few stops along the way.

+++++Check out the next blog posts to hear more about Whitefish, Glacier, and Vancouver!