O Canada! Banff, Yoho and Jasper

After 6 days in Glacier NP we drove to Canada!  I'm grateful my passport was delivered to our home in Utah and my sister in-law overnighted it to us while we were in Montana.  It's so funny because when we were driving to Montana we stopped for lunch at Panda Express. These were our fortune cookies and we cracked up laughing, at that point it seemed impossible I would have a passport in time to go to Canada.  It was all meant to work out I guess!

This was my FIRST time out of the country and it was so exciting!  We stopped at the "Real Canadian Superstore" and we couldn't even get a shopping cart because we didn't have a loonie haha. We were very confused.  Thank goodness Eric's friend that lives in Alberta came to hang out and rescue us.

We set up camp at the Lake Louise campground and had the most amazing camping spot with the most beautiful pine trees.  We spent 5 days exploring 3 national parks there. Banff, Yoho and Jasper. I'm glad we went to Canada since we were already so close to the boarder, but this could be it's own separate trip.  There is so much beauty to see and explore.  Next time I want to camp in Jasper.

Campsite views 

Lake Louise 

Oh the famous Lake Louise.... We hiked 3 miles from the campsite to get here.  You would never know there are thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder trying to take the same pictures. 

Moraine Lake

Yoho National Park 

Emerald Lake

Takakkaw Falls

  

Icefields Parkway

We spent a day traveling the Icefields Parkway to get to Jasper.  This was my favorite day.  We got the gypsy app and listened to the tour guide tell us where to pull over for the best sight seeing and so many interesting facts about the explorers who first discovered this area of Canada and the Icefields that are still there.  I didn't even know what an Icefield was!!  There are glaciers EVERYWHERE.  On one stretch of the parkway we could see and count 15 glaciers.  At the end of the parkway is Jasper National Park.  We explored their town, got some food and did some souvenir shopping. 

Athabasca Falls

Peyto Lake

Icefields & Glaciers 

These pictures may not look very exciting but you just have to see it in person
to fully experience and be 'wowed' by them.

Banff Village

Eric was realllllly excited to try poutine.  French fries with gravy and cheese curds.  I caught his reaction when he saw it for the first time hahaha.  He was actually really disappointed.  I did not try it. 

WILDLIFE

Seeing wildlife was probably one of my favorite parts.  All wildlife was viewed from the safety of our vehicle.  We watched this mama with her cubs for a good 30 minutes as they ate vegetation and berries.  At a spot on the Icefields Parkway there was a bear on the side of the road and sooooo many cars pulled over.  There was a large crowd gathered and watching outside of their vehicle, crazy people. 

Our time in Canada came to an end and we headed home. We stopped at Snowbird and caught the first day of a family reunion.  It was nice to take a shower easily and use clean, flushing toilets.  I miss this trip and camping, but I needed a break from pit toilets and mosquito bites.  I really do look forward to visiting Montana and Canada again!! I highly recommend going!

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

This is a beautiful national park filled with wild flowers, carved out mountains you can stand right next to, glacier clear + blue water and abundant wild life.  Mountain life is slow and peaceful. 

We spent 6 amazing nights camping in Glacier.  We camped at the St. Mary campground just inside the East entrance.  We hiked 35.2 miles and absorbed so much.... really words can not describe it.

Glacier is bear country and we followed the rules strictly.  We slept in our tent + kept our clothes in there and then everything else was kept in the truck at all times.  We got a routine down pretty quick and those days were simple and fun.  We went to bed early (out of exhaustion) but not before cleaning up dinner and then packing our breakfast and lunch for the next day.  We pulled out of the camping spot each morning between 6:30-7am and headed to the trailhead for the day. Our hikes ended between 1-2pm and then we relaxed each afternoon back at the campsite before making dinner. 

Day 1:  We drove to Logan Pass and got a parking spot. As we packed our bags and assembled our hiking gear the parking lot filled up. We started hiking The Highline at 7:30am.  I'm so happy we got to do this because it had been closed the week prior due to high grizzly activity.  We hiked 8 miles round trip making a large patch of snow our turn around point.  This day was HOT which was disappointing coming from a desert. Thankfully it rained that night and cooled off the rest of the week.  

Day 2:  We went back to Logan Pass, this time hiking the Hidden Lake trail. IT WAS FREEZING and extremely windy.  It was still beautiful but you couldn't really see the mountains peak.  After that hike we drove to the next planned hike trailhead and parking was impossible- either wake up early for a spot or time it perfect with a little luck.  So we decided to hike that another day and went to see Apgar village and Lake McDonald.  We set up our mini chair on the shore and ate our lunch.  You really can see straight through the water to the colorful rocks.

Day 3:  This day was our biggest hike- 10 miles round trip. ICEBERG LAKE IS INCREDIBLE!!!! This is one of our favorite days and hikes.  Even though my feet were screaming on the way back it was all worth it.  We also saw our first bear on this trail- bear spray was not used or needed, we all minded our own business. The wind was also insane at the lake making it really cold. But who cares when you're in Glacier National Park!

 

(us being super proud of ourselves)

Day 4:  Eric's parents and his brothers family joined us for the rest of the trip. We drove Going To The Sun Road, stopping for some sight seeing and pictures.  The we hiked to Avalanche Lake and had some epic rock skipping.

Day 5:  My only, very small, regret this trip... not doing the Grinnell Glacier hike on day one.  It was by far our most strenuous hike and we did it on our last full day.  BUT the views on this hike were my absolute favorite!

And for our camping tent. I LOVE THIS THING.  I had some of the best nights of sleep ever.  

Don't let me fool you that the trip went 100% smoothly.  Each day around 3-4pm I was on the phone with the passport agency.  Cell service was really hard to find so that was a whole separate issue.  At the start of the trip I did not have a passport and we were supposed to be going to Canada on day 6.  On day 4 I found out my passport was delivered to MY FRONT door in Utah at 11am.  It had been sitting there for about four hours. My sister in law picked it up and UPS overnighted it to me.  I had a small window of time to pick it up Friday because the dingy, little post office of Babb, Montana has weird office hours and they were closed over the weekend.  MY PASSPORT WAS DELIVERED.  And it was onto Canada on Day 6!

See post all about Canada here