I’ve never been to Banff or Lake Louise until now. Crazy. I’ve always wanted to see more of the Rockies, and toward the end of July, my boyfriend was away—hiking in the Bugaboos—when he suggested I fly out to Calgary on the weekend to join him for the drive home. I jumped at the chance with unparalleled enthusiasm.
Banff and Lake Louise summons to mind images of azure waters and mountains capped with sparkling glaciers. There were so many people setting up tripods in front of the lake while everyone else clamoured for the same shot that it bordered on ridiculous. Snapping photos of the same spot as everyone else—that’s not our idea of a weekend getaway. We pitched a tent, and when we finally went to Lake Louise, it was at the bloody crack of dawn when we were both sunburnt and horsefly-bitten from two gruelling days of hiking. It was the highlight of my summer so far.
Flying into Calgary
I’ve travelled through Calgary several times before and always held what can be described as an indifferent-at-best view of the city. From the air, its surroundings are dusty, desolate and flat. It wasn’t until I spent some time on the ground for a conference in January 2019 that I came to love the city for a host of reasons I never expected.
Flying into Calgary once more, I had the same view of a parched landscape. This time, enveloped in smoke. The wildfires ravaging British Columbia were belching black columns into the air that hung as an ever-present haze over Calgary. However, once I was on the ground and the city was disappearing in our rearview mirror, the sky cleared and the and the brown landscape was replaced with gently rolling green hills speckled with the odd red and white barn or tractor.
Kananaskis Country
After stocking our cooler box for the weekend, we drove into Kananaskis Country and spotted some sure-footed mountain goats scrabbling at the edges of the cliffs. Eager to get out and enjoy the sunshine, we loaded up our packs and began a very swift ascent of Ha Ling Peak.
Now if there’s one thing I learned on this spontaneous trip, it’s that I’m far better suited to the coastal mountains of British Columbia than I am to the Rockies. Don’t get me wrong, the Rockies are breathtaking, formidable pyramids of shale. But due to British Columbia’s temperate climate and abundance of rainfall, any hike in the coastal mountains means you’re walking in moistened soil with ferns lining your path and trees shooting up overhead. You’re in the shade most of the time with no indication of how high you’ve climbed, and have to veer off path for a view through the trees. Hiking in the Rockies leaves one feeling very exposed on the slopes and vulnerable to strong gusts of wind.
Canmore
I battled the wind nearing Ha Ling Peak, but it offered a gorgeous view over the town of Canmore below. It’s rugged and charming. A mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and not nearly as touristy as the neighbouring town of Banff. This was my first real test against the elements, and it wouldn’t be the last. After wandering through Canmore, we carried on into Banff where we stopped for dinner and perused not one, not two but five chocolatiers.
Kicking Horse Pass
We had been on the move for close to 20 hours by the time we finally collapsed into slumber on Friday night, so we carried on snoozing right through our alarm on Saturday morning and woke to sunlight streaming through the old growth canopy. We parked right next to the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park and heard the rushing water only a few meters from the car the night before, but it had been dark by the time we arrived at our campsite. Saturday was another hazy day, promising to be hot, too.
After a meandering start, we headed east back into Alberta. There were more people looking for parking at Lake Louise than I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been in Whistler at the height of summer, I know what crowded looks like). So we abandoned the idea and drove the winding road to Moraine Lake instead. It was a real test of luck. Moraine Lake has become quite the tourist destination also.
My boyfriend grinned the whole way to the lake. “How much do you think it costs to rent a kayak?” Judging by his smug smile, too much. “Nope,” he said with each guess, which confirmed to me we wouldn’t be renting a kayak. Pity. It came in at an astronomical $120 per hour. But don’t worry, you don’t need to go kayaking to get the full experience, and there are plenty of other gorgeous places, like Emerald Lake, to paddle.
The Lakes
Moraine Lake was still partially obscured by wildfire smoke. We grabbed our hiking poles and sunglasses and began our hike to larch valley, eventually heading for Sentinel Pass. The pass was a compromise. I was in no mood to attempt Mount Temple with my extremely limited mountaineering experience. If it required a rope, climbing shoes and a helmet, I wasn’t doing it. Nevertheless, I kept putting one foot in front of the other until the combination of loose shale slipping out from under my boots and wind bowling me over forced me to call it a day.
We were both grubby and tired when we got back to the lake around mid-afternoon and went for a splash in the frigid waters. The smoke had cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day. With the haze mostly lifted, the water a spectacular postcard mineral blue.
The Icefields Parkway
There couldn’t have been a better way to cap off the day. We ordered pizza from Timberwolf (what do I recommend? The Timberwolf special of course!) and drove up the Icefields Parkway to catch the sunset at Bow Lake. The Icefields is way up there on my bucket list. I’ve been dying to go hiking in Jasper, and with more time we absolutely would’ve ventured on. But we were both due back in Vancouver for work on Monday morning so it’ll have to wait for another time. He’s going back next month with his sister to hike the Skyline Trail and I’m green with envy.
Anyway, the ranger was out patrolling our campsite when we came back, warned us that there was a bear cub making trouble in the area. A white grizzly no less, and he’d climbed over the electrified fence before to rummage through people’s cooler boxes. So naturally we went looking for him with no such luck.
Lake Louise
Driving across British Columbia in a day is no easy feat, and I do recommend stopping for lunch at one of the many wineries in the Okanagan, just to break up the monotony. The wildfires have already destroyed much of the interior, and summer is far from over so I hate to think that the worst is yet to come. Because we had such a long drive ahead of us, we actually got up when our alarm started going off under the pillow at 5:30 am. All we had to do was throw our tent in the back of the car. At this early hour, Lake Louise is void of tourists and generous with parking. We watched the sun come up over the lake and, as it promised to, it stole my breath.
