Trip Out West Part 6: Day 9 at Banff National Park!

Part Six: In which we take in the sites at Banff National Park, almost get sick of seeing lakes, and Stef obsesses over how the lakes are her favorite color ever (aqua).

Day 9 - Friday, August 5:

Friday was by far our most scenic and busy day so there are a lot of photos in this post. Once again, we split up from the other group because we wanted to see different sights than they did. It was just Adam, mom, dad, Stine and I which allowed my ambitious itinerary to work.

We got going right away, and took the Trans Canada up to our first stop, Lake Louise. We got there around 10 am, so it wasn't super busy yet.

Relaxing, admiring the view at Lake Louise

A little bird friend
Photo by Adam

Unfortunately, it was very cloudy so the lake wasn't as aqua as we had imagined it would be. What makes these lakes appear so aqua is not that the water itself is aqua, but that it's so clear and reflects the "rock flour" in the sun. The sunnier it is, the more aqua the water appears. The clouds also did nothing for the skies in our photos...

The fam at Lake Louise
Photo by the tripod

Lake Louise

Snuggling Adam at Lake Louise

After photos at Lake Louise, we checked out the shops in the Chateau Lake Louise. Then we departed to go further up the mountain to Lake Morraine. By the time we got there, we were hungry, so we brought along our picnic supplies and ate right on the shores of the lake. We enjoyed our sandwiches and chips despite the harassment of a cute but bold little chipmunk.

The chipmunk really liked my dad

After lunch, we walked around and admired the lake. Lake Morraine was more of a turquoise color.

Canoes at Lake Morraine

Adam at Lake Morraine

Some ducks that were cruising around the lake
Photo by Adam

Adam and I at Lake Morraine
Photo by my mom

I just loved this view

It was still cloudy when we were at Lake Morraine. The sun finally started to peek out just as we were leaving around 1 pm.

Adam took this when we were walking back to the car and the sun was coming out.
Photo by Adam

Next we took the Icefields Parkway north about an hour to Lake Peyto. Once we arrived, it was a bit of an uphill hike to the overlook. Along the way we saw a lot of interesting plants and wildflowers.

Bear Weed

A cool looking plant - I'm not sure what it's called but it reminded me of something from Dr. Seuss!

A beautiful dainty wildflower

As we hiked uphill, Adam said to me, "This lake better be worth it!"

It was! It was definitely the favorite lake of all five of us by far. When we reached the top, the sun was shining down and the lake was a bright aqua. It didn't even look real. It was simply breathtaking.

Our first view of Lake Peyto from the overlook

Lake Peyto from the overlook

We went a little off the main trail for this fantastic view

photo by my dad

We just stayed up there looking at the gorgeous lake and taking pictures for a while before trekking back down to the car. Of course the downhill hike back was much easier!

Indian Paintbrush

Next was Bow Lake which was just a short drive south. We had actually passed it on the way to Lake Peyto. At our first stop we got out and walked along the shore where we could see a waterfall in the distance. I even took my shoes off and waded in. It was very cold!

Adam at Bow Lake

Wading in Bow Lake
Photo by Adam

Photo by Adam

Us at Bow Lake
a timer shot

We stopped again at another lookout over Bow Lake further south. By this time, almost everyone was feeling sick of lakes so mom and I were the only ones to get out of the car. I was the only one to climb down to the shore. There I took a few photos of the lake and of a storm rolling in.

Bow Lake

A storm rolling in over Crowfoot Glacier and Crowfoot Mountain

Taken by Adam from inside the car

We drove back along the Bow Valley Parkway starting at Lake Louise. This was mostly pointless as there wasn't much to see and you had to drive slowly. I was starting to get nervous it would be a complete bust until we came across some elk on the side of the road. Everyone agreed that they were cool to see and made the drive worthwhile.

I wasn't actually this close to them - thank you zoom lens

See, I was across the street - like this picture depicts

We made our way into Banff to do some shopping for an hour. But before shopping, we drove to Surprise Corner for a cool view of the Banff Hot Springs Hotel and Bow Falls below.

Banff Hot Springs Hotel as seen from Surprise Corner

Stine, Mom and Dad

Bow Falls

Back in Banff we got all our souvenir shopping done in an hour. By 7 we were exhausted, so after a short drive around Lake Minnewanka, we headed back to Canmore to rejoin everyone for dinner.

It was an awesome scenic day. I wish we would have had a whole week at Banff. There was so much more to see!