Day 15: Banff NP and Yoho NP

We woke up extra early today to do some hiking in Banff and still have time for sights in Yoho National Park. We walked the Fenland Trails and got a picture at the big Banff sign (no one was there that early in the morning!). Then we walked across town and up to the Tunnel Mountain trail. It was a 5K to the summit and back. We found the traditional red Adirondack chairs at the summit! Then we visited the history museum with many taxidermy animals and finally Cave and Basin. The history of this was that the National Park started because of a hot spring, which we saw in the cave at the museum. It was finally broken into 5 smaller national parks (Banff—called Rocky Mountains at that time, Yoho, Jasper, Waterton Lakes, and Glacier).

We then drove about 50 minutes north to Yoho which is in British Columbia. We went to the visitor center then headed to the top sights. We saw National Bridge, which is so neat because it’s rocks with water flowing through and underneath it. Then we went to Emerald Lake, which is also beautiful, but extremely crowded. We then drove to Takakkaw Falls. The falls are massive and rush down over the rocks and mountainside! We found the red Adirondack chairs here in front of the falls too.

Finally, I really wanted to visit Lake Louise on our way back in Banff. We got a parking spot but were so tired we knew we’d only stay for a couple minutes and the parking fee was ridiculous so we just kept going. I believe, but I’m not sure, that I got a picture of Victoria Glacier though. There was sooo much snow and it looked very packed and deep, but it’s pretty regardless. Today was our last exploration day so we came back to shower, eat an early dinner, play some cards, and get to bed early. We have lots of driving ahead of us!

















Cave and Basin












Emerald Lake



Takakkaw Falls








Back in Banff, behind Lake Louise







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 9: Craters of the Moon National Preserve

Image
We left Montana today and drove through Idaho. We stopped at Craters of the Moon National Preserve on the way through. It’s so fascinating how our Earth has changed over millions of years. This area has changed a lot but had 7 active volcanoes that haven’t erupted for thousands of years but what remains is the black ash and rock. You’ll see all black around you and then bright green in the distance. This was a quick stop and then we drove on to Oregon where we’ll stay the night before heading to Washington tomorrow. We are now on Pacific time (3 hours difference from the East coast). Since we gained another hour, and it was time, we also took the car in for an oil change right by the campground. I finished my latest book and tried to drop it off here but there’s no place so hopefully I’ll find another Oregon book drop before we hit Washington!  
Read more

Day 10: The day of Mountains

Image
We got up really early this morning because we had some traveling to do and the Mt. Rainier National Park visitor centers close earlier than most. We drove through the Columbia River Gorge area along the border of Oregon and Washington. We saw Mt. Hood in the distance. Then we had lunch at the Mount St. Helens visitor center. We dropped off our camper at the campground and went into Mt. Rainier National Park. It should have only taken us about a half an hour to get to the Longmire Museum, but the traffic to get into the park was crazy! We made it just in time to get stamps and head to the main visitor center. We got there just in time before they closed as well. Then we enjoyed the views of Mt. Rainier. It’s massive and beautiful! There’s still snow all over the place at the visitor center so the kids had a mini snowball fight and we jumped around melting snow puddles. It’s a beautiful place and so massive! On our way out we saw a deer. It was a day of mountains!
Read more

Day 7: Yellowstone NP-first day

Image
Today we traveled from North Dakota through Montana and down into the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana. We saw the original entrance and the arch that Teddy Roosevelt had built there. We did a little shopping around town then entered the park and explored Yellowstone Village and Mammoth Springs terraces. They are amazing, but can be stinky. We drove down through the park and saw many elk and bison, as well as Roaring Mountain that has fumaholes which make it look like it’s smoking and on fire. We left via the west entrance and our campsite is a couple minutes from the park. Tomorrow we’ll explore all around the whole loop! The last time we were here we couldn’t stay for more than a day because of the floods. It had just reopened on our way out west so we got to come in one day based on our license plate number. We’re excited to see more than mainly Old Faithful this time! I’ve also been on the lookout for another Little Free Library to drop another fi...
Read more