Planning: for years I have wanted to visit Banff, but it never happend,
Early June I was looking for flights on air canada, the direct flights were unaffordable but the stopover options were to cheap to be true,
It was great timing for me leave on Monday 4:30pm from ewr with a quick stopover in Toronto arriving in calgary at about 10:00pm,
the awards availability using air canada miles was,
Economy 29k
Premium. 27k (not offered on the ewr-toronto flight)
Buisness 31k (1st leg was domestic business and 2nd Toronto to Calgary in lie flat buisness)
+$40 cad in tax
It was a no brainer to do buisness, and on top of that there was a 20% transfer bonus from chase points.
So it was booked, being I was only going with dw we had to do a shorter trip, returning on Friday (thurs night) 1:00 am with a stopover In Toronto arriving at ewr at 10:00 am Friday morning, prices were slightly more expensive with buisness at 33k (and after booking 1st flight the price jumped to 39k)
The tax was also a little higher at about $90 cad.
With that being booked we looked for a car for 3 days, cars were rediciliosly expensive,
hertz was the best option of reliable car rentals about $200 usd for a midsized car for 3 days, was less than half of avis and enterprice....
Next was hotels, we booked
1st night hyatt place calgary airport for 8k hyatt points.
Nights 2 and 3 would be in canmore at northwinds hotel for $300 per night.
(about 40 min drive from banff town and a hour from lake louise)
After we booked the Columbia icefield glacier tour for $186 Cad for 2 ppl.
We weren't sure what other activities we would do,
we wrote our options down like Banff gondola, boating lake minnewanka...... and decided to book them when we're there as I heard they usually have availability the day of.
Lake louise and moraine would have to wait till 2 days in advance.
The plan was
Monday- arrive
Tuesday- late start, drive to Banff town and lake minnewanka.
Wednesday- Johnston canyon hike, bow valley rd, icefield Pkwy, 4pm Columbia icefield tour.
Thursday- Hopefully lake louise and moraine (maybe lake louise
the week of the trip came around we tried getting availability for the lakes but we're unsuccessful, we would have to try Tuesday again during our trip.
We were off Monday afternoon, Toronto airport was a easy stopover,
The 2nd leg in lie flat was great and we slept through almost the entire flight.
Air canada lie flat
We picked up our luggage proceeded to the rental, Hertz calgary didn't have president's circle so we hit the desk they upgraded me at no cost to a gmc terrain, we were in our hotel 10 minutes later.
When natural disaster strikes:
The jasper wildfires hit a new high the day we arrived and we were unsure what to do as our icefield tour was canceled and most of the icefield pkwy closed making half our Wednesday gone, the air quality showing for the entire Banff area on Google maps was terrible (dark red), the area at glacier national park was green, thinking we wouldn't see anything in Banff we decided to do something wild, we both exepted we would have to make the best of it, we had slept well on the plane for 4 hours, and didn't need to much more sleep, 12 to 3:30 am was enough, it was only a 3 hour drive to glacier np going on the sun road st. Mary entrance (doesn't require advance reservation for going on the sun road)
TUES:
By 4am we were on our way towards glacier np, we only realized later that the borders between canada and usa only opened 7 am, there are 2 borders to get into glacier from that area the carway border and the border at Waterton lakes np in canada that is +40 minutes, we had time on our hands so we took the opportunity to daven shachris in the beutifal Waterton lakes, davening at sunrise was really nice over there looking out at the glowing orange mountains, we also got to see some foxes and some nice birds.
Waterton lakes np in canada
We hit the town of babb montana at 7:45 am relizing there probaly wasnt going to be service in the park we waited there to attempt to book our la,e louise and moraine bus on the parks canada shuttle I refreshed the page seconds before 8 am and hit the reserve at 8, I made it at last but once on the page I realized it was only one person even though I typed in 2, my mistake was the refreshing set me back to 1 person, Every min or 2 another opening would come avail for 1, when 2 finally came available it said system loading, so I called the reservation line a few times till I got through, dw teffilos definitely made a spot for 2 come up, but only at 11:00 am although we really wanted the 6:00 am we were happy to have booked reservation.
We were at glaciers at about 8:30 am
The st. Mary park Entrance had no wait, once we entered the park we started to see the effects of montana wildfires that we were unaware of.
The veiws were still crazy we started passing st. Mary lake,
St. Mary lake
We continued on the going on the sun road passing Logan pass the road was a little scary, and there were waterfalls everywhere of all sizes we also had a mountain sheep strolling around the cars it was pretty cool.
Logan pass
Mountain sheep
Pics of Logan pass on there way back up
we continued into the forested areas later on in the road stopping every so often to marvel at the river beside the road, sometimes blue, other parts white rushing rapids and in some places it was a calm crystal clear.
River
Our last stop on the road would be lake Mcdonald the boat launch area was full of ppl. We continued on to find a quite spot there were many pull offs, we found one that was totally empty, we walked for about 5 minutes on the shoreline with our swimming gear and camping chairs until we found a private area blocked with trees.
We sat there for a few hours the weather was perfect, I did the daf, we went for a swim water temp. wasn't to bad, the clarity was unbelievable & we regretted not bringing snorkeling gear😀😀, we relaxed and took in the scenery.
Lake Mcdonald
Our little area
it was now 1 pm and a 6 hour drive to canmore (2 hours back up to the entrance and 4 hours to canmore)
On the way back we saw a bighorn sheep not far from the road running down a steep mountain.
The drive back was tiring, but the day was we'll worth it.
We arrived at our hotel late afternoon, the room was decent, camore was full of smoke and made for a beutifal red glare on the mountains surrounding at sunset.
Driving with banff in the distance
WED:
We had a later start about 9:00 am we drove the bow valley pkwy and enjoyed some stops,
We were at Johnston canyon hike at about 10:30, the air wasn't to bad that day (I asked a ranger why he told me it had to do with the wind every hour is different) a slight sunshower when we arrived at the nearly full parking lot was to our benefit as ppl. We're waiting in their cars, the hike was still crowded but was still amazing at the same time we hiked to the lower falls, saw the long lines for the cave and continued on to the upper falls the 2nd half of the hike was nearly empty compared to the 1st half and we enjoyed the peacefulness the canyon was much closer together, there was only a few ppl. At the upper falls, by that time the rain sun was out again and by time we reached the lower falls their were throngs of ppl. Hiking up, we finished the hike by 1:00 pm
The hike to the lower falls
Crowds waiting for there turn
Lower falls
Veiw from continuing on hike
The 2nd half of the hike to the upper falls
The upper falls
We drove a little more of the bow valley pkwy looking for wildlife came upon a few elks on the side of the road
Elks
a few minutes later we saw 3 cars stopped, but we missed the bear, we stayed around driving slowly for a few minutes looking into the forest till we spotted it again far off disappearing a second later we looked again and again but couldnt find it, about a min after we left we saw him right on the side of the road digging in the sand for a couple of min. Once other cars pulled up he looked around and crossed the street a few feet from our car.
Black bear
Different stops on the bow valley pkwy
After we hit the town of banff and enjoyed a walk around and had our pre prepared lunch we also decided to ditch the gondola as there was still smog in the air,
From banff we made our way to lake minnewanka, I read that two Jack's lake was a good spot to swim but it was to full to go, we continued on to lake minnewanka (beutifal lake but overshadowed by its neighbors)
Again we hiked the shoreline found our spot and set up shop the water was cold and refreshing (making my swim short lived🙂) We soaked in the beauty, on the way out we saw the biggest elk in our life about 15 feet away from the car we were able see it stomach going in and out every time it breathed (i would put a video if i was able to figure it out)
Two Jack's lake
Lake minnewanka
Elk
A big mountain on the drive near the lake
by 7:00 pm were back at our hotel.
THURS:
We left the hotel at 10:00 am it was raining on and off and their was burnt pieces that looked like confetti flying around the air and all over the cars, we drove the trans canada hwy 1, it was very scenic drive about 20 min from lake louise park and ride we saw a pickup truck on the other side of the hwy with two guys in yellow walking towards the gate, I'm not sure why but I pulled over with a short stop, and left the car, their was a grizzly bear by the gate, I rummaged for my camera by time I had the camera on those guys were bear spraying the bear I only got the bear running back up, but the experience wasn't something of the average day..
Grizzly bear
It was foggy from rain and a little cold luckily we brought a light coat and scarves, we got to the park and ride at 11:15 the line was long and we couldn't get on the 1st bus, the 2nd bus came at 11:35 and the guy was a nice guy that waited 20 min till the bus filled up fully , once it filled 2 guys started banging down the doors and screaming at the driver to let them on,
After a few minutes of fighting the driver left mad muttering things the whole way under his breath, by time we got to lake louise it stopped raining and the sun peaked out from the clouds every few minutes , the lake was packed but the more we hiked the more peacfull it was.
Lake louise
From there we got a lake connecter shuttle to moraine lake the whole way it rained but again once we arrived it turned to a mist
We started with the Rock pile hike very short and decently easy
We enjoyed the veiw but didn't enjoy the crowds of ppl. Around, so we made our way down, at the bottom we saw a pika, we walked most of the lake ate our lunch and a peacfull spot on the lake the colors were unbelievablystunning.
Moraine lake
From the Rockpile
1
Along the lake
A closer up of the glacier on the mountains
Veiw that we had during lunch
it was nearly 4:00 pm so we hit up the icefield pkwy for about 60 miles that was still open.
Below I'll put all the pictures from the icefield pkwy. drive (not in order)
we stopped at bow lake, and Crawford glacier veiwpoint, bow lake wich even in the rain had a sapphire blue color.
Crawford glacier
Bow lake
we continued, driving through the towering mountains skipped peyto lake (would go a little later on the return)
And went to waterfowl lake wich is very underated the sky was no longer falling but gave glossy look to the lake
Waterfowl lake
After we spun around went to peyto lake upper parking lot (allowed to park after 4pm) wich the hike isn't as steep as the lower parking lot, upon getting to our last official stop on our trip we couldn't leave it was our favorite stop it was nearly empty, and the lake was out of this world we literally stood there taking in the veiws and enjoying the relaxing moment, another interesting thing about the lake is yo can see the chain of events I'll put the pics below
1) glacier
2) melting into waterfalls cascading down the mountain.
3) The waterfalls continues into a beutifal stream
4) The stream pouring into the lake
The whole picture
Peyto lake
After being mesmerized for an hour at peyto lake we headed back towards the airport for our 1:00 am flight, the car return was easy security was at least a 45 min wait, the buisness class/nexus line was 15 min we went to the maple leaf lounge wich was OK. We arrived in ewr at 10:00 am.
Thanks for reading, I hope this is helpfull.
Final thoughts:
Rain and wildfires had the potential to ruin our trip we were fortunate to have decent weather most of the time but despite the conditions we made the best out of it (a important lesson I learned is we can plan all we want but it's not in our hands).
Some ppl. Enjoy there vacations at a beach town and having kosher restaurants nearby wich I enjoy also, but for me personally relaxing at some of the most beutifal places in N America (or possibly the world) was the best vacation possibly, even though I did a lot of driving I felt everyday we had hours by lakes for ourselves, even lake louise we walked for 20 min. Found a bench and sat for an hour enjoying, I didn't find the need to do anything else.
The glacier day was a lot of driving but we'll worth it, we don't have a problem doing those long drives so it worked for us also we didnt experience heavy traffic in glaciers or at the border but it could be we got lucky.
Bringing camping chairs that fit into our suitcase was a great move and made the lakes very enjoyable (or buy in walmart for $10 a chair).
Wildlife sightings in the banff area aren't unusual but wasn't taken for granted (2 weeks in Alaska summer 2023 we only saw one bear, 2 days in Banff got us 2 bears) it's those times somedays tons and others none😎.
My thoughts on places we visited:
Glacier: we only did the going on the sun road and even with smoke in the air it was still crazy nice, I hope one day to check out other beutifal areas in the park, one downside is the hype the crown jewl of usa, I didn't find, I have seen other parks wich were similar in scenery don't get me wrong it magnificent and we loved it I just didn't see it that way.
Lake minnewanka and two Jack's lake are really nice and underated, it's not louise or moraine but it's still a spot Is worth stopping,
Theirs a boat tour that goes deap into minnewanka and affordable, I didn't end up doing it but heard it's very nice.
Bow valley pkwy is a good spot for wildlife as well as nice pull outs on the bow river but is very forested area.
Johnson canyon the lowerfalls were nicer than the upper but I enjoyed the 2nd half better as it was much less crowded.
Lake louise and moraine if you want to enjoy the lakes just walk a bit the farther the better.
Their are other private tours available but are costly, take the time you get.
If you could only do one lake: the diff. Between the lakes are louise greener color and mountains with trees and moraine blue with more plain dramatic mountains in the background.
If for whatever reason you can't get the tickets for the lakes there are other options on the icefield pkwy not as famous, like bow, waterfowl and peyto lakes but are equally nice (in my opinion at least🤪)
Peyto lake was our favorite I'm not sure why it's not more popular but a must see in Banff.
Thanks for reading
