Trip report: Calgary/Glacier NP(US)/Lake Louise/Banff/Vancouver Island/Vancouver

My wife and I and another couple recently went to the Pacific Northwest on a flying & 3,000 mile road trip. We flew into Calgary and home from Vancouver, BC. From Calgary we drove 3,000 miles with stops in Glacier NP (2 nights on the east side and 2 on the west), Lake Louise for 3 nights, Kamloops for 1 night, Vancouver Island/Victoria for 3, and the Vancouver area (near the airport) for 2.
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This is the geriatric report as we’re all 70 plus and didn’t do any long hikes. My wife even has a temporary handicap placard; she can walk about a mile, two if she rest a lot, and then that’s about it for the day for her. But we did see and learn a lot.

The trip was great. Logistically it could not have been better; the flights were on time for the most part and we only had rain one afternoon in Victoria but it was kinda nice to chill out in the hotel.

This trip took a lot of planning. In addition to the usual “trip stuff” it takes planning to get into GNP because of their entrance restrictions. A vehicle pass or some other activity has to be purchased to enter specific areas between 6:00 am and 3:00 pm. Or you need to start planning a year in advance and get a room at a park lodge/campground. And Canada has implemented a shuttle system to see Moraine Lake and Lake Louise. Tickets for that can be purchased on line – although we learned there are ways around that. You also need a pass to get into the Canadian National Parks; they are $21/day for a small group.

To enter GNP after 6:00 am or before 3:00 pm we bought boat tours at Many Glacier, and to access GTTSR we got boat tours on St. Mary Lake and Lake McDonald (only needed one of those). But, we got lucky, and we each were able to get the 3 day GTTSR vehicle pass when they were available. We also were able to get a vehicle pass for Two Medicine that we got at 8:00 am the day before we used it. They reserve some passes for that purpose.

It was really crowded, as expected, at both Glacier and in the Lake Louise area. The GTTSR on the west side is under repair and about 9 miles of it have one lane open. It’s only a two lane road. When we were there they were working around the clock and late one afternoon it took about 45 minutes to exit on the west side and go 9 miles as the road was down to one lane. There were a lot of people leaving and coming to the park at that time. The next morning, we were going west to east on GTTSR, it didn’t take as long as fewer cars were leaving the park in the morning so we didn’t have to wait as long before it was our turn to go.

Since this was mostly a road trip with stops of fairly short hikes we used an app called GuideAlong – used to be called Gypsy Guide. Download the route your taking, a network connection is not needed; it uses GPS to know where you are and the narrator provides recommendations of places to stop along the route as well as commentary about a wide variety of topics.

The goals of the trip were to see Glacier National Park, drive GTTSR specifically, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Butchart Gardens in Victoria on Vancouver Island. But, between our research and the GuideAlong app we saw so many rivers, streams, lakes, waterfalls, and scenic views that I can’t count them. And I tried.

We flew into Calgary a day earlier than necessary because the airline performance had been erratic. We gave ourselves an extra travel day just in case. We spent that extra day seeing downtown Calgary and going to the Calgary Stampede which is like a big state fair with a rodeo; we didn't plan that.

Here are pictures of the highlights and the places I liked the best.
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Takakkaw Falls and Emerald Lake are less than an hour from Lake Louise.

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Emerald Lake. There is a lodge and cabins there.

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Many Glacier and the boat tour of Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes. You board the 1st boat at the Lodge, ride across Swiftcurrent Lake, exit and hike about 1/2 mile up and over a hill (=to about 5 flights of stairs they said) and get on the 2nd boat to ride across Lake Josephine. At that dock you can stay on the boat and go back or exit and hike to Grinell Lake or Grinell Glacier. We stayed on the boat but our friends hiked to G. Lake.
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While our friends were hiking, and waiting 3 for a return boat after the hike, we went back to the lodge and had a drink and looked at the lake from the Breezeway Lounge. Those girls in the picture did yoga. I didn't watch them.

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Johnston Canyon is near Banff. We did the 1/2 mile, one way, hike to the lower falls.
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The 1st picture is the lower falls. There is cave/tunnel through which the fall can also be seen and that's what the people in the 2nd picture are in line for. We didn't wait.
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Pics of the trail to the lower falls.

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Columbia Icefield Discovery Center, Glacier walk and Skywalk.
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We bought a combination Glacier tour and Sklywalk ticket. It was 2 1/2 hours total. We got on a regular bus at the Discovery Center and it took us to where we got on the big glacier buses. Took bus that to the glacier. We were on the glacier 20 minutes and then we took the special bus back to get on the regular bus and it took us to the Skywalk which is about 2 miles from the DC.

We had 3:00 pm tickets, cause they were cheaper, and by the time we got back to the DC most everyting was closed so we missed whatever was there. We got just before our ticket time cause we were looking at other places.

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The St. Mary Lake boat tour. I should have put this one higher on the list. It was great; about 90 minutes. We made one stop to take a short walk to Barring Falls.
While we were waiting to board the boat a young grizzly bear walked out of the woods and passed within about 10 yards of us. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
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