Southernhippie

It took about 1 hour to get to Lake Louise from Canmore. Downtown Banff is about 20 minutes away and most of the places we went aside from the Ice Fields Parkway day was about 1 hour. It does not seem that long though with all of the views while driving. The town of Canmore was really nice and there were a lot of places to eat in the town.

Alberta, Canada July 20th-26th 2019

7/20/19
• Landed in Calgary around 2pm and picked up rental car from Avis
• Stayed at the Summit at Grande Rockies Room 403 in Canmore. We had a 3 bedroom condo with a balcony with a gas grill and another balcony with a hot tub. Both had amazing views of Three Sisters Mountain. One bedroom has a queen murphy bed but it was comfortable.
• Dinner at Park Distillery Restaurant and Bar in downtown Banff, we made reservations because we were a group of 7. Food here was ok nothing amazing but atmosphere was cool.






7/21/19
• Left at 5am and headed to Norquay Lookout, it was extremely foggy and we were unable to see the views that morning. It was an interesting experience though because of the steep incline we all felt drunk.
• From here we headed to Johnston Canyon and hiked the lower and upper falls.
• Then we headed to Lake Minnewanka, we walked around and hung out here. We wish we could have came back here and spent time kayaking!
• We then headed to Tank 310 in Canmore for a few beers and then walked to Grizzly Paw Brewery Downtown for lunch.
• That afternoon we headed to Grassi Lakes where we took the more difficult hike to the left that has beautiful waterfall views up to the Grassi Lakes. We then hiked down the more easier trail out.
• We stopped and picked up Red Rock Pizza for dinner.











7/22/19
• Left at 5am and headed to Moraine Lake, you MUST get here early to get a parking spot. The parking lot is small and they close it down early requiring you to take a shuttle there. Some people had been out there since 4am.
• We then headed to Lake Louise.
• Our first hike of the day was the Lake Agnes Teahouse Hike. This hike first hits Mirror Lake with views of Big Beehive. It then gets to Lake Agnes where we stopped and had snacks and tea at the Lake Agnes Teahouse.
• We then did the Big Beehive Hike which ended with amazing views of Lake Louise.
• Instead of heading back down Big Beehive the same way we came we decided to take the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail down. We hiked to the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse and had some lemonade before heading back to Lake Louise.
• We hiked a total of 13 miles with an elevation gain of 7,500ft in 8hrs.
• We grilled steaks at the condo that night and relaxed in the hot tub.












7/23/19
• Whitewater rafting with Chinook Rafting on Horseshoe Canyon with cliff jumping into the river. This was a half day tour and cost $114/person. Our guide was Calvin and he was amazing! It was class 3-4 rapids and the cliff jump had an option of 8ft or 30ft. They supply all the equipment you need and post the photos for free on the website within 48hrs or you can purchase a flash drive for $30 that day with higher quality photos.
• We picked up pizza from Boston Pizza in Canmore on the way back to the condo where we relaxed in the hot tub after being in the freezing cold river water!
• That afternoon we headed to Norquay Lookout again with an ice chest of beer. We hung out here for a while drinking and soaking in the amazing views of Banff and the Vermilion Lakes.
• On the way down we stopped by the Vermilion Lakes.
• We then headed to The Elk and Oarsman for dinner in downtown Banff. They have a rooftop area but it was pretty packed so we sat inside.






7/24/19
• Breakfast at Rocky Mountain Bagel Co across the street from our condo. It was amazing and they have a little rooftop area where you can eat.
• This was the only day we got rain so during a break in the rain we headed to Tunnel Mountain. We made the mistake of parking at the first parking lot where there is a very steep first part of the climb but you can skip this by heading to the second parking lot. Beautiful views of Banff and the Bow River from up here. On the way down we got rained on but it turned out to be a fun trip down in the rain!
• We then headed to downtown Banff for drinks and snacks at Tommy’s Pub.
• Hot tub drinking and fajitas for dinner at the condo.




7/25/19
• This morning we left really early at 3am to hit the Icefield Parkway and head to Jasper. This was a long day on the road but we saw lots of wildlife. Here are a list of the stops we made.
• Goats and Glaciers Lookout
• Athabasca Falls
• Maligne Lake
• Medicine Lake
• Downtown Jasper
• Pyramid Lake Beach for lunch
• Pyramid Island
• Sunwapta Falls
• Athabasca Glacier Tour- this was $115/person and included the Glacier Skywalk
• Glacier Skywalk
• Mistaya Canyon
• Peyto Lake
• Banff Ave Brewing for dinner
















7/26/19
• We overslept this morning and were unable to get to Moraine Lake so we headed to Lake Louise for a final goodbye.
• We then headed to Calgary where we stopped for breakfast at Diner Deluxe, which was AMAZING!
• We then went have a beer at Elite Brewing and Cidery before heading to the airport for our flight.