Canada Day 3 - Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore
We headed back into Banff National Park for our next day in Canada. We started the day at the iconic Lake Louise. We had no idea it would still be frozen and we could walk out onto it! We missed the time when it was open for ice skating so we will just have to go back in the winter. We also want to go back to see it in the summer when we can canoe on it as well as drive or hike up to the beautiful Moraine Lake, which was still closed because of icy conditions when we were there. I could not get enough pictures of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Chateau. It was incredible to finally get to see this place that we’ve eyed on Instagram for years in person. Although, the theme of the trip was that we just want to come back in every season and see even more. Pictures just don’t do this place justice.
We spent the rest of the day hiking. First up was Bow River Falls. It was a nice hike along the Bow River to the falls. We got a glimpse of the Fairmont Banff Springs, known as the Castle in the Rockies and it was so impressive. As we were taking pictures of the falls, DJ noticed a plaque marking Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Sentier Walkway. It was my first Royal related sighting and I was thrilled by the surprise!
Our second hike was the Tunnel Mountain summit. This was labeled as easy but Western Canada’s definition of easy and the Blue Ridge Mountains’ definition of easy must be very different, although we can blame the altitude for some of the difficulty. The hike was worth the incline because the top was filled with 360 degree views of the Rockies and the town of Banff. We got a bird’s eye view of the whole area, including the Castle in the Rockies! It was incredible. We kept saying the whole time that our mountains back home will never look the same after seeing these mountains. The Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful but they just cannot compare to the Canadian Rockies.
We ended our day with some shopping in Banff then more shopping and dinner in Canmore. While in Canmore, I had to get a picture at the North West Mounted Police station in honor of Mountie Jack and Mountie Nathan from When Calls the Heart!
