2017 Summer Road Trip: Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

Alisha says: Our transfer from Calgary to Banff was less than two hours so we arrived early afternoon and set up camp. It was much warmer than we expected it to be. Since this year is Canada's 150th anniversary they have waived all entrance fees to the parks which was pretty cool. We first drove through the town of Banff which looked like a fun little town but was super busy to check out Cave and Basin National Historic Site, Canada's first national park. It is a nice visitor center and a little walk to a small cave with a hot mineral spring and an outdoor emerald colored pool. After our visit it was still early in the afternoon so we debated on what to do because it was fairly hot outside, eventually we decided to drive a little ways up the Bow Valley Parkway to hike to Johnston Canyon Lower Falls. On the way we had to stop because a herd of male big horn sheep were meandering right down the middle of the road, it was fun to see them up close as they walked right past the car. The hike to Johnston Canyon Lower Falls was busy but also just what we were looking for. It was mostly shaded and followed a river in  canyon. A lot of the trail was on catwalks over the river which was really cool. Skye kept wanting to reach out and grab the railing. We checked out the Lower falls and then continued on just a little further before returning back to the car. We picked up some really tasty indian food in the town of Banff on our way back to the trailer and enjoyed dinner at the picnic table at our campsite. 

Cave and Basin National Historic Site

Bighorn Sheep

Hiking on the catwalks to Johnston Canyon Fall

7/7: Banff has a lot of paved paths and some dirt trails that you can ride so we did a fun 20 mile ride exploring all around including Tunnel Mountain Trail, Hoodoos Trail, Bow River Trail, Bow River Falls and Spray River Trail. We worked up an appetite so we rode into downtown Banff, parked the bikes and found a cafe with a shaded courtyard to have some lunch. We then walked around a little bit before riding back to the campsite. After a nice rest we took Skye to the Banff aquatic center and let her play around in the kid pool.

7/8: We got up early and drove an hour north to the famous Lake Louise. We arrived early enough to get a good parking spot and take some nice pictures before it was over run with tourists. It really is absolutely beautiful. The emerald lake surrounded by the mountains with the snow in the background is quite breathtaking. We enjoyed a peaceful walk along the Lake Louise Lakeshore Trail as we headed to the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail. This was definitely a highlight hike of the trip. I would have loved to make it to the tea house but with Skye it was a little bit too far for us but what we did hike was stunning. We hiked up the valley, over a few snow patches, with nice views of some glaciers. Even the desolate scree covered glacier carved valley below us was beautiful. It was fun to turn around and see Lake Louise get smaller and smaller the father we hiked. We got to a point in the trail where it started climbing so we decided to stay to the left and follow a ridge for a little while. The ridge got really high with really steep drops on each side and it was really cool but we eventually found a spot and bailed to a lower safer spot to stop, let Skye out of the pack for a while and eat our lunch. Luckily Skye had a nap on our return trip. Dave was also very tired at the end of our 8 mile trek but oh man I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was also a perfect day for our hike as it was overcast for most of it but the cleared towards the end.

We drove to the visitor center area and grabbed second lunch before heading to the opposite side of the to ride the gondola at the Lake Louise Ski Resort. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the beauty as we rode the open air chair up and the closed gondola on the way down. At the top we walked around a little bit and enjoyed the views that surrounded us including a different view of Lake Louise across the valley.

Walking along the ridge, you can't really tell but it is a small trail that drops off on each side.

Lunch spot

Hiking down, Lake Louise in the distance

Blue skies as we got back to the parking lot

Riding the open air chairlift up at Lake Louise Ski Resort

View from the top, see Lake Louise across the valley?

2017 Summer Road Trip: Calgary, Alberta Canada

Dave says: I am always impressed with the cities in Canada. Vancouver has been my favorite for a number of years but Calgary also has a lot to see and do. We drove in from Glacier and for a while it was flat terrain with fields of gold. On the way, we stopped at a big splash pad and Skye played in the water. Then, it was a few more hours in the car. Since Skye loves swimming so much, we stopped at a big aquatic center on our way into Calgary. This one had water slides that I could take her down, a kiddie pool, and a big beach area with occasional waves that she had mixed feelings about. We finally pulled into Bow River's Edge Campground around dinner time. This turned out to be a nice campground 30 minutes west of town with nicely graveled sites that were fairly close together and some grass in the back.

The next day was a big bike adventure. Alisha clocked us in at over 30 miles cycling plus 4 miles of walking. We rode into town on some great bike paths along the river and then stopped at a park on a small island near downtown. We ate at Tim Horton's and walked around the downtown mall. It had just been Canada Day and so there were a lot of decorations. Behind the mall was a cool downtown city street and a store where we bought Skye some Canadian pajamas. There was a huge Alaskan malamute dog on the street that was quite memorable as well. Next, we walked through Olympic Park and back around to the river. After a brief rest in the shade, the adventure continued. I routed us back a different way through Nose Hill Park that involved a lot of climbing and some dirt. Finally, we dropped down through the University of Calgary only to get detoured by some construction at the end that led to a few extra miles. Skye was quite the trooper. After dinner, we somehow still had energy to go to for a swim at a different aquatic center.

On the next day, we went to a nearby farm for kids where you can pet all the animals. They had cute baby goats, chicks, pigs, rabbits, horses, etc. Skye was both excited and nervous about the animals. There was a lot of hand washing involved. We ate at Costa Vida which exists in Canada and then I worked in the afternoon. In the evening, we went on a little bike ride along the river.

On the final day in Calgary, we went to Heritage Park which is Calgary's "ye old time" park with little rides for the kids, some old buildings and tours, and a train that you can ride around. Skye had a good time and the old car museum was a particular favorite of hers. There was a kid area with a little road that she loved and she played with a little metal tea set for a long time. In the afternoon, we made it back to the aquatic center from the first day because that was perhaps the best one of the whole trip. As usual, Skye had a great time playing in the water.

2017 Summer Road Trip: Glacier National Park, Montana

Alisha says: We broke up the drive from Yellowstone to Glacier into two shorter days rather than one really long one so after cleaning up our Yellowstone camp we drove to Butte, Montana. Once we got there we went to the local YMCA aquatic center and let Skye swim around for a little while. Since this was just a quick one night stop and we wanted to get an early start we just got a room at the local Motel 6 to save the time and effort it would take to set up and take down the trailer for just one night.

We had 5 nights at the West Glacier KOA which was a great campground with really nicely maintained grounds. It had a nice playground, swimming pool, grass, a restaurant, ice cream shop, etc. After arriving mid day we set up camp and just chilled for a little while. After doing some online research I discovered that the "Going To The Sun" road that connects the west and east sides of the park was still closed for the season. I was so bummed as I had read that the drive through the park was incredible and felt like I was not going to be able to truly get the Glacier Park experience. In the late afternoon we ventured into the West side of the park to the Apgar Visitor Center and then did a hike with views of Lake McDonald. 

Camground Life:

Swimming at the campground pool, it was really cold so mostly she just played around the pool.

Hiking along Lake McDonald:

The only good thing that we found out about the road being closed is that it is open to bicycles so on our second day we decided we would drive until where the road was closed and then ride our bikes up the road for a little ways. So we loaded up the bikes and started driving although we never got stopped and drove all the way to Logan Pass. The road had just been opened that morning and so while I was actually a little sad that we didn't get to ride I was really happy that we weren't going to miss out on driving the whole road. We stopped at Logan Pass and was lucky to get a parking spot as it was getting busy fast as the word was spreading that the road was open. We checked out the visitor center and then decided to hike to the Hidden Lake Overlook even though the trail was completely covered in snow. It was great fun and we had a really enjoyable time hiking over the snow. The scenery was beautiful.

After finishing our hike we drove back to the Lake McDonald area to grab some lunch before our scheduled afternoon boat tour on Lake McDonald. Lunch at this pizza place turned out to be really really stressful because it was such bad unbelievably bad service and Skye was hungry/cranky. We still hadn't got our food by the time we needed to leave so we had them put it in to go containers and we booked it down to the boat dock just in time to catch our tour. We then had to eat on the boat which was a little challenging. Lake McDonald is a beautiful lake that sits in a glacier carved valley, it was a clear day so we were treated to more great views and narration from a park ranger.

Thursday June 28th was suppose to be a more relaxing day. We parked at the Apgar visitor center and rode our bikes up the North Fork dirt road and then around on a few paved paths (11 miles total). We had a bison burger lunch with huckleberry cobbler desert and then let Skye play in the rocks on the shore of Lake McDonald. She liked trying to throw them into the water and eventually ended up falling into the water herself. After a little rest back at the trailer Dave wanted to go do a little hike out of "The Loop Trailhead" on the Granite Peak Trail. We ended up doing a 4 mile hike with some substantial uphill and it was hot! I was very tired when we returned to the car.

Skye throwing rocks in Lake McDonald before she fell in:

Hiking on the Granite Peak Trail

Lots of Bear Grass flowers

Loved the views

So tired and hot!

We got an early start the following day (June 30) and drove the entire Going to the Sun road to the east side of the park and the Many Glacier area. We were hoping to grab some breakfast before our boat tour but the only option was a little convenient store in the hotel. We then boarded an old boat that took us across Swiftcurrent Lake where we hiked over a little hill and got on another boat that took us across Josephine Lake. From the other side there were a few hiking options. I talked Dave into heading up the Grinnell Glacier Trail even though we knew we wouldn't make it all the way to Grinnell Glacier. I had read that the views from this trail were great and I didn't want to miss out. This hike was for sure a highlight of the whole trip. We climbed up out of the valley and got amazing views of turquoise lakes, waterfalls and towering peaks. It was pretty incredible. Skye had a nice nap but we decided to turn around when she woke up as it was already going to be a long day for her in the backpack. We hiked back down and along Josephine Lake to the boat dock and let Skye play for a bit. The boat back across Swiftcurrent Lake wasn't coming for a while so we decided to hike all of the way back to the Many Glacier Hotel for a 6 mile hike. After the long drive back through the park to the campground we decided to eat a dinner of steak and ribs at the campground restaurant, it was nice to sit outside and they barbecue up your dinner right there on the patio.

Views driving the Going to the Sun Road

The Weeping Wall

Amazing scenery as we waited for the boat

Hiking up the Grinnell Glacier trail

Incredible scenery, so beautiful

Our turn around spot

Stopping for a snack

Playing at the boat dock