*This two part blog feature will follow our adventures through Western Canada in July and August of 2019. We spent time in Jasper National Park, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Abraham Lake / Clearwater County area, Yoho National Park, and Banff National Park. Part one can be found here*
Day 6: After a big dinner and a great night’s sleep, we woke up on day six ready to continue on with the trip! We threw our laundry in the washer on site at the hotel, checked out, then headed up to Pyramid Lake, just north of the town of Jasper. It was a lovely drive up through the forest, past Patricia Lake, and then to Pyramid. The big draw to Pyramid Lake is the little island on the lake connected by a wooden boardwalk. We read some historical signs along the way, and then hung out on the island for a bit. There were really good views of Pyramid Mountain (9,075ft / 2,776m) and other town facing peaks of the Victoria Cross Range. We mulled around the area for a bit, then headed back into town for supplies and lunch. We settled on Jasper Pizza Place, who has a great rooftop bar and lounge with great views of the surrounding mountains. During dinner, I was presented with a present, one of the Patagonia Black Hole duffel bags that I’ve had my eye on for a while. Kevin, Kelsey, Kia, and Megan all chipped in and got it for me for planning the trip and making sure everything was in place for us. I shed a few tears over this duffel bag, it meant a lot to me that they were grateful for the work I put into our vacation and got me something that I REALLY wanted but probably wouldn’t have bought for myself anytime soon.
After lunch, it was time to hit the road and take the gang down the Icefields Parkway, my favorite drive ever! First stop along the way was Mt. Edith Cavell. The road there winds up switchbacks nearly 3,000 feet to the base of Mt. Edith (11,033ft / 3362m), a massive mountain that can be seen all around the Jasper area. We took the short walk up to the platform and hung out around the glacial pond for a bit, checking out Angel Glacier under the beautiful partly sunny sky. Kevin and I read about some of the climbing routes up Edith and started devising a plan for a future climbing trip. After doing some more research on the route and watching videos, I would absolutely LOVE to summit that peak and make a little mini movie about it. The crew hopped back in the van and down the parkway to the next two hotspots - Athabasca Falls and Sunwapta Falls. I like Athabasca, but I find it way less impressive than Sunwapta. Athabasca is always way more crowded too. We snapped a few pics at Athabasca, then headed down to Sunwapta and down to our little photo spot in the woods for pictures and video and to take in the views.
A little further down the parkway, Kia used her eagle eyes to spot a grizzly bear on the scree slopes between the Skywalk and Columbia Icefields Discovery Center! We hung a u-turn and pulled off the side, Kelsey getting out her binoculars and me slapping on the 200mm lens to try and get some closer shots of the bear. We watched it eat some berries and then cross the bare slopes over towards more berries. By this time, a handful of people pulled over to see what was going on, and we showed them the bear. I still can’t believe Kia spotted that tiny brown dot way up the side of that hill.
The sun was starting to set, and we were taking a bit longer to get to our camping destination for the night - Abraham Lake. We passed The Crossing Gas Station and Store and hung the left on David Thompson Highway towards Abraham. The cool thing about the Abraham Lake area is that it’s all public land, so you can camp anywhere without a permit or fees. Megan and I spent a few nights there the last trip, and we had a sweet spot in mind for the night. 20 minutes later and we turned down towards the lake, but it looked completely different than last time! The water level was up and there was about 200 feet less shoreline that we had last time, and there were people camping in all of the spots left. After that bust, we didn’t really have a backup plan, so we wandered back and forth down the road while the sun went below the horizon. I found a little dirt road on the map, so we turned the Dodge Caravan down it and crashed our way through the forest while the road got muddier and sketchier. At one point we were driving over makeshift bridges made out of fallen timber that off-roaders had placed there. Kevin and I got out and ran with our headlamps down to the lake, and deemed it too sketchy to take the van any further. We ended up turning around and camping about 100 feet away from the highway, which turned out to be a decent spot, all said and done. A fire was sparked and dinner was made at about 10pm, then we promptly hit the hay, with plans of summiting Tangle Ridge in the morning.
Canoe on Pyramid Lake with Pyramid Mountain in the background
The girls walking back from the island
Mt. Edith Cavell, Angel Glacier, and the glacial pond
Hanging out above the icebergs
Athabasca Falls run-out
My favorite Canadian waterfall - Sunwapta Falls!
Kia and I showing people where the bear was at (photo by Megan)
Kelsey scoping out the bear (photo by Megan)
The grizzly on the scree slope!
Kevin admiring the ancient glaciers
Our final resting place for the night
Miles into the backcountry…or right next to the highway?
Day turns to night over the Abraham Lake mountain range
Day 7 : The next morning brought warmer weather and sunshine - perfect for packing up our gear, eating breakfast, and crushing some espresso. We piled into the van once more and headed back into the national parks. I backtracked us up Big Bend and past where we saw the bear the evening before, and we eventually hit the Tangle Falls parking area. Across the street from here is a great looking and easily accessible waterfall that lots of tourists stop to see. This would also be our starting point for getting to today’s hiking goal, the summit of Tangle Ridge (9,800ft / 3,000m). Only problem was…..there was a huge storm coming over the BC/Alberta border. We sat in the van for a few minutes to see what would happen, and then the wind picked up and the rain came. We waited it out for nearly an hour and then finally deemed it safe to start our trek. Everyone got their gear together and we headed out past the waterfall and into the woods, skirting some nice ridgelines with wildflowers or waterfall views on occasion. Unfortunately, I took us on a wrong turn (or rather, stayed on the Wilcox Pass trail and DIDN’T turn for the Tangle Ridge trail). We back tracked nearly a mile and found the correct way to Tangle Ridge, which starts on an unmarked stream crossing and then follows cairns up a boulder field before becoming a more obvious trail. Once out of the boulders, the trail went pretty vertical for a good distance and we got our heart rates up, climbing almost 2,400 feet (720 meters) over just 1.4 miles. Another big storm looked to be brewing over the border again, throwing heavy wind gusts at us, but we cautiously pressed on. After taking a food and water break, we looked to Kevin for guidance on if we should push on to the summit or turn around. He deemed it too sketchy to summit, so we turned around about a mile from the top to the sound of thunder and lightning flashes nearing us. We boogied back down the mountain very quickly and were met with some rain and then hail once we got back down into the trees. By the time we made it back out to the waterfall, the sun was back out after another quick and classic Canadian Rockies blew through. In total, we did 6.5 miles and 2,622 feet (10.6km / 800m) over about 3 hours and some change.
We were a little bummed out we couldn’t hit the summit and definitely hungry, so we made a pitstop at the Columbia Icefields Discovery Center to fuel back up before heading down to Abraham Lake again for the evening. The Discovery Center is definitely a tourist trap, more specifically an overpriced cafeteria. After whoofing down some expensive food and connecting with family and friends over the wifi, it was back down the parkway. We made another pitstop at The Crossing for ice cream, then off to Abraham Lake to search for a better camping spot than the previous night. After some scouting, we decided to turn down a dirt road that spilled us out onto the rocky beach accessible by mostly any car and RV. This area was more populated than we would have liked, but we were lakeside with a fire ring and good views, so we parked the van here. The wind was ripping pretty good, so anchoring down the tents with big rocks was a must. We also had to build the fire ring wall up higher to block the wind out. Megan and Kia went down towards the water to sketch and write, while Kevin and Kelsey got the fire going. After that was taken care of, Kelsey and I made a little rock circle and passed some time throwing smaller rocks into it, keeping score. I took some photos while the sun was going down, and then we ate dinner. The surprise for the evening was that one of the RV owners near our spot had fireworks! After the wind died down, he lit them off. It was a cool experience seeing some fireworks shot off with all of the mountains in the back, until one went haywire and launched towards us, nearly taking out our fire ring. We survived the incident and got into our tents for the night.
Wildflower field heading up Wilcox Pass trail.
Wilcox and Nigel peaks in the distance. We came from down in that valley.
Megan and Kelsey taking in the scenery further up from the last shot, about a mile from the summit.
Kevin as we neared the top (photo by Megan)
Big storm coming in over the other mountain range, time to run back down!
Making our way back down as the clouds rolled in. 2 miles back to the road!
Night 2 camping at Abraham Lake. This time we were actually lakeside.
Myself and Kevin at Abraham Lake (photo by Megan)
Kia drawing and Megan making notes on her phone about the trip
The last bit of light hitting Mt. Michener
A gull flying over the lake. Those mountains in the distance are near the Alberta / BC border.
Kevin and Kelsey staying warm by the fire
The surprise firework show at dusk!
Day 8: We had another perfect morning on our 8th day. The original plan was to do a hike called Vision Quest that takes you steeply up one of the mountains at Abraham Lake with a panoramic view of the entire valley, but the girls weren’t feeling another big hike, so we decided to make this day an easier one. They got up early but took a nap into mid morning, while I took some photos and meandered around. Kevin went for a run down the highway and back, and then he and I got a good old fashioned glacier lake rinse off. Once everyone rose, we packed up and were on our way back into Banff National Park.
First stop for the day was Bow Lake, a Canadian Rockies classic. We spent some time walking through the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge for a bit, then went lakeside for lunch. Bow Lake is a cool area, but it’s another one of those spots that gets heavy traffic and there were people everywhere. I think next time we come, I’d like to hike back into the valley and summit Mount Jimmy Simpson for a more unique view of this area. After eating and taking some pics, it was time to backtrack up to Bow Summit (where we were delighted to learn that the construction that was closing down the Peyto Lake viewpoint for the summer didn’t start yet) and then head down the other side to Waterfowl Lakes. Last time Megan and I were here, we did a short hike along the south lake’s beach and were supposed to head up into the mountains to see Chephren Lake, but a big storm prevented that. This time, we had somewhat clear weather, so we gave it a go! The hike up to Chephren Lake is a good one, not too steep and there’s wildflowers everywhere. Megan picked up a good wildflower identification brochure, so we occasionally stopped to identify all the flowers along the way. The only downfall to this trail was that this are receives a significant amount of rain, so the pathway was VERY muddy. Kelsey found out just how muddy it was the hard way after slipping off a downed log and getting a foot fully submerged into some black mud! A little further up the trail and we were graced with eye level views of Chephren Lake, a beautiful emerald lake with Mount Chephren (10,850ft / 3,307m) towering behind it. A little rain storm blew through while we were there, but nothing major so we put the rain gear on and hung out at the lake for a bit. The rain cleared up and we got absolutely amazing views of the sun piercing through the storm clouds over the peaks. We headed back down the trail down to Waterfowl Lakes, where Kelsey cleaned off her shoes and we ate some snacks, then jumped back in the van.
Another quick stop at The Crossing and we were on our way back to Abraham Lake for our final night camping on public land. This time we drove further down the road than the night before and found another beachside spot with much less people. I took the Caravan over some deep rock/sand mixture, which could be trouble for getting back out to the road, but we would worry about that in the morning. The spot looked like something from a Caribbean getaway - lush trees growing sideways near the turquoise water. There was plenty of firewood in the woods behind us, and Kia got a huge fire going rather quickly. We were blessed with a calm evening and another gorgeous sunset, then it was off to bed!
Num-Ti-Jah Lodge at Bow Lake
Crowfoot Mountain - Bow Lake. This is my third time here and I still haven’t gotten a picture I truly like yet. Maybe next time!
Identifying wildflowers near Chephren Lake
Kelsey got sucked into the thick mud!
Light breaking through the rain clouds at Chephren Lake.
Shoreline at Chephren. I think this was my favorite colored lake on this trip.
Me coming back from snapping one last pic at Chephren (photo by Megan)
Our “Carribean beach” camp spot at Abraham Lake
Sunset over the Rockies
Day 9: This day started off with a (near) bang. We decided it would be wise to get up early and get to Peyto Lake before the viewpoint got overrun by hundreds of tourists. After packing everything up right at dawn, we hopped in the van and I let Kevin take the wheel. I had brought us across the deep gravel and sand the evening before, and we would have to be fast and precise when backing out of this spot. It was a couple hundred feet to solid roadway, so Kevin threw the van in reverse and gunned it. We definitely looked like the car at the beginning of A Christmas Vacation as we went banging and skipping across the beach. I have no doubt we woke everyone up that was camping in our radius. At the very end of the beach, Kevin made a hard turn and we did a 180 power slide, barely missing a few parked cars with our front end. I’m not even sure you could fit a credit card between the bumpers where we missed. That definitely woke us up fully, and we were back on pavement!
We rolled up to Peyto Lake, and the parking lot was about half full, which is much better than usual. The sun was starting to hit the peaks in the distance as we parked, and I knew we’d have a nice dynamic view. We busted out the short hike up to the platform and ducked through the trees to get a little bit lower and away from the crowd. The sun had illuminated most of cauldron peak and down into the valley by this time, but the lake was smooth as butter and the pictures came out great. We took some pictures for an odd character, fended off some other tourists, and took in the views for a short while before heading out. Next item on the agenda was to spend a significant portion of the day hanging out at Hector Lake.
Hector Lake is one of my absolute favorite spots in Banff. It’s a lesser visited lake due to it not really being advertised and the trailhead is incredibly easy to miss. I’ve found that most of the people that head to the lake are locals from Banff / Canmore / Kananaskis area, which is fine by us! This is also one of my favorite hikes, a short, mostly shallow downhill trail which includes a crossing of the Bow River! Depending on the melt / runoff, the river can be anywhere from ankle to waist deep. We got there at a good time, and the water was only about shin high and knee high at the deepest point. After crossing the river, it’s just a few more minutes through the pine trees and meadows before the trail spills you out on the southeastern shoreline of Hector Lake. There was only one other small group there when we arrived, and we were able to claim the same setup spot that Megan and I had a few years back. We all made some lunch, popped open the recliner chairs, Kia set up a hammock, and Megan laid out on her sleeping pad. The plan was to just hang out for a while, enjoy the views, then build a fire on the beach and go for a swim in the glacial water! While we were hanging out, I spotted a bald eagle and flying over the lake and we were able to watch it for a bit through the binoculars. I rallied the troops and got everyone ready to take an icy dip a short while later. Kevin dug out a spot for the fire and we all collected some firewood, but starting the fire was proving more difficult than normal. Kia REFUSED to let us not have a fire to warm up with after swimming, so her and Kevin stayed at it for a while and before long, the fire was raging. We changed into our swimsuits then ran into the lake! The truth about swimming in these lakes is that after you get used to the initial shock of the cold water, it honestly feels great. Then once you get out and the blood starts rushing back to the rest of your body, you feel really rejuvenated! We hung out around the fire for a bit longer and chatted with some other groups of people that came down to the lake, then headed back out with a successful beach hangout day in the rearview.
After Hector Lake, we took a trip down into Lake Louise Village (pro-tip for when the traffic is absolutely insane and they aren’t letting any more cars in to the village: just tell the officer that you have reservations for one of the hotels in the village and they’ll let you right in). We used that tactic and got through successfully. After a resupply at the local market and some quick shopping ,we hit up one of the restaurants to house some pizza, and then it was into Yoho National Park to the Monarch Campground. In all honesty, that campground wasn’t much to write home about so I won’t spend much time explaining it, but it did have a nice view of Mount Stephen and we got to see trains go through the mountain pass tunnel every so often. We made dinner, played some cards, then hit the hay so we could get a good rest in before doing a bigger hike at Lake Louise the next day.
Early morning at Peyto Lake
Tried something a little bit different this time…
Heading to Hector Lake
Crossing the Bow River to get to Hector Lake
Kevin’s Pro Tips: cross rivers with your backpack unstrapped, and always look out for bears!
The beautiful (and quiet) Hector Lake. Those mountains are over 3 miles away!
Our spot on the beach
Kia doing more sketching
Swim + bath in some cold glacier water!
Me on the way back across the Bow River (photo by Megan)
Day 10: An early breakfast and 20 minute drive back to Lake Louise put us in the upper parking lot around 7:30am. Our plan for the day was to hike up to Lake Agnes, get tea from the teahouse, then check out Big Beehive and Devil’s Thumb. The trail is a pretty smooth but steady gain up some zig-zagging switchbacks, and you get to see Mirror Lake and a cool waterfall along the way before reaching Lake Agnes. At Lake Agnes is the Lake Agnes Teahouse, one of the more unique places I’ve visited in my travels. The original teahouse was built in 1901 by the Canadian Railroad as a refuge for hikers, The original log cabin was replaced in 1981, but they retained the original windows, chairs, and tables. The water used for tea comes directly from the lake, and the rest of the supplies are flown in just a few times a year or hiked up daily by the workers. We got in line for some seats inside the teahouse, and at this moment, we realized that they only accepted cash. After getting our seat and scrounging together all of the cash, loonies, and toonies we had on us, we had a grand total of $12.80 (I believe that’s what we had) and had just enough for tea for the table. Kevin did bring the espresso, so we made espresso while the girls had tea and enjoyed the rustic scenery. For more info on the Teahouse, check out this link.
After getting some tea and taking a break, we skirted the shoreline of Lake Agnes. After spotting quite a few trout top water feeding, Kevin was able to catch a cricket and he threw it into the water. A big trout rose quickly to the surface and snatched the trout, but we weren’t quick enough to get it on film. We continued on and hit the switchbacks up to the entrance of Big Beehive, an overlook that we would hit on the way back down. The main goal was Devil’s Thumb, a prominent peak jutting out of the mountainside that offered a unique view of the lakes and valley below. The trail got pretty vertical from here and traversed the backside of the mountain on some rock ledges. We eventually got up most of the steep stuff and had some nice views back down into the Plain of Six Glaciers valley. After taking a break, it was another couple hundred feet climb up some big boulders and then we hit the summit! Devil’s Thumb stands at 8,064 feet (2,458m) above Lake Agnes and Lake Louise, and the view was totally worth the hike. On the left we were able to look back down at the Teahouse and on the right further down was a full view of Lake Louise. There were a bunch of tiny little dots that looked like ants on the lake, which were canoes. We sat and watched them for a bit, talked with a nice couple from Colorado, and snacked / hydrated. After a short break, we took one last look then headed back down the steep trail. Once back down near the trailhead, we went to the top of Big Beehive for some more views of Lake Louise, then made our way down to Lake Louise and back to the car. We totaled just shy of 9 miles and 2,600ft elevation gain (14.5km and 792m) over 3 hours and 31 minutes hiking time / 7 hours with stops. Not a bad afternoon of hiking!
We got packed up, hit Lake Louise village one more time for supplies and souvenirs, then headed back into Yoho to our campground at Monarch for night two. The plan for the next day was to get up around 4am and see sunrise at Moraine Lake, so we ate dinner, played cards for a bit after the sun went down, and got to sleep quickly in order to make a fast roll out in the morning.
Sunrise on Fairview Mountain at Lake Louise, heading up the Lake Agnes Trail
Lake Agnes Teahouse
Enjoying some tea and espresso inside the hut
Spotting trout in Lake Agnes. We headed up to the prominent peak right-center (Devil’s Thumb)
Going up! Lake Agnes & the Teahouse from the previous photos in the background.
Skirting the cliff side trail to Devil’s Thumb, Mount Whyte in the distance
Almost to the top!
The girls adding their rocks to the summit pile.
View from atop Devil’s Thumb (8,064ft) with Lake Agnes (left) and Lake Louise (right)
Me on the summit of Devil’s Thumb
All of us at the top!
Looking down on the Fairmont Chateau @ Lake Louise. Note the tiny canoes on the lake.
Heading back down.
Playing cards into the night. (photo by Kia)
Day 11: It felt like right after I closed my eyes the night before, my alarm was going off for our 4am wake-up call. I was pretty impressed with how quickly 5 people were able to wake up and pack our things and leave the camp spot. I think we were on the road by 4:20ish. The goal for the morning mission was to get an epic sunrise picture at Moraine Lake, hopefully catching some nice alpenglow on the peaks. We arrived at the parking lot just around 5am (it was already half full) and geared up. It’s a short walk up to the rockslide overview where about 90% of Moraine Lake pictures are shot. I was hoping for a nice peaceful morning, but we ended up at the lookout area with about 100 other people up early hoping to catch a nice sunrise too. Typically this wouldn’t be a bad thing if everyone was chill and nice to each other, but we encountered some rowdy folks getting into arguments with each other for blocking photo ops and others jumping over the wall and sitting in front of the people that got up hours earlier to get a nice spot. This was definitely not what I had in mind for the morning, and I probably wouldn’t come here for sunrise again. Megan and I were at Moraine Lake for sunset a few years prior, and it was almost silent up on the rock pile.
After fighting to frame out people sitting / walking through my shot (and not getting much alpenglow or a fiery sunrise at all), we headed back to the car. The original plan was to hike up through Larch Valley and see Minnestimma Lake, but the girls were super tired and cold, so they got back in the van for a nap. You can’t go up into the valley without a minimum of 5 people in your group due to bear activity, and we didn’t know quite how long the hike would take, so Kevin and I decided to climb up on the roof of the van, make some espresso, and people watch. We were probably up on the roof for almost two hours, watching the cars roll in and out and chatting with the parking lot attendant, who coincidentally worked in the Bradford area in PA near where I went camping growing up. A little while later, we hopped off the van and took a walk alongside the shoreline once the sun finally came up over the mountains to snap some “juicy bangers",” otherwise known as epic photographs to common-folk / uninitiated. I got a couple of nice shots and then we were on our way.
The next few hours were highlighted by a drive through Yoho National Park on our way to Golden, British Columbia. We took a turn off the main road to check out Emerald Lake, but the tourism was off the charts there so we quickly turned around and beelined it out of there. We did, however, get to see a moose on that road. A little while later, we were in beautiful Golden, a small mountain town at the foot of the Purcell Mountains. It was nice to be able to drive just an hour west and get away from all of the people. We got a nice lunch on the rooftop of Island Restaurant, did some shopping, and then checked into our hotel. The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and repacking, taking a nap, and watching way too much Ink Masters. We had dinner at The Wolf Den restaurant later in the evening as a very windy storm blew in, and it was a nice, relaxing night. We finished the day off with some more card playing in Kevin and Kelsey’s room, and then Kia, Megan, and myself retreated back to our room for some sleep. We had one more final (and epic) day planned for tomorrow!
Sunrise at Moraine Lake
Idyllic morning (aka making the lake look good while 200 people crowded around this viewpoint)
Mt. Temple guards the entrance to Larch Valley
Coffee on the roof of the van. Not a bad view!
One last look at Moraine Lake before heading out
Sun rising from behind the Tower of Babel.
Welcome to Golden, BC.
Day 12: On tap for our final full day in the Canadian Rockies was a fun filled adventure at Kickinghorse Mountain Resort in Golden, BC. Kevin and I had bike rentals + lift tickets reserved for their downhill mountain bike course, and the ladies were going to do their Via Ferrata (Italian for "iron path" - is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations). The drive up to the resort was nice, crossing a river and then weaving up into the mountains north of Golden. It was a Wednesday morning, so the resort was pretty dead, which was great for us! The girls got whisked away to go suit up for the Via Ferrata, while Kevin and I filled out the extensive waiver forms in the bike shop. I originally thought that we were getting the lift tickets plus bike and pad rentals, but turns out I didn’t reserve any pads. Kevin and shot each other some glances when the bike shop guy said it would be another $60 for the pads, and against our better judgement we declined the extra safety measures. Only time would tell if that was a poor decision or not!
We started off our first run by taking the baby lift about halfway up the mountain. This was our first time ever riding legit downhill, which is much more “extreme” than the single-track mountain biking that we were used to. Kevin and I took it slow, bouncing back and forth between groomed trails and lots of chunky, rock filled slopes. One thing was for sure, this was going to be a workout, much more than you would expect from riding downhill. You constantly had to shift your feet, throw your bike and body into corners, absorb impact from jumps and ledge drops with your knees and hips, and then pry your fingers off of the bike after each run from death-gripping the bars. After a couple of runs on the smaller stuff, we decided to just jump right in and take the Golden Eagle Express to the very top of the mountain and give the big boy runs a go. We alternated between the flow and rocky trails, trying to find ones that we liked so we could link them up for a long run of our favorites. We took the access road on our second run from the top and I ended up crashing going pretty fast and ripped up my knee, elbow, and hip. I was a little tender after this, but still continued on. We found a few trails we really like, from top to bottom were - It’s a 10 to Northern Lights to Magic Carpet Ride to Blaster to the access road then onto Super Berm (our most favorite). Magic Carpet Ride was a really fun trail as well, with big swooping turns and sheer drops off the mountainside with epic views. Kevin was absolutely ripping it, and I was having a blast too despite my injury. On one ride up, Kevin accidentally dropped his sunglasses off the lift, but we were able to find them while riding back down the mountain!
We got off the Golden Eagle once more and met up with the girls. They had finished the Via Ferrata and ate at Eagle Eye Restaurant, the highest elevation restaurant in Canada. They said the Via Ferrata, which takes you over swinging bridges and along the cliff face before topping out on Terminator Peak, was awesome. I was happy to hear they had a blast, and then said we would take one more run down the mountain and meet them at the bottom and finish off our day at Kickinghorse. Kevin and I linked up all of our favorites one more time and met up with the girls at the resort below. All said and done, Kevin and I rode nearly 25 miles of downhill that day, and my body sure felt it! After getting changed and repacking some items, we all hopped back in the car and drove through Yoho towards the town of Banff. In Banff, we had an excellent dinner (unfortunately the name of the restaurant escapes me), did some souvenir shopping, checked out the Spirit of Christmas Store, then we headed off to Two Jack Lake for our final night camping. On the way, we got to see a field full of elk, which was a pretty nice way to finish off the trip. Alberta Parks has a “quiet time” policy of limiting noise after 10pm, and the ranger came creeping by us a few times at our camp site before we finally shut down for the night and crawled into our tents. If they didn’t have this policy, we probably would have been laughing and carrying on into all hours of the night, not wanting it to end.
Going up the Golden Eagle Express to the top of the mountain. Town of Golden on the valley floor.
Exiting the Express. This was a lot more challenging than it looks! (photo by Megan)
The couples at the top of the mountain (photo by Kia)
Kia traversing the Via Ferrata (photo by Megan)
Kelsey and Megan on the swinging bridge (photo by Kia)
The girls on the summit of Terminator Peak (7,877 feet) with the Purcell mountain range in the background.
Kevin taking a break halfway down the mountain
We rode nearly 25 miles of rocky and flowy downhill on 6 different runs over 5+ hours. My body was BEAT!
The highest restaurant in Canada at 8,200 feet! (photo by Kia)
Day 13: We woke up this morning sad, as we would all be going our separate ways today. There was a great sunrise, so Megan and I walked down to the Two Jack Lake outflow behind out tents for some pics and to soak in some of our last views. After that, we all made breakfast and started slowly packing up our belongings. After some interviews from each person about the trip for the video I’m making, we did a final toast, then piled in the van for the last time and hit the road. It was about a 1.5 hour drive from Banff to Calgary, and once we got into the city, we dropped Kevin and Kelsey off at the airport and said our goodbyes. The rest of us didn’t fly out until midnight, so we drove around for a bit, hung out at Prince’s Island Park for the afternoon, got dinner at Original Joe’s Restaurant, then headed off to the airport for our flights out. Megan, Kia, and myself landed in Pittsburgh late morning the next day after some travel mishaps, but everything worked out in the end and we safely made it home. This was definitely another incredible trip, one that I will never forget, and I highly enjoyed reminiscing and remembering what we did each day in order to write these two posts. And, Megan and I got freaking engaged on this trip too! I’m forever thankful that we were all able to get together for this adventure, and look forward to many more in the future!
Final stats from the trip:
1,400 miles (2,253km) driven
94 miles (151km) walked and hiked throughout the trip
4 national parks visited (Jasper, Mount Robson, Yoho, Banff)
2 provinces visited (Alberta and British Columbia)
10 nights in tents, 2 in hotels / motels
Unlimited memories
If you’ve made it this far, thanks a ton for following along on our adventure and for supporting my site, my photography, and my writing. My end goal is always to show people that there’s more to the world than what you see in your hometown or the views you get from your couch, and I hope to inspire as many people as possible to take a leap and get out there to explore.
-Lee
Heading down to Two Jack Lake from our campsite
Looking out towards Lake Minnewanka from the Two Jack Lake outflow.
Packing up before saying goodbye to Canada