Day 32 - Banff

Hello friends, I am going to start off my blog post today by saying that all the views that I saw today were collectively the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and that today ranks up there with one of the best days of my trip thus far. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I won't have to emphasize how stunning everything was whenever I mention something (because otherwise I could go on for days).

I left Calgary this morning after having breakfast with Tim and started making my way over to Banff National Park. It was cold and raining for a good chunk of the day, and you couldn't really see the top of most mountains because of the clouds, but it was breathtaking nonetheless, so it was worth it. I was very confused about how things worked in the town of Banff and where I should be going for about an hour until I found an information desk. The nice lady at the counter gave me a map of the park and highlighted the main areas that I should check out, so I bought a park pass and went from there. I then went to go get some food at the Cascade Shops before starting my busy day (and I honestly don't know how I would've survived without it in hindsight). 

I first drove towards the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and explored the area and views around there. It looked very fancy and felt like being there costs way more money than I currently own, so it was cool to see (from afar that is). I drove towards "Surprise Corner", which was a scenic lookout onto the Bow Falls and the mountains around it, before going down to the falls themselves and getting a closer look at them. I took a bit of a walk around the Spray River, which is a branch off of the Bow River after the Bow Falls, and then hiked the area surrounding it for about an hour before making my way back towards the hotel. Side note: I saw a lot of elk all throughout the park, they were pretty friend (despite the signs stating otherwise).

After some light hiking though the trails around the rivers, I did something that I didn't think I would do today. I actually climbed to the summit of one of the mountains in Banff, Tunnel Mountain. Tunnel Mountain has a height of 1692 m, and while I only climbed a height of ~250 m, I had to hike roughly 2.5 km (each way) on a relatively steep incline. It was one of the most exhausting things I have ever done, I had to stop multiple times to catch my breath (the cold air didn't help) and only kept on going because other hikers kept on telling me that the views would be worth it. I persevered through it, and after roughly an hour, I had finally made it to the top of the mountain (literally). I was simultaneously very proud of myself for doing it and thought that I was an idiot because of the amount of pain I would be in the next day. Nonetheless, the other hikers were right, and the views were 100% worth it. I met a really nice guy from LA at the top, who helped take a few pictures of me.

After I made it back down to the base of the mountain and got into my car, I drove down to Hoodoos Viewpoint, and then walked over to the Bow Valley View, both of which overlooked the mountains and the Bow River. Fun fact: There is a biking trail next to Hoodoos called "Star Wars Return of the Jedi". At this point in my day, I had seen most of the things I wanted to see in the area of the park around the town of Banff, so I decided that I wanted to go see Lake Louise. The 45 minute drive was very much worth it, as I got to see the best view of my entire trip so far. One cool thing that happened while I was there was that I met a couple from Tennessee that are getting married on Sunday, and I had offered to take a few pictures for them by the lake. I then got to see Moraine Lake, which still had a surprising amount of snow around it. Both of these lakes had the clearest and bluest waters you'll ever see. On my way to Canmore (where I will be spending the night), I stopped by Johnston Canyon, which is a tributary of the Bow River; I would've liked to hike there for a while, but it was getting late. The only thing that I didn't get to do today unfortunately was visit Lake Minnewanka, but it's not the end of the world. I have something new to see when I come back to Banff in the future (along with Bow Lake and Peyto Lake).

I'm spending the night in Canmore at Greg Sinclair's parents' place, and they have been wonderful to talk to and very gracious hosts. Tomorrow I make my way over to Edmonton!

Banff: www.instagram.com/p/BjeMDRdlj_F