Jasper, Yoho & Banff National Parks

Hello from Jasper National Park! While much of the area (the campground especially) was destroyed by fire last summer, the downtown area seems to be flourishing based on how hard it was to find a parking place!

We loved the campground and one day we were surrounded by a herd of Elk. There must have been 30 or 40 of them! They clearly were quite comfortable with the campers and people. I didn't get too close but did get this great shot of the cow and her bull. That's a pretty good size rack he's got!!

 

We did some hiking around the Miette area and supposedly a ghost mine area. We looked but didn't find any ghosts. 👻We hiked the Sulphur Skyline trail and it lead to the source of the Miette Hot Springs (below), which then of course, we planned to treat ourselves to after a day of hiking. It was a really pretty trail running next to the stream the whole way.

 

We hiked past the original building site which was right next to the stream and was so cool looking (from the picture on the sign) but it was torn down in 1984. The new facility was a bit of a disappointment as it is pretty much a big swimming pool. We figured it was maybe 100 degrees tops.

 

On our way back to the campground we saw this group of goats. They seemed to be irritated we were in their road! This one below seemed to be giving me the stink eye!😆

Back to the campground and another reminder of the fire from last year is that many of the signs have yet to be replaced. It's so sad to see as you can tell this used to be a beautiful location. Although, with views like this below, I would say it still is.

The Elk are also so cool to see all around you. We went out for a walk on our last night here and they were right next to the road. They didn't seem bothered at all by us (we did cross to the other side of the road though, just to be safe). The views from the campground here at Whistler's were lovely even with the burnt trees. The fire made for more beautiful wildflowers this summer for us to enjoy. Now on to Banff!

So the road from Jasper to Banff is called the Icefield's Parkway and referred to by many as one of the most scenic drives in the world. We've been to some amazing places in our travels and I have to say this one does sit pretty high on the list. If you never even got out of your car, the views are beautiful but there are a ton of stops along the way. We were limited to the ones we could go to with the RV and truck in tow but we stopped at as many as we could. 

Thanks to a great tip from Wendy, we downloaded the Guide Along app and even though there is no cell service along the Icefield's Parkway, the app works with your GPS to know where you are at. It provides insight to what you're driving past and makes recommendations for stops. It was a perfect companion for this leg of the trip. First stop was Athabasca Falls...

...followed by Sunwapta Falls. Both stops Dave had to stay with Phoebe as there were no real parking spots available for us. The parking areas were so full there were cars parked up and down the road; it was crazy! Granted it was a Friday but even still, not a good sign for how busy Banff is going to be.

There are hundreds of Glaciers along this 145 mile stretch of roadway but don't worry, I don't have pictures of all of them! 😉

There is even a skywalk and a glacier explorer bus that takes you onto one of the glaciers, for a fee, of course. Nope, we didn't stop there but I did get a picture of it. 😎 The drive just continues to be spectacular...

  

This is crowfoot glacier, can you see the "feet"? Apparently the bottom one used to have 3 "toes" but it now just has 2 due to the melting. The melting does make for some beautiful blue streams though. 

And the lakes...wow, they are amazing! One of our last stops on the Parkway was at Peyto Lake. Like before, Dave had to stay with Phoebe in the parking area but I didn't want to miss the view from the top. Trying to be quick, I hiked/ran up the trail so I could get this shot below. It looks like I photo-shopped it but it's real!

What an incredible drive it was! The scenery was indeed breathtaking at every turn. My only advice would be to take the whole day (and a car!) on it so you could enjoy all the stops along the way (and not have to run up a trail!). For us, it was a travel day and we arrived in Lake Louise Campground just in time for happy hour. 

We had a great campsite with lots of trees (with needles!). The only negative was that the sites were tandem so just on the other side of our rig was another camper going the other direction. Luckily we got there first so our slides were out and the camper next to us was a smaller one. Walking around the campground we saw a few rigs that were so close they couldn't both have their slides out.  

We saw our first moose up close, just on the side of the road heading up to where the shuttle bus picks up to take you to Lake Louise.  Next advice is to book your shuttle tickets early. Every day we went the sign said "all tickets sold out for today". It's crazy how many people are here! The infrastructure just can't support the people/cars so they have closed the roads to the lakes and you can only get there by shuttle.

That is unless you are staying at the swanky Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise, then you can drive right up. This first shot just gives you a glimpse but the grounds are amazing. The shuttle drops you off and you can walk a short distance to the lake which is what the majority of the people do. There were SO many people I just wanted to get on the hike to get away from all of them. Don't let this picture fool you...I erased all the people around Dave! 😎

Our first hike was supposed to be an "easy" one, only about 1.2 km and 100 m uphill...only we didn't know how many feet 100 meters is! My all trails app said we climbed 548 feet in that "easy" mile. It was worth it to get that view of the lake and the hotel.  That blue is just unbelievable!

It was a gorgeous day! We met several very friendly people who were willing to take photos of us and offer suggestions about the area. Honestly, it can be a little overwhelming there are so many things to do around here, and did I mention a bazillion people? We got lucky and followed some people with their key card into the hotel and asked if there was a place we could get a bite to eat and drink. Perfect timing as lunch was over and dinner hadn't begun so we dined outside at Louisza's at the Fairmont. Only about 15 minutes later and they were only allowing their hotel guests to dine there. It was a decadent "snack" but most lovely to be away from the crowds and enjoy the striking view!

 

Even the chipmunks seemed to be enjoying the view and perhaps the crumbs from the restaurant.😋

The next day we took the shuttle again to Lake Louise and then the transfer shuttle to Lake Moraine. It's a bit of a hassle having to wait for the shuttles and then transfer but it's the only way to get to the lake. There is a lodge there too but not quite as fancy as the Fairmont. They have cabins right on the lake that rent for over $1000 a night. Zowza!

It was another incredible day and the hike around Lake Moraine was glorious!  It reminded me a bit of the hike around Jordon Pond in Acadia National Park. There were sections with boardwalks and bridges and of course the views were terrific! It was a shame you couldn't go all the way around but there is a big mountain on the other side.

At the end of the lake you get a good view of the side of the mountain and where you can see some rock slides. This bridge is about as far as you can go and then you turn around and head back. 

Before leaving Lake Moraine there was one hike I still wanted to do called the rock pile. Dave was done for the day so he stayed below...see him next to the building down there?😁 Luckily, there was a nice lady who took my picture from up top. The view of the lake was amazing!

The next day we decided to escape some of the crowds and go to Yoho National Park. We were impressed by the many animal crossings that the Canadian parks have had. Given the wildlife everywhere it is nice to know they have safe passage.  😉

First stop of the day was to Emerald Lake. Funny story that we learned from our Guide Along app was that Lake Louise was also originally named Emerald Lake but with this lake in such close proximity they changed it to avoid confusion. There is a lodge here too but not nearly as pricey, I found you can get a room here for only $784!  We love our RV life!

This lake we hiked all the way around and again...the views were amazing. Helpful hint for anyone going in the future, if you go clockwise the views are the best in the beginning and there is more sunlight. The second half is more wooded and the trail is a little rougher. Once you make it back to the lodge area the views are breathtaking again.

As if the views could get any better next we went to Takakkaw Falls. I love these signs the park puts up so you can take a picture and have the name right in it. While it was pretty from here, the magic happens when you walk all the way down to the bottom. The water, blue skies and full sunshine made for a great shot with the rainbow, too bad the guy that took the picture held the phone at an odd angle!

It was really an amazing site. That waterfall is 1224 feet tall and the second largest waterfall in all of Canada. The picture just doesn't do it justice. Next we went on to the Natural Bridge for more gorgeous scenery. 

This time Dave went to do more exploring and I stayed closer to the shore. The water was quite chilly but refreshing to take your boots off and soak for a little bit (until you couldn't feel your toes anymore!)

Dave got some cool shots from up on top of the natural bridge, one of me down on the beach but an even better one looking straight down into the opening of the bridge. 

The drive back was lovely but wait, there's more to our day. Our original plan was to kayak in Emerald Lake but when I asked the ranger for where we could launch he said unfortunately you can't put your own watercraft in at Emerald Lake because it has whirling disease.  We said we had really wanted to kayak in one of these beautiful blue lakes but there was no way with the shuttle to take them to Louise or Moraine. He provided us with a great little tip...if you go after 7:30pm the shuttles are all done for the day and you can bring your own kayaks. Since it was our last night at Lake Louise we had to do it! We had the entire lake all to ourselves since their canoe rentals also stopped at 7:30. Those were $180 an hour, ours were free! 

The view of the hotel was pretty cool from the water. Still not as pretty as the water, those mountains, and of course my handsome husband. He was quite the trooper that day after hiking all around the lake, all the other stops and then to haul the kayaks down to the lake. All so we could say "we kayaked in Lake Louise!".

The next day we moved Phoebe to Tunnel Village right in Banff. Also plagued by too many people and not enough parking, the campground offered free shuttles downtown. We thought, heck it's a Wednesday it shouldn't be that bad. Good grief, after about 30 minutes we found a parking space only to end up paying about $30 for our 3 hours in town. We made good use of it and Dave got a well deserved steak. In fact he had elk, bison and venison with some fabulous dipping sauces (they worked well for my seafood too!).  It was a unique dining experience having fondue (and cooking our own food on the hot stone!) but we had just sent Emma a fondue set for her birthday so it made me think of her.😘

When we got back to the campground we were treated to a beautiful sunset view of the mountains to the west.

And the next morning a beautiful sunrise to the east (photo credit to Dave, of course! 😎) and some friendly elk wandering by.

Today's journey took us on the shuttle bus downtown to catch another bus up to the Banff gondola (good thing we learned our lesson on parking since when we got there it said parking lot full!). Another tip is buy those tickets early. We bought ours about 3 months out and otherwise wouldn't of gotten to go up that day. The views go on forever and it is a great way to see the whole city.

We were expecting it to be chilly up top but it was still nice and warm, in fact it was refreshing compared to the 86 degrees it was in town. We were blessed with the most awesome weather here and really this whole trip so far.

After the gondola ride we had planned to go to the hot springs, but it was really too hot outside so we took the buses back to the campground. Back in our own transportation we journeyed on to see Johnson Lake, Two Jack Lake and Lake Minnewanka.

It was a lovely drive around the lakes but no time for hiking as we were still hoping to get back to the hot springs for a dip on our last night in Banff...

...we made it back up to the springs but our luck on the weather had run out. Just as we were walking up it started to thunder and we could see the storm moving in.  We got back to the campground before it opened up and poured. We had such an awesome time in Jasper, Yoho and Banff and hope you got to experience some of it with us through these pictures (which were only a handful compared to all the ones we took!). Thank you for reading all the way through and for your continued prayers for our journey!