Our first port of call in the "Big Four" National Parks was Banff. Access and camping here is fairly strictly controlled, with permits required just to be in the Park and expensive buses needed to access many of the hiking areas - not to mention prior booking (along with payment, booking fees and permits) for all the campsites, even if they were just patches of grass/gravel with no facilities! So our usual philosophy of waiting for a weather window and keeping a flexible itinerary didn't really fit in very well! However, we did do a fantastic three day hike in this area, appreciating why the area is so popular and why people are willing to navigate the red tape and pay the endless list of fees! Here's a few pictures...
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| Breakfast and a ruddy good organise at the Sunshine Village Ski village before our first multi-day hike |
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| Slogging up the forest road to start... note the lazy people on the rip-off bus - it's only 5km! |
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| Arriving at the lakes at the top of the Sunshine Ski Village |
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| Walking through beautiful alpine meadows on the way up to Citadel Pass |
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| Approaching Citadel Pass, with views toward Mt Assiniboine (Canada's "Matterhorn" - the rocky peak in the far distance on the right, sticking up way above all the rest!) |
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| Citadel Pass - Mt Assiniboine a bit closer now. |
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| Animal proofing our food (in airtight containers 100m from the tent) it was a nerve wracking night wondering whether we'd a) find it again and b) find it intact! |
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| Thankfully it survived! |
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| Moody skies as evening storms brewed and rumbled... thankfully we weren't hit |
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| The steep sided descent to Lake Magog. Concious of being in bear territory we sang all the way along this route... |
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| Arriving safely at the beautiful Og Lake (campsite number two)... conclusively proving that Adele, Bon Jovi and Phil Collins are successful bear deterrents! |
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| A relaxing evening with my book :-) |
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| A less relaxing dip in the cold lake for Ali! |
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| Quality hot chocolate from our wedding suite ;-) |
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| Morning calm and arty reflections |
So after a long slog back up to Citadel Pass and Back down to the Ski Village it was on to Lake Louise, one of the all time classic Rockies sights. Having seen many pictures of the lake I was convinced there must have been some photoshop involved to make it so turquoise, but I can confirm it really is that colour!
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| Morning breaks over the lake (and I do another silly pose) |
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| We assumed we'd have the place to ourselves at 6am, but the lakeside hotel offers a "sunrise canoeing" package! |
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| As the sun climbs the lake gets more turquoise... |
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| Until it gets to this colour! Amazing. Shame about the hideous hotel, I genuinely think it looks like a prison! |
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| Then on to Moraine Lake - Lake Louise's smaller but still spectacular neighbour. |
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| Another of the Rockies classic lakes. |
