4 Days in Calgary and Banff, Alberta
Day 1: Calgary
We were originally going to explore more of Glacier National Park before going to Calgary but the weather was still very gloomy and wet from the past 24 hours of rain. It actually got even foggier and way colder as we drove through the park on Going-to-the-Sun. We weren’t prepared for these weather conditions so we decided to move along and save the east side of the park for another trip. Despite our rainy experience, we still thought the park was beautiful and would love to come back to explore more of the glaciers.
The drive to Calgary felt shorter than I expected but we still got there around 4pm. We spent the next hour getting settled and cleaning up all of our camping supplies since they were in pretty bad shape from the rain. We rested for a little bit before going to a hidden izakaya for dinner and then a country bar for some line dancing.
Day 2: Calgary
We woke up early this morning to book a shuttle reservation for Moraine Lake in Banff. They release 2 days prior to the service date and sell out fast so we made sure to set an alarm for this.
We didn’t have many plans today but did know that we wanted to look around for rain jackets. Our experience with rain during our recent camping trips has helped us realize that the jackets we currently have aren’t cutting it and it’s worth it to get a lightweight rain shell. So we spent most of the day driving around and shopping.
We did have a few meals out: brunch at a cute plant-filled restaurant and a mid-day pho meal at a Vietnamese restaurant. We stayed in the rest of the evening to do some more planning for Banff and hold our fantasy football draft.
Day 3: Banff National Park
We woke up early again this morning because we thought we heard a rat in the corner of our room. Keon sleepily knocked over a bunch of our stuff while trying to investigate (by throwing around a pillow), but fortunately there was no signs of a rat anywhere and we must have just heard noises from outside the window. We probably could have and should have left early since we were up early, but we stayed in bed for a while.
It didn’t take long to drive to Banff once we were up and ready, but there was traffic since it was both a Saturday and a long weekend. We bought some groceries in Banff town and then went into the park to start a hike.
We were going to do the Stewart Canyon Trail but I misread the map when I planned it. There is a section of this area that has activity restrictions due to bear activity. One of the restrictions was hiking in groups of 4 or more and I thought we wouldn’t reach that point until much later in the hike. However, it was actually earlier than expected so we decided to turn around and spend some time at Lake Minnewanka, which the trail bordered.
Our campsite was supposed to have lake access too so we checked in hoping to get some swimming in. The sun had gone behind the trees at this point so it was pretty cold in our area. We drove to the day-use area that still had a lot of sun and hung out there for a while.
Once we got back to our campsite, we built an epic campfire and got some shuteye.
Day 4: Banff National Park
I wanted to catch the sunrise this morning so I set an alarm to wake up early for it. It was extremely worth it and was a beautiful way to start the day. Except I was really tired and we had a big hike and some sightseeing today so went back to sleep for a little bit. Keon eventually got up and built a fire but we realized we needed to leave for our hike soon in order to be at the shuttle for Lake Louise and Moraine Lake at our reservation time (the reservation that we woke up early to book the other day). We read that parking in general can be insane and the lines for the shuttles can be just as hectic so we didn’t want to risk being late and missing the shuttle during our time slot.
We did the Castle Mountain Lookout trail which was an out-and-back that takes you to a viewpoint atop Castle Mountain. It was straight uphill and was tiring but the views were worth it. It started drizzling at the top so we didn’t stay long before hiking back down. The rocks were slick from the rain so we went slower than we planned. We also were pretty tired and the fact that we didn’t have a proper breakfast or lunch likely contributed to it. We still didn’t see any wildlife, which was a little disappointing but I suppose it’s safer that way.
We arrived at the shuttle parking lot with some time to spare so Keon warmed up some baked beans to eat and we rested for a few minutes before walking over to the shuttle. Neither parking nor the shuttle lines ended up being as bad as we expected, but we were now surrounded by tourist families and were going to be for the next hour. Keon took a power nap on our way to Moraine Lake and I rested my eyes for a bit on the way to Lake Louise. Both lakes were beautiful but they were both so crowded. It wasn’t that enjoyable for us—especially coming from a nice, lightly-trafficked hike—so we took in the view, snapped a few pictures, and rode the shuttle back to our car. We joked that our mantra is “veni, vidi, veni” which translates to “we came, we saw, we left”.
It was going to rain overnight and we didn’t really want to deal with wet camping gear. And since the rest of our plan was to just have dinner and sleep before leaving early the next day for Edmonton, we decided to pack up our tent and drive to Edmonton this same night before the rain started. We got to Edmonton around 10pm and it was really nice to see familiar faces again.