Banff National Park - Our Canadian Adventures
For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of traveling the world. Not just the
United States, but the whole. Entire. World. I want to set foot on all 7 continents.
I want to visit as many countries as I possibly can. I want to experience things that
you can only experience somewhere else. However, even though I had this big
dream, it wasn’t until a couple months ago that I finally got my passport.
I received it in the mail, surprisingly not entirely unhappy with my
passport photo, and then 2 weeks later I found myself standing outside of US soil
for the first time ever. And, if this wasn’t enough, not only was I finally outside
the country, but I was standing in a national park that, like Glacier, had been on
my travel bucket list for years, Banff National Park.
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Why Banff?
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Not only is the name of this park fun to say (you almost got to say it like Emeril
Lagasse says “BAM!” lol) it is also breathtakingly beautiful. Banff was Canada’s first
national park and the third national park in the entire world which are only part of what
makes this park so special. Spanning over 2500 miles…yeah that is not
a typo…2500 MILES…this park offers incredible views that I can honestly say I have
never seen anywhere else. You have truly never seen a mountain or a lake until
you visit Banff. That is how amazing it is. Every single thing in this park is so
beautiful you have to just stop and stare because it is hard to believe that it is even real.
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Things to Know Before Visiting Banff National Park
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One of the first things you should do if you are planning on visiting Banff and are
wanting to stay inside the park is book your hotel or campground. This park receives
an average of 3 million visitors per year which makes reservations hard to get at
times, especially during the summer season. If you plan on camping in the park
advance booking typically starts in January. If everything inside the park is full
the neighboring town of Canmore is a great option as well. Or you could stay in
Invermere like Kristin and I did just plan on a 2 hour drive to the park if you do.
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You do have to pay a fee in order to enter the park (this applies to any of the surrounding
national parks as well including Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay) which will give you day
access to the park. For adults it costs $10.50, seniors are $9.00, and kids (anyone under 17)
get in for free! (I totally should have tried to pass for a kid. lol)
However, if you are planning on spending multiple days inside
any of the parks it would probably be more beneficial to purchase a Parks
Canada Discovery Pass for $73.
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The parking lots at Banff, especially at popular areas such as Lake Louise and Moraine
Lake, fill up FAST so you will want to get to these popular destinations as early as
you can. Like sunrise or earlier. If you are one of the unlucky ones to not find a spot
in the parking lots do not fret. You can instead choose to ride the Parks Canada
Shuttle which costs about $4-6.
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If you are wanting to visit the town of Banff be aware that the town is located
inside the national park so you will have to pay a day fee or buy a parks pass in order to visit.
Also if you are planning on eating dinner in Banff be sure to make reservations as things
tend to fill up quickly in the summer season.
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Like Glacier, Banff is also big time bear country so you will want to be aware when
you are doing any hiking. Carry bear spray (which you can actually rent
at some outdoor stores, which is cheaper than actually buying it), try to travel
in groups of 4 or more, and make noise while going through common bear areas.
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Now onto the adventures!
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We set out on the 3.5 hour drive from Columbia Falls, Montana to Invermere
British Columbia excited for all our upcoming Canadian adventures around lunchtime.
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We made it across the border without any issues and then spent
our drive talking and enjoying some podcasts and beautiful driving views.
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Columbia Lake
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Finally we made it to our hotel for the night, a Kanata in Invermere.
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After we dropped off our stuff we decided we wanted to go out and find a nice hot
spring to relax in. Kristin found one open in a nearby town, but before we could
go we had to stop the hunger pangs and get the Canadian food I was most
excited about, poutine!!!
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This food truck, Poutine Queen, was parked on a street corner in Invermere
right next to an ice cream shop just down the street from our hotel so I would say it was meant to be!
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The poutine definitely hit the spot and was absolutely delicious. In fact thinking
about it made me crave it so much I had to make my own cheapo sad version
of poutine to eat while I was writing this. Lol
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With our stomachs full we headed to the Fairmont Resort in search of a natural hot
springs with a gorgeous waterfall. We struggled a little to find the trail and were almost
deterred when we saw a sign saying the trail was closed. However, bad influence
that I am, I convinced Kristin to go on the trail anyway and we made it to the hot springs falls.
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This was actually my first time in any type of hot spring and I have to say I was surprised
to find the pools on the chillier side. In fact with the slight breeze beneath the
waterfall I was shivering! However, when one of the lower pools opened up
we grabbed it and It did get better temperature wise. We stayed and soaked in the pools until sunset began.
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We drove back to Invermere, stopped at the gas station in town to grab some
ice cream, and then spent the night chilling in bed talking and
eating our sweet treats.
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The next morning started early as we checked out of the hotel and made
our way back to Fairmont to go on a horse ride through A Bar Z Mountain
Adventures. We ended up being the only ones on the 8:30am ride that
morning which was so nice. (Highly recommend taking a horse ride through A Bar Z!)
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This was Kristin's first time on a horse and only my second time after a semi traumatic
first ride when I was a kid so we both were a mixture of nerves and excitement.
However, once I was up on the horse I was more than ready to hit the trail.
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My horse Powel
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Riding the horses was a breeze since they have done the trail so many times
I didn't have to do anything and we looped our way through the Canadian
woods for about an hour before returning to the corral where we began.
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Once our ride was over it was finally time for us to head to the national park that
brought us to Canada in the first place, Banff.
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We drove through the town of Radium Springs, famous for its herds of bighorn
sheep (we ended up only seeing one female along the road), and then drove
through Kootenay National Park. We didn't know we were going to get to see two Canadian
national parks on this trip so we were pretty stoked.
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We saw that this park had quite a few hiking trails as well as some gorgeous accompanying views, but unfortunately we didn't have time to stop and do any exploring. Next time for sure!
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We made it to Banff a little after lunch and made our first stop be the Lake
Louise visitor center to pay our park fee and take a quick bathroom break. Then, we
were off to Lake Louise!
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By some miracle we lucked out and got a parking spot in the upper parking
lot (popular areas like Lake Louise tend to fill up pretty fast when it
comes to parking) and then walked to the beautiful turquoise blue water of Lake Louise.
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We walked around the lake snapping pics and looking out onto the water
and then started our hike to the Lake Agnes Tea House.
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Trail Name: Lake Agnes Tea House
Round Trip Length: 4.5 miles
Estimated Hike Time: 3-4 hours
Elevation: 1,300 feet
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This trail is certainly not an easy one with its steep incline, but the views are amazing.
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Before reaching the tea house we made a quick pit stop at the peaceful and serene Mirror Lake.
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After taking a few deep breaths of mountain air….which were really gulping breaths
because we were so winded from hiking up the trail….we continued on to
the tea house. After Mirror Lake we were only about 15-20 minutes from the tea house!
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With our legs screaming and lungs burning we finished off our hike with 2 sets
of wooden staircases and then found ourselves finally standing in front of the log
cabin style tea house and Lake Agnes.
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Lake Agnes Tea House Hours: June 4th-October 10th 8am-5pm
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Our waitress accidentally forgot about us, but when she finally made it to our table
I ordered a pb&j sammy with a piece of chocolate cake and a cup of peach apricot
white tea. Kristin got the same thing except instead of pb&j she got a tuna sandwich.
Here at the tea house they have you pay when you order so you are all taken care
of and according to their website they only accept Canadian or US cash or travelers
checks although when we were there we were able to use our cards. (We found out when we
were in Canada that we could use our debit and credit cards...unless it is a Discover
card. Canada does not accept Discover.)
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After our long hike up to the tea house the food tasted amazing and the tea
was pretty dang good as well although both Kristin and I burned our tongues on
it when taking our first sip. *face palm* lol
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After we finished our food we took one last look at our late lunch views
and then headed down to check out Lake Agnes.
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Lake Agnes
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We hiked back down to Lake Louise (going down was much easier than
going up let me tell ya) and then we hopped in the car to drive to the place
Kristin was most excited to visit inside the park, the wolf shaped Peyto Lake.
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After we finished snapping pics and howling at the…sun…we set out on a mission
to find some of the famous red Adirondack chairs. Up until this point we weren't having
much luck, but this time we finally found a set at the Silverhorn Campground.
Unfortunately when we got there a couple literally just sat down in the chairs
with glasses of wine. However, I was determined to take pics of the chairs and
sit my booty in one so I pulled on my big girl pants and marched over to the
couple asking them nicely if we could take a few quick pics with the chairs.
Luckily they agreed and I finally got my red chair pics.
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Fueled by success we left the campground and headed to Moraine Lake hoping
it was finally opened again and we could find a spot to park. (They had
closed the entrance off earlier because the parking lot was full.) Again our
luck continued and we were able to see one of the most popular destinations in the park.
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After Moraine Lake we decided it was time to start making our way back to
Montana which was about 5.5 hours away. We were in for a long long night.
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After 2 hours of driving we reached Invermere about 10pm and pulled into the
parking lot for the supposedly 24 hour Tim Hortons. If you didn't guess from my
use of the word supposedly, this Tim Hortons was not 24 hours like their sign proclaimed
and they had actually just closed their doors at 10pm right as we pulled in crushing our
hopes and leaving us with growling stomachs. Defeated and hangry we decided to
instead stop at the gas station supermarket and picked up a healthy dinner
of hot dogs, pizza, sammies, and ketchup flavored potato chips. (Had to try these since they
are a Canadian thing, but I wasn't a huge fan. If you love ketchup then
I'd say they are great, but really I just found their ketchup-y tanginess to be
a little too different for me.)
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We continued on our drive listening to downloaded episodes of Morbid
(highly recommend this podcast if you are a true crime fan!) and tried not to get
thrown in jail for somehow pissing off the United States border patrol man. *eye roll*
The Canadian border patrol guys were sooo much nicer. We finally pulled up to
Kristin's house about 2am completely exhausted, ready for bed, and dreading our
early morning and goodbyes coming the next day.
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So that does it for my Canadian/Banff adventures! I had so much fun crossing things
off my bucket list and finally getting to visit the national park dreams are made of
with one of my all time favorite travel buddies. I'm soo ready to go back and I am
excited to see where me and my passport will go in the future. Thanks for reading!
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