Banff travel guide (Part 2)

As we started our drive from Banff and along the icefields parkway we were amazed at just the beauty that surrounded us. This four hour drive is nothing short of extraordinary. (Fair warning there isn’t WiFi on at least 3 hours of the drive which is better for you to take in the scenery)

As you look up at the mountains you see the beautiful snow caps. We tried to play a game to guess how many feet of snow was up there because it seems like a lot! Along this drive there were some areas that were closed but most signs didn’t stop people from stopping to look (especially us). We aren’t sure why exactly they were closed but don’t we afraid to adventure a little.

After Peyto Lake came Waterfowl lake. A prime example of a site that was closed. Since we were coming from Banff we didn’t realize that this lake was on both sides of the stop.  Once we saw how blue and beautiful this lake was we ignored the closed sign and stopped off. Luckily there were about 15 other cars that did the same. We took the trail down towards the river and ran into a few people who told us that the lake to the right was really muddy but we could go to the lake to the left and get around the mud. So of course we did. It was a short 20 minute trek to get there and was breathtaking. We completely had the whole lake to ourselves and could really enjoy the beauty. On our way back (we took a different path back where I almost got us lost ). We  saw fresh poop and wasn’t sure which animal it was from so we obviously sped walked back nervous and not wanting to bump into any creature. When we got into the car and continued our journey we laughed because it turns out there is a stopping point for the other side of lake that are amazing. We were happy for our little adventure though.

Another hour and a half to two hours you will arrive at Athabasca glacier. There are many stopping points along the way of different views and creeks to see which we did and highly recommend you do as well. You really do need at least 8 hours to see a good view of everything on this road. If you want to do all the trails then you will need longer. Make sure to also look into the mountains because during spring time there are a lot of waterfalls formed from the melting snow caps.

Now back to the glacier. If there is one site you want to be bundled up at this is the one. Don’t follow our lead in shorts as it is cold. As you drive up to the glacier you will see a bunch of signs with dates this is where the glacier used to be before it melted more and more away each year. We walked up over a large hill to get to the top to see a better view of the glacier. It was extremely windy up here but amazing to know that this glacier could disappear in less than 100 years and we got to see it. Across the street is a place to stop and get food and if you want to pay for a tour to walk on the glacier. We aren’t sure exactly how long it takes but we think it was around $90 Canadian.

On the way down from the glacier there is also a small stopping point called Tangle creek falls. It’s a really quick stop so even if you are tired at this point it is worth stopping for. As you go up the road there is also the glass overlook. We personally felt like it wasn’t worth our money to do this but if it’s something you really wanted to do then go for it! I think you can buy it as a package with the glacier walk or separate if you would like.

From here we made a little pit stop at goats and glacier. It’s a beautiful view of the creek and if you get lucky there will be goats all along the hill. We didn’t get lucky but still got a cool shot. Make sure you pay attention because along the road there is always wildlife. We saw a bear, rams, goats and deer. We really wanted to see a moose but didn’t get that lucky.

As we got closer to Jasper we then stopped at the Athabasca falls. You can either stop right in the parking lot to go see the falls or you can go up the road 3 minutes and over a bridge and stop right there and hop on the trail which we did. We just hopped over the stone wall to get right on the path. These falls are really beautiful you can see a straight on view of the falls, the upper view and even walk down to the water.  There’s also a fall section that used to be a cave filled with water but not unfortunately it’s just filled with garbage. We actually think we got the best shots of it from right on the bridge but definitely walk the path as well.

From here it was getting pretty late and we were getting hangry so we drove into the town of Jasper (about 30-40 min). And checked into our hotel. We stayed at another Best Western and this one really made us feel like we were in the mountains. Our room was a suite with extremely high ceiling, a loft and our own personal kitchen. The ground were also cool. This town isn’t as crowded as Banff as less tourists go here. We went to a Italian resturant in town to grab a quick bite. We were so tired instantly passed out when we got back. In the morning Alex and I woke up early to take pictures in their pool that made us feel like we were at a spa. It was too crowded at night for us to do so we took them at around 7am like crazy people when it was around 50 degrees. The mornings were always cold but the afternoons got hot. We got our stuff together and then had breakfast which was really yummy and a great buffet and got started on our day.

Now remember we only had 4 days to see everything we want. The sunsets at around 10:30pm so it made it possible but we did really long days. We usually woke up around 7am had a quick bite and got on the road. We were in bed around 11pm or later. One other thing we forgot to mention is food. If you plan on driving the 4 hour (not including stops) icefields parkway we highly suggest getting a sandwich for lunch in town. That’s because there isn’t a lot of place to stop for food and the places you can stop have food overpriced of course. That being said, don’t worry there is a port-a-potty at every viewpoint and they are surprisingly pretty clean.

Moving on with our day we decided to do some hikes. First starting at the Maligne Canyon in Jasper. When we spoke to someone they said this is the one thing you should do. They canyon is truly amazing and you really are so high up above it. There are 5 bridges in this hike to see different parts of the canyon. You can choose to start at one and hike the whole thing or you can actually drive to each bridge to make it easier. I think bridge 1 and 2 were the most stunning to us. (I think these were the ones but don’t quote me on it, it’s worth it to see them all).

If you drive about 25 minutes down the street there Maligne Lake. We were shocked when we got here. There was a major fire here so all of the trees are burnt to a crisp for a few miles. Now this isn’t the prettiest lake we saw but it’s definitely a place to see wildlife. This is where we saw our first black bear (from the car luckily). This lake is really large and you can drive around it and stop where you want. We were told if you keep driving that there are other lakes but we didn’t have the time. I think someone said it’s about an hour drive to see all of them along this path.

Another trail we did this day was the Valley of five lakes. We were really excited for this hike but unfortunately the trails weren’t well marked (see image below of the trail). We took trail 9b hoping to go to 9a but there was no marker that we saw and ended up taking the longer trail around. So we suggest starting with trail 9a so you make sure you don’t miss any of the lakes. This hike has 5 different lakes all of different hues of blue and green. It’s a pretty popular trail and right outside of Jasper. The longer hike took us about an hour and 45 minutes.

After the hike we quickly ate lunch and got back on the road since we needed to get our rental car back to Calgary by 9pm. On our drive we stopped at a lot of the spots we missed on the way. The picture below is a cool spot of the mountains that you can stop off at. From Banff to Jasper this stop is right as you start to really “climb” into the mountains. On our way back we also stopped at the overlook for Maligne lake on the other side.

There was a hike we wanted to do in Cannmore. Unfortunately after looking at the time we knew we wouldn’t be able to. So of course we decided to go back up to Payto Lake for a second time as it was our favorite place. We took in the beauty of this amazing lake and headed back on our 2 hour drive to the airport. There are so many things we had to skip due to the time constraint. So if you are going we highly suggest at least 7 days to really do all the hikes and see everything. If you plan on driving to Jasper and back on the icefields parkway remember that you don’t have to do every stop going there. We saved some for the way back. We highly recommend driving both ways! Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Xoxo

Kelly & Alex

(A bear we saw driving along the way)