In 2018 I was able to check another one of my bucket list travel destinations: the Canadian Rockies.

Details

Visit: September 9th - September 26th 2018

Season: End of Summer / Beginning of Fall (felt like Winter, though)

Start / End: Edmonton / Vancouver

Transport: Rental Car, Ferry

I’ve been to Canada the year before to explore the eastern part of the country. This time it would be the western part.

We started in Edmonton and there is simply just reason we chose Edmonton oder Calgary: the car rental policy on trips with different pick up and return location. There would have been an extra charge for that in Calgary, so we started in Edmonton. This had an impact on our route, of course, but it didn’t really matter for us from where we would approach Jasper and Banff National Park as we wanted to see as much as possible anyway. These two parks would be the focus of our trip and we started there to be able to extend our stay in case we wanted to.

But it wasn’t all of our itinerary. We also spent some time in Whistler and on Vancouver Island before we left Canada from Vancouver.

Before the snow - Jasper National Park

From Edmonton we directly went to Jasper with only a few stops on the way (Jasper Lake, Talbot Lake, etc). As we had the whole afternoon left we decided to go to Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake. We then headed back to Jasper and looked for a place to take pictures of sunset. We thought about Edith Lake or Beauvert Lake, but that didn’t look promising, so we decided to set up our tripods over Biche River. Sunset wasn’t the best I‘ve seen and there’s probably better locations for that in the region, but we didn’t have enough time really. Overall, a great first day and it got even better as we were able to see moose from the sunset location as well as when we were driving back to Jasper.

The weather forecast didn’t look promising the next day, but we still headed out in the morning to shoot sunrise at Patricia Lake and Piramid Lake. There was no real sunrise as somehow expected, but it was still a beautiful morning and we there were some nice reflections of the mountains. After getting some well deserved breakfast and coffee we first went to Maligne Canyon and then headed southwards to visit the Athabasca Falls. Afterwards we wanted to go on another hike south from the Falls. I forgot the name of it, but we didn’t actually go, anyway, because we somehow missed a turn or so and went into the wrong direction. Took us a while to figure that out and went back along Athabasca River where we would also stay for sunset before going back to Jasper and again seeing moose on the way.

Icefields Parkway

Initially our plan was to do some hiking in Jasper and Banff, but that plan got quickly scrapped with the amount of snowfall in the next few days. Instead, our trip got a new theme: driving along Icefields Parkway and try to find views and photo compositions. It wasn’t easy as every second day felt like driving in a flat land as you could only see the trees around you, but no mountains. It felt like a revelation when we drove the same part again but could see the mountains this time. So we drove up and down Icefields Parkway, made a lot of stops, often with views I wouldn’t be able to tell where we were anymore, or what that mountain‘s name was, but I do remember some spots we visited. Like Sunwapta Falls, Tangle Falls, Mount Columbia and Columbia Icefield (we didn’t go on a tour, but we went inside the discovery center to get coffee and see the free short film in their cinema), Mount Wilson, Saskatchewan River Crossing and the amazing Howse Pass Viewpoint nearby, and of course Bow Lake and Peyto Lake. Since we were driving up and down a lot instead of spending the time hiking, we still got to see a lot on the road even though the view was really bad many times. It took us three attempts to actually see Peyto Lake, but it was truely worth the effort.

Lake Louise and Canmore

Initially we wanted to stay 2 nights in Lake Louise, too, but even though we were willing to pay a little extra to not have to drive back and forth from Canmore, the prices were too ridiculous and the only one that looked to be available and affordable was actually booked, too, so we would spent 4 nights in Canmore instead. What I‘ve learned on that trip is not only to prepare for every kind of weather you can imagine (like 20 degrees and sunshine one day, snow and -5 the next one), but also to book in advance as there is not too many options and they get booked quickly and get really expensive. It wasn’t even summer anymore (as you can tell with the snow in the pictures).

Anyway, so we had a base in Canmore and basically continued exploring and driving around. We visited Johnston Canyon, took the Banff Gondola to get some great views from above, took some photos at Bow River and drove south towards Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. We visited Johnson Lake and photographed sunset at Lake Minnewanka as well as the Milky Way at Gap Lake.

In Canmore we had planned to take a helicopter ride, but our first attempt got cancelled and we had to reschedule. The one we wanted to do wasn’t available, though, but we were able to book a similar one that would also take us to the Three Sisters, over the Spray Reservoir and the high ridges to Marvel Lake to Mount Assiniboine. The only difference was that we wouldn’t be able to make a stop for about 15 minutes as initially planned, but it was still a great flight and experience.

We also enjoyed the views from Lake Louise Ski Resort and visited Lake Louise, too. We actually went there three times and it was different every time. The first time it snowed and you didn’t see much, the second time it rained and the third time the sun was shining, finally. We also drove to Moraine Lake, but only twice, also quite different from each other. The first try was a real challenge as we only had good views for a couple minutes. With every moment going up to the viewpoint the views got worse until you couldn’t see the mountains anymore. Would have loved to spent a little more time with the views from before, but I‘m also happy that we had this window of a few minutes. The second visit was accompanied with harsh sunlight and the colour of the lake now looked so different! I think this lake is my favourite in all of Canada and I will come back, hopefully. If you want to go, you have to take into consideration that the road is closed when the parking lot is full. We were lucky both times as they just opened the road again, but you can’t plan this. I assume to make sure you can go is to go very, very early or later in the day when tourists go back to their hotels and have dinner.

Helicopter Ride over the Rocky Mountains

In Canmore we had planned to take a helicopter ride, but our first attempt got cancelled and we had to reschedule. The one we wanted to do wasn’t available, though, but we were able to book a similar one that would also take us to the Three Sisters, over the Spray Reservoir and the high ridges to Marvel Lake to Mount Assiniboine. The only difference was that we wouldn’t be able to make a stop for about 15 minutes as initially planned, but it was still a great flight and experience.

Whistler & Vancouver Island

For the last few days in Canada we had planned to go to Whistler and Vancouver Island.

On our way to Whistler we made a quick stop at Yoho National Park to visit the beautiful Emerald Lake and the Natural Bridge, at Kamloops Lake and Duffey Lake.

Whistler itself was a fail for us as it rained all day. We only went to Green Lake, Lost Lake and Alexander Falls before we called it a day and had a beer tasting at Whistler Brewing Company that we spotted on the way before going to our hotel.

Vancouver Island was a totally different experience. We went on a whale watching tour in Victoria and saw some Orcas jumping out of the water as they were posing for the camera. One of the best whale watching tours I‘ve had so far! The second night we spent in Campbell River. The drive is nice and you‘ll get some great views of the Strait of Georgia. In Campbell River we had booked another helicopter ride as we had some leftover budget from the first one in Canmore. We booked the Comox Glacier Tour with 49 North Helicopters and it was great. We flew over the beautiful Vancouver Island Mountain Range to the famous Comox Glacier and even made a stop on the way.

So that was it, our trip was about to end. We took some last photos of the sunset at Piper’s Lagoon Park and took the ferry back to Vancouver where we would take a plane back to Germany the next day.