We stopped in Lethbridge for some poutine. Bailey has been so excited about poutine! It is so his kind of thing, fries and sauce. I ordered some too and ate most of it but I must say it’s really not my favorite. I’m glad I tried it though!
We were very relieved to make it to our hotel after a quick stop at the Real Canadian Superstore where we picked up many Canadian snacks. We had enough time to enjoy the hotel pool where the boys made themselves dizzy from going down the slide a million times!
We were happy to get a full night of rest and we needed it to prep for today. Today was one of the best days ever!
We thought we were getting an early start, but by the time we rolled into Banff at 8:45 all of the parking lots for Lake Louise and Lake Moraine were completely full! So we had to park at the park and ride and wait an hour and a half for the shuttle. We were feeling pretty frustrated, but then we finally arrived at Lake Louise and it was all worth it.
Lake Louise was crazy busy, but big enough that it’s easy enough to find your own space to enjoy it. I had another plan for a way to enjoy it though, and soon enough we found ourselves on canoes!
I’ve never had a bucket list because it always seemed more time efficient to make a list of places I *wouldn't* want to go. But if I ever did make a list, canoeing Lake Louise would have been on it! It was about $100 per canoe for an hour so it was pretty expensive, but we felt like it was a once in a lifetime experience. So worth it! Bailey and I canoed way out near the mountains and felt like we had the place to ourselves which was a nice contrast to the crowds on the shore. The hour went too quickly, but it was so relaxing, beautiful, and peaceful. I totally recommend it!
Enjoying some peace and quiet while resting from the exertion of canoeing.
We stopped for lunch in the hotel by the lake before hopping on the shuttle to Lake Moraine. It was so lucky that we got tickets to see it, they were some of the very last tickets! I wondered if Lake Moraine would be super similar to Lake Louise, and while they are both indeed lakes I think that they are both must-hits. We took a short hike up to the most beautiful lookout spot!
The water was so blue! I can’t decide if I like the turquoise waters of Louise or the bright blue waters of Moraine better. We went back down to the shore and waded around but man that glacier water is cold!
We made it back to the park and ride by 5:45 but were still feeling like we had energy. So we took a 4 mile hike to see two different waterfalls in Johnston Canyon. The hike was gorgeous, I loved the moss covered rocks and the jewel blue river running next to us. There were chipmunks everywhere and we even saw a little Yuki-looking mouse creature! So cute!
The waterfalls were more majestic than a camera can capture! At the first one we were able to walk through a little rock tunnel to be right next to the waterfall. We got pretty wet but it was so beautiful and powerful! The second waterfall was also beautiful!
We were feeling pretty hungry by the time we were done with the hike, so we went back down to Banff to hit Chili’s. I don’t normally like Chili’s but it hit the spot after such a long day! We were exhausted but felt so happy. The start of today was rough but it ended up being one of the best days ever!
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