Sept. 4-7, 2019

By Tim Briese

My wife Teresa and I went on a trip to visit the magnificent national parks of the Canadian Rockies in September. After flying into Calgary the day before, we left our motel in Canmore on a beautiful morning and drove west into the mountains and Banff National Park on Trans Canada Highway 1. We soon turned onto the Bow Valley Parkway, a scenic alternative route that parallels the main highway on the other side of the Bow River. We stopped for numerous photos and did a three and a half mile roundtrip hike up popular Johnston Canyon as far as the upper waterfall.

a scene along the bow valley parkway

castle cliffs

on a walkway in johnston canyon

upper falls in johnston canyon

Then we drove to the village of Lake Louise and rode a shuttle bus up to the iconic namesake lake. Many of the locations we visited in the Canadian Rockies are extremely popular with visitors from all over the world, and especially Lake Louise.

lake louise

From the lake we took a nice seven and a half mile loop hike up to Lake Agnes, and the famous Tea House which sits on its shore, where we enjoyed a delicious piece of chocolate cake, then continued down into the valley above Lake Louise near the Plain of Six Glaciers, and returned along the shore of Lake Louise. This hike offered up some magnificent scenery. It involved about 1300 feet of elevation gain and took us about four hours.

lake agnes

descending the trail into the valley above lake louise

After riding the shuttle a couple of miles back down to the village and checking into our lodge, we obtained a pizza and drove back up to the lake and sat along its shore and ate pizza and drank wine as evening fell. This was a magical experience, capping off an incredible day.

a peaceful scene from our dinner spot on the shore of lake louise

the lake louise chateau sits on the north shore of the lake, a wallet-draining lodging option with a spectacular view

The next morning we went up to beautiful Moraine Lake, a world famous sight that epitomizes the beauty of the Canadian Rockies. We rode an early shuttle to capture the morning sun on the surrounding peaks and stayed there all morning enjoying this spectacular place. There is a short trail from the parking area called the Rockpile Trail that climbs about 100 feet in a quarter of a mile which offers a commanding scenic view of the lake. We hiked up there three different times this morning to see various lighting conditions on the lake. We also hiked a lakeshore trail along the length of the scenic lake.

moraine lake

a reflection on moraine lake before the sun came over the ridge

along the shore of moraine lake

After riding the shuttle back down to the village we got in our rental car and headed west on the Trans Canada Highway after lunch. We drove into nearby Yoho National Park and did short hikes to see 373’ high Takakkaw Falls, the second highest waterfall in Canada, a natural bridge on the Kicking Horse River, and beautiful Emerald Lake, among other things.

takakkaw falls

a natural bridge on the kicking horse river

emerald lake

The following day we left Lake Louise and drove the 140 mile long Icefields Parkway to Jasper, a route acclaimed as one of the world’s scenic roadways. The route is indeed spectacular, and we stopped countless times to take in the sights and we did several short hikes as well. Major highlights included Peyto Lake, the Athabasca Glacier, and Athabasca Falls. The southern part of the route is in Banff National Park and the northern part of it is in Jasper National Park.

a mile and a half roundtrip hike took us to this viewpoint of beautiful peyto lake

a reflection on waterfowl lake

colorful fall ground foliage, with the athabasca glacier at the far right

we hiked a trail that took us to within about a half mile from the toe of the athabasca glacier

a zoom photo reveals the ruggedness of the glacier, which flows down from the massive 125 square mile columbia icefield

dramatic peaks along the icefields parkway

athabasca falls

After a night in Jasper we drove back down the Icefields Parkway the next day, giving us a chance to stop and see more sights and the most spectacular places a second time, in different lighting and weather conditions.

a flat glacial valley along the icefields parkway

another of the many glaciers that flow down from the columbia icefield

more beautiful fall foliage

Today, among many other things, we did a three and a half mile roundtrip hike which climbed 900 feet up to Parker Ridge, which afforded us more magnificent views.

a view while ascending the parker ridge trail

colorful foliage along the trail

on the parker ridge trail

another hiker enjoying the dramatic views

hikers resting while enjoying a nice view of the saskatchewan glacier

The following nights we traveled on to Golden and Radium Hot Springs, in British Columbia, and continued south to Glacier National Park in Montana. On this second half of the trip the weather unfortunately turned cloudier and wetter, but we were thrilled to have had the beautiful weather that we did in the early days of the trip in Banff National Park and nearby. This was one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited.