Author: Cat Ianni-Schlecht

Saturday June 14th and Sunday June 15th

Saturday

River Walk

This stop was mostly a chance to relax after being on the go for the first two weeks of the trip. We slept in and then made a late breakfast of french toast with some of the huckleberry topping we had bought in Glacier.

We decided to take the pups on a walk along the centennial trail that goes right along the river. Woody was desperate to swim, so we brought the dogs down to the water and Woody jumped right in. Emmie surprisingly walked in and stood in the water! This is a huge change from the first time we brought her to a lake and she stood as far as she possibly could from the water. I am hoping that we will turn her into a water dog! We walked about two miles and then went back to the campground to relax.

Ice Cream Time

After hanging around the RV for the afternoon. We decided to head into the city to go to The Scoop, an ice cream place that we had read about. I got a scoop of chocolate cupcake and a scoop of giants milk and cookies (vanilla with biscoff cookies) and Tyler got a raspberry ice cream with sprinkles and animal crackers. I love all ice cream, but I was not a huge fan of this. It was kind of icey and left a weird taste in our mouths.

We walked over to the River Front Park and I was blown away. Two giant rivers run through the center of the park and go down into a waterfall. We stayed there for a while and got to see the “No Kings” protest. It was beautiful to see so many people coming together to support each other and the pride outfits were great! We drove back to camp and made our go to lazy dinner of bread, cheese and sausage and watched a few movies. 

Sunday

Coeur D’Alene

We had another lazy morning before heading to Coeur D’Alene, a lake town in Idaho about 30 minutes away. We walked through the shops and then along the water. We were jealous of all of the people enjoying a nice lake day and wished we had brought our swim suits.

After hanging by the water for a little bit, we walked and found a place to eat lunch. We decided on Crafted Taphouse. I am a sucker for a soft pretzel, so we started with a giant pretzel with a beer cheese and a sweet chili dip. It was delicious! We discovered that we were back in huckleberry territory and both got a huckleberry beer. I got a goat cheese, fresh berry salad that was amazing and Tyler got a burger on a homemade pretzel bun that was pretty good.

We skipped dessert there and walked down to the Bear Paw and got some big cookies, including a cookie for the dogs. We headed back home and spent the rest of the evening napping and relaxing. 

Thursday, June 12th

Johnston Canyon Hike

We woke up early to head to the Johnston Canyon for a hike because we read that it gets really busy. Banff is super dog friendly, so we decided to take the dogs with us and see how Emmie did on her first hike. We drove about 30 minutes to the trailhead and started off. We got to the trail around 8:30 and there were only a few other people there. The plan was to hike to a waterfall and see how we felt and how the dogs were doing and then maybe hike to a second one. The path was paved and pretty flat, so it was a super easy hike. The only challenge was there were a few bridges that went over the river and Emmie did NOT like walking on those.

She was brave and after about .5 miles we made it to the first waterfall. It was beautiful, and you could walk into a cave and get right up against it. It is amazing to feel the spray from a raging waterfall, especially after a hike. 

The pups were doing great, so we decided to hike to the next one. This was still a paved trail, but went up a little bit so it was more of a challenge. After about another mile, we made it to the second waterfall. You had to stand on a bridge to see this one and Emmie was not happy.

We did not stay too long and turned around to make the hike back. There were a lot more people on the trail when we headed back. The trail, especially the bridges, is really narrow so it is a little hard to hike when it is crowded. This was an absolutely beautiful hike, along a river with tons of rapids in an enchanting forest. At about 3.4 miles round trip it was just challenging enough for us. I would highly recommend it! 

We drove back to the campsite to drop of the very tired dogs, and ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. We then jumped back in the Jeep to head off on our next adventure.

Beaver Tails

But first, we had a very important pit stop to make on the way. We drove into town and each got a Beaver Tail. Beaver Tails are fried dough that they cover in all sorts of goodies. Tyler got a maple one and I got one that was covered in Nutella with brownie and chocolate chunks. Beaver Tails are incredible and a must have when you are in Canada. 

With our treat in hand, we got back in the car and started our long drive to Jasper National Park. There is a road called the Icefields Parkway that connects Banff to Jasper and it is full of amazing views, hikes, waterfalls and lakes. In total the drive is about two hours, but you can spend anywhere from 2-8 hours on the drive if you stop for hikes and sights. We had somewhere to be, so we mostly enjoyed the views as we drove, but we did stop for a few waterfalls that you could see from the road.

Athabasca Glacier

We made it to our destination, the Columbia Icefield, where we were going to get to walk on a glacier! After putting on lots of layers, we hopped on a bus that drove us just a few minutes up the road. We then got off the bus and got on a massive Ice Explorer vehicle that brought us straight onto the Athabasca Glacier

. We got out and walked on the ice. Tyler brought his water bottle and filled it straight from the glacier stream. Our guide introduced us to the “glacier facial” where he dunked his face into the stream. I couldn’t resist and I gave it a try. It was COLD but really refreshing. It was better than a cup of coffee to wake you up! 

We got back on the Ice Explorer and drove back to the buses. A bus then took us down the road to the Skywalk. The Skywalk is a glass floored walk that hangs over the side of the mountain. It was pretty cool, but I would not have done it if it was not included with the Glacier.

We got back on the bus and went back to the visitor center. It was time to start the drive back to Banff. We made one stop on the way at Peyto Lake, and it was incredible! The water was a gorgeous color and there was a beautiful view of the sun behind the mountains. It started to rain, so we only stayed for a minute and then ran back to the car.

We got back to the campsite late, and packed up as much as we could because we wanted to leave early to avoid a line at the dump station. 

Wednesday June 11th

Brunch

Today we decided to spend the day around town and take it easy. We slept in and had a slow morning getting ready before hopping on our bikes and biking to town for brunch. We ate at Tooloulous, a Louisiana themed restaurant. They had so many breakfast options, it was hard to pick! Pretty much every style of pancake, waffle and french toast you could think of! I went with a strawberry and chocolate waffle and Tyler got french toast coated in Cinnamon Toast Crunch and deep fried. They both were amazing!

Shopping and the Banff Sign

After brunch, we hit the town and went shopping for some souvenirs. The town of Banff is so cute and we loved just walking around. We made sure to buy a new bottle of Ice Wine from the Wine Store and then got back on our bikes. Our plan was to bike to the Banff Gondola and take a ride. However, after two attempts, we realized that even with E-bikes, we were not going to make it up the steep hill you had to take to get there. We changed gears and biked along the river to the Banff sign to get some pictures. A few people were there in line, which worked out great because everyone was helping to take each other’s pictures.

We then headed back to our campsite to get the jeep to drive to the gondola. In total we biked about 14 miles, so our easy day was a bit more work than we planned. 

Dog Park Break

Tyler was smart and checked if there were any tickets available before we left and lucky he did because there were not any for a few hours. We decided to buy tickets for later and in the meantime take the dogs to a local dog park. This dog park was the most fortified dog park I have ever seen! I am guessing that they take extra precautions to keep the animals out. It was also one of the nicest dog parks we have ever been to. It had beautiful views, trees, and grass covered hills. It had a walking path around the whole park.

Banff Gondola

We tired out the pups and then drove back to the campsite. We dropped them off and headed to the gondola. I was really excited for the gondola, because everything I had read said that it was incredible. Unfortunately there were some wild fires in the area, so it was really smokey and visibility was not great. Tyler and I decided to make the most of it and hopped in the gondola and headed up the mountain.

While the views were not great, it was still really cool to be going up the mountain like that. We got to the top and went to look around. They had some interesting history about Banff that we read through and then we walked the boardwalk to look at some big horn sheep that were hanging around. We also saw some very well fed chipmunks, that were so big, I thought they were squirrels at first!

We had to wait a little while before we could head back down the mountain so we got a snack and a drink. I got a Maple Chai Latte which was incredible and I need to find a way to bring them to the US. We explored the rest of the building and then it was time to take the gondola back down.

I am not going to lie, I was really disappointed that we did not have good views, because I would imagine it is absolutely gorgeous up there on a clear day! It is on my list to try again the next time we come to Banff. By the time we got back to the campsite, I had a really bad headache, so I went to bed pretty early, wanting to rest up for our last day. 

Tuesday, June 10th

Today was our first day in Banff and our agenda included the things that I was most excited for. We were going to hit two of the famous lakes in the park and one in Yoho National Park. We got up early and drove about an hour to our first stop, Emerald Lake.

Emerald Lake

This lake was stunning! At Emerald Lake, we were going to do more than just sightsee, our plan was to canoe on the lake. Neither one of us had canoed in years, so Tyler was convinced we were going to fall into the glacier lake. We even packed a change of clothes just in case! We walked around, took some pictures and then got in line to be one of the first ones in a canoe. They were doing some video taping of some people canoeing and I thought that is why we had to wait. Turns out we just got there so early it wasn’t open yet. Once we got on the water, I was in heaven. It was easily one of my favorite things on this trip so far.

It was easier than I thought it would be and so serene out on the water. We paddled around for about an hour and then went back to the dock. We grabbed a picture of Tyler’s water bottle with his new Yoho National Park sticker and then hit the road for Lake number 2. 

Lake Louise

Our second lake of the day, Lake Louise, is considered to be one of Canada’s most famous lakes. Parking is really limited so we bought tickets through Park Canada to take a shuttle bus to both Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. We drove to the Lake Louise Ski Area and parked and were able to get right on a shuttle. After about a 10 minute drive, we were there! Lake Louise is beautiful!

I will say that some of the beauty was taken away by just how many people were there. It was really crowded and just not the peaceful nature sight you expect.
Wanting to escape the crowds and get a different view of the lake, Tyler and I decided to hike to Fairview Point. It was only .7 km, so we figured it would be easy. Boy were we wrong! After going straight up hill for a few minutes, Tyler found a bench and said he would wait for me. I was determined to make it to the top. I was fighting for my life, going straight up hill and stopping every few feet.

But I made it! Luckily the view was absolutely worth it. Once I could see again through all of the sweat and sunscreen, I took some pictures and then headed back down to meet up with Tyler. We got back on a shuttle bus and headed to our last lake of the day, Lake Moraine. 

Lake Moraine

We were on the bus for about 20 minutes until we got to the last stop. This lake was a little less crowded, but just as beautiful. It was not completely full, so we were able to walk right on the rocks by the water. We found a log to sit on and just enjoyed the lake for a few minutes.

After relaxing for a bit we walked back and took the shuttle back to our car. Our plan was to do the Lake Louise gondola at the ski area, but the restaurant at the top was closed, so we decided to head back to camp to take care of the dogs and go into town for some dinner. 

The first restaurant we picked was closed for a private event, so we went to our second choice, The Maple Leaf. The inside of the restaurant looked like the inside of a fancy log cabin, complete with a big wood staircase you went up to find your table. Tyler ordered the half duck with risotto and I got teriyaki bbq ribs with sweet potatoes. They were both delicious, but we agreed that Tyler makes much better risotto. We order a maple crème brûlée for dessert and it was incredible.

I have replaced all things huckleberry with all things maple now and I am in heaven. We got back to the campsite and were treated with three beautiful elk coming to visit. After they scampered off, we set up a campfire and relaxed for the rest of the night, enjoying a bottle of Ice Wine that we had bought in Canada last year. Ice Wine is a super sweet wine that they make in Canada from grapes that have frozen on the vine.