The ride was only an hour and a half which allowed us to become more acquainted with our new home. The mountains continued to come closer and closer until finally we were in them and at our campsite - Tunnel Mountain Village II. The campsite was clean and in a beautiful setting which served us well for the first three nights of our trip.
Rather than give a blow by blow, here are the hikes we did and a few thoughts on them:
Hike: Plain of Six Glaciers
Distance: 9 miles RT
Elevation gain: 1500 feet
Thoughts: This was our first hike and it proved to be moderately difficult. There were a few points where we needed to hike through snow due to previous avalanches that hadn't melted yet. The trail started at Lake Louise (free bus from Banff) and brought us around the lake and up a mountain to a tea house. I continued on the trail to the Abbot Pass lookout which provided sweeping views of the mountains and Lake Louise.
Hike: Johnston Canyon
Distance: 3.4 miles RT to Upper Falls & 7.2 RT to Ink Pots
Elevation gain: 700 feet
Thoughts: Lower and Upper Falls were along a lovely path along the water. It was fairly easy which meant it was pretty crowded. The second portion of the trail to the Ink Pots was more difficult and had a lot fewer people. It ended in a beautiful open area with little pools that were different colors depending on the speed at which the pool was filled. I highly recommend continuing to the Ink Pots.
Hike: Cave and Basin to Sundance Canyon
Distance: 4.6 miles RT (we skipped the very end)
Elevation gain: 470 feet
Thoughts: This would have been a nice walk if it weren't for the swarm of mosquitoes that ate us alive .3 miles from the canyon. Ideally, you have a bike and are able to bike up and down the paved path. We, of course, didn't have bikes but enjoyed much of the walk until all of a sudden there were 30 mosquitoes surrounding each of us. However, the walk along the river and surrounding mountain views would make for a lovely bike ride - maybe next time.
Hike: Boom Lake
Distance: 6.4 miles RT
Elevation gain: 600 feet
Thoughts: This was a fairly easy tree-lined hike which offered brief views of mountains through the trees. Since there were no buses to this destination, there weren't many people on the trail which was great after doing some of the more crowded hikes in the park. The turning point of the trail is Boom Lake which was amazing and offered views of a beautifully clear lake surrounded by mountains.
Distance: 1 mile RT / 2.4 miles RT
Elevation gain: 80 feet / 260 feet
Thoughts: Marble Canyon is along an easy pathway that crosses back and forth over the canyon. It was definitely something to see and even offered two Adirondack chairs to sit in at the top. Toward the beginning of the path is the Paint Pots trail which breaks off through a lovely path along the river. This ended in an open area with colorful clay soil which wasn't as exciting as I would've hoped - but at least the trail was flat.
Banff was a beautiful little town which offered a number of retail stores and restaurants - one of which we tried called Masala, an Indian restaurant and boy was it good! Overall, Banff National Park was amazing and there are many more hikes I want to do...hopefully sometime soon.
The second portion of our trip led us to Glacier National Park, another epic park with many more hikes.
