Where the Green Grass Grows: Mountains, Waterfalls, Glaciers, Oh My!

Day 8
7 July

Jasper National Park, Canada to Lethbridge, Canada

7hrs 31 min 386 miles

Tonight is our last night in Canada! We are all getting a little sick of the car, but we agree that we are still sad our trip is almost over (well, the main part of the trip really). Today has been a gorgeous sunny day (FINALLY)! The past week has been really cloudy and gray which makes it hard to capture all the pretty colors!

This morning we woke up, made a fire, grilled our last package of jalapeno cheddar caribou dogs for breakfast and boiled up some coffee. Breakfast of camping champions! We broke down camp and headed towards Banff National Park. This park is GORGEOUS! Seeing these mountains again makes me feel like I’m back in Alaska; makes me feel at home! Our first stop was a huge roaring waterfall. I had hopped out of the car just to take a few pics and then came back to the car saying everyone needed to get out of the car and come check it out! We hiked along around the waterfall taking it all in.

We got back in the car and drove a bit, stopping at the lookout areas for me to take pictures. We came across another neat waterfall where just Gabe and I got out and hiked up it. We got up towards the top and could feel the water misting on us, definitely a refreshing and relaxing spot! Not too far after that we all got out of the car and hiked up to a huge glacier! It was neat to see where the glacier had started and after all these years where its recession point is now. We got as close to it as possible; it was a bit chilly and pretty windy near the glacier, but such a neat view.

The next stop was Lake Louise. It’s gorgeous and quite the attraction for tourists. There’s a huge hotel on the lake and lots of people out canoeing on it. There was even a lady in a wedding gown getting pictures and Chase says, “Mom why is she wearing THAT?!” haha!

We then took the road to Moraine Lake, which has the most beautiful greenish/blue water and amazing mountains in the backdrop. Banff Park is definitely a must see, I can’t believe we didn’t go through it on the way to Alaska! I’m so glad we found out about it and checked it out this time! We will for sure have to take more time going through the park on the way back to Alaska and enjoy even more of it! There’s just so much to see/do from hiking, to lakes, to glaciers to waterfalls, to hot springs, canoeing, wildlife viewing, and gorgeous snow capped mountains; these two national parks that are practically attached are amazing!

Susan