Cinco días entre montañas

Lagos turquesa, piernas muy cansadas, sándwiches en la mochila y el recordatorio de cuánto me gusta estar afuera.

This trip started with us landing in Calgary, picking up our rental car, and immediately going to Walmart, which is obviously the most exciting way to begin a trip to the Canadian Rockies.

We stocked up on snacks, water, and supplies for s’mores before driving to our chalet in Canmore. The original plan was to explore downtown, walk around Policeman’s Creek, and maybe catch the sunset near the Three Sisters. Instead, we went straight to sleep because we had to wake up at 2:30 a.m. for Moraine Lake.

Honestly, “went to sleep” might be generous because we probably slept for two hours. The next morning was rough to say the least.

We drove to Lake Louise in the middle of the night and boarded the 4 a.m. Alpine Start shuttle. The idea was to watch the sunrise at Moraine Lake, but when we arrived, it was extremely cloudy. After waking up that early, I definitely wanted the dramatic, golden mountain sunrise I had imagined. We did not get that, but Moraine Lake was still beautiful, even if the clouds were doing their best to hide it from us. I also almost went to the wrong shuttle stop, well not almost, I did go to the wrong stop but good thing we were early because I realized it and made it to the right spot. One sister fight later and we were on the shuttle!

From there, we took the connector bus to Lake Louise and hiked past Mirror Lake to the Lake Agnes Tea House. I loved the idea of a tiny tea house hidden in the mountains, especially after walking uphill to get there. We planned to continue to Little Beehive before returning the same way, BUT we were tired and running mostly on snacks and those two hours of sleep. So the hike honestly didn’t go as planned. Girl we didn’t even make it to the teahouse. It was more steep than expected and we felt so weak. So we took the hike of shame back down. From there we stayed around the lake a bit before heading back to the car and driving back to change and get dinner. We tried LUPO this day! It was pretty good def a 10/10. Highly recommend getting the chicken parmesan to share.

One of the most gorgeous parts of the trip was driving the Icefields Parkway. We stopped at Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Waterfowl Lakes, Mistaya Canyon, and Athabasca Glacier. Every time we got back in the car, it felt like we only drove a few minutes before someone wanted to stop again.

Peyto Lake was one of my favorite views from the entire trip. The color of the water looked fake, like someone had edited it before we even took the picture. The whole day was filled with mountains, lakes, and views that made the long hours in the car completely worth it.

We also spent a day exploring Yoho National Park, including Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge. Emerald Lake was, once again, another unbelievably blue lake. At some point, you would think we might get tired of looking at lakes and mountains, but apparently that is not possible. We did the canoe at Emerald Lake and this was so beautiful, although I was shaking in my hiking boots every time my sister would move. It was peaceful and beautiful and I think it reset my nervous system after I got used to it of course.

The biggest surprise of the trip was Sunshine Meadows.

It ended up being my favorite day, even after seeing Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, and Peyto Lake. I think I loved it because it felt less like rushing from one stop to another and more like we were actually spending time in the mountains. We could walk, look around, take pictures, and enjoy where we were without immediately thinking about the next destination.

Peyto Lake day was gorgeous, but Sunshine Meadows easily took the number one spot for me.

Before leaving, we finally walked along Policeman’s Creek in Canmore. This was the walk we were supposed to do on our first night, before sleep won that battle. It was a calm way to finish the trip after several days of early alarms, long drives, and hikes. We grabbed coffee, explored Canmore a little more, and then drove back to Calgary for our flight.

Not everything happened exactly as we planned. We missed the sunrise because of the clouds, moved things around, skipped some of the original stops, and slept when our itinerary told us to explore. But I think that made the trip more real.

Five days between mountains, lakes, highways, and very little sleep, and I would do it all again. Maybe with a slightly less ambitious itinerary next time, but I make no promises because I’m an EXPLORER.