It’s been almost 2 weeks that I am back from Alberta, Canada. But I keep reminiscing about Mountains, Glaciers, Falls, Lakes with blue waters and if not anything then the amazing people out there. Mind and Soul are trying to hold back memories which the brain is trying hard to fade away. It is 5 AM now, and I woke up with a splash of Canadian dreams. Dreams about snow clad mountains, emerald green water, blue coloured lakes, crystal clear lakes, I can go on with the colours that we saw. Those colours were like nothing as seen before. Over the years we have been taught that ‘Water is Blue’. I think it’s time to believe it now.
On a bright sunny morning, we began our journey from Edomton, Canada towards Jasper. Our plan was to stay in Jasper one night and then move towards Banff (even better landscapes) for next couple of days. As we left Edmonton after an hour or so, roads started curling into the alpines. ‘Colourless’ water turned green-blue. We were twinning with high mountains on the left and the turquoise Athabasca River on the right. We took stops where our eyes pleased to do so. And as we proceeded, these stops increased. Yes, Jasper (And even Banff) has curbside lookout points for you to stop and relish the view. But unfortunately (or fortunately) it snowed for a couple of hours in Jasper. We were puzzled to see snow in July but nonetheless, the views were beautiful – Christmasy like.
Lake Maligne, Maligne Canyon and lake medicine were on our radar. The drive to Lake Maligne is equally beautiful as the destination. You can kayak (17 miles) or cruise up to Spirit islands from lake Maligne to get beautiful views of the Canadian Rockies with the island in the centre. As it stopped raining by the end of the day, we also visited Lake Patricia and Lake Pyramid and ended our day at ‘The Earls”, a popular family-owned chain started since the 1980’s.
Next morning we woke up to see beautiful views right from our Inn in Jasper downtown and there were Elks in the middle of town. How can you come to the Canadian Rockies and not see Elks, right? Though we were excited to see this herd, mind you the locals in Jasper today think they are quite a nuisance to the city.
Our day started with Athabasca falls. Gushing forcefully on Hard quartzite, these falls from Columbia Icefields Parkway have created narrow gorges cutting through the softer limestone. It is breathtaking to see this water pouring forcefully into deep canyons with mountains in the backdrop. Additionally, we hadn’t seen the sun on the previous day, so even a shaft of light was a ray of hope. And the weather got better over time and gradually white clouds started to look like cotton-candies amidst the blue skies. We had our GoPro mounted to the windshield and I bet no one in the car has relished better views of Candian Rockies than him. We headed towards Golden, (where our AirBnB was) via the Icefields Parkway and had countless stops on our way, each one being better than the previous one. Almost all stops were either falls or lakes. But each lake had a different shade of blue or green. I am falling short of colour names here and I guess the dictionary will fall short of it too.!
We had Lake ‘Peyto’ high on our list but somehow we missed it as there were no clear directions for it. Little did we know it was not a lake to be seen at eye level but from a Summit (Bow Summit) which is the highest driveable pass in the Icefields Parkway. (Additionally, you can hike to this lake too (Next Visit :P)) While admiring the beauty of Bow Lake which was 5 mins further to Peyto Lake, we decided to drive back and give a shot at finding lake ‘Peyto’. Parked at Bow Summit, walked 200 ft and BOOM! There it was – A Turquoise colour lake in a valley surrounded by mountains and alpine trees. It was hard to believe what my eyes were perceiving. I literally had wet eyes by the time I left this place.
Further, as we drove towards Golden, BC, the sun was starting to set and sun rays on the mountains made them appear Golden in colour. Guessed why the city is rightly named as Golden. Our BnB was 20 mins away from Golden which is almost in the Yoho National Park. Since 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railways, make their way through Golden and have spiral Tunnels winding through the lush green mountains. People queue up to see a train coming through those spiral tunnels.
Following day we headed to Lake Moraine and Lake Louise which are the most visited lakes in Banff and the Rockies. Lake Louise has a trail going up to Lake Agnes where one can enjoy the British style Tea House serving local cakes and Tea/Coffee. The hike was 3 hours long and steep but it is a treat to see Lake Louise from the top. Note that if you plan to buy tea/ coffee at the tea house, plan to bring cash. Also, I would suggest having proper hiking gears as you can go further to Lake Agnes and hike up the mountain. I will skip on commenting about their beauty and let the pictures speak for themselves.
The best part of this trip was the hours of daylight we had. Even at 10 pm, we were enjoying the view of Lake emerald in the dusky light. We had so much to see that we were falling short of 18 hours of sunlight too. There were 0 tourists here, water was so calm and seemed to hold no grudges with roaring mountains surrounding it. We missed Lake O’Hara which was again high on the list, as it was 13 Km hike away. And if you plan to take the shuttle, there are only 2 in a day (10 Am and 3 Pm). So plan accordingly.
Last day went strolling across Banff downtown and maybe the cutest town I have ever seen. Local cafe’s and souvenir shops were tucked into high mountain ranges. On our way back home, I looked behind and I could see the mountains ranges going far away. Physically I was moving farther but even after 2 weeks now, I am still there; In the mountains.
PS: Thanks to the amazing bunch of people for hosting us and making this trip so memorable. It wouldn’t be fun without you guys. You rock!
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