Along with Yosemite, Banff was our favorite National Park in North America. We were awed by the magnificent Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was breathtaking. The color of the lakes that we had seen from Instagram was absolutely real. The emerald and turquoise color of the water was so gorgeous that we fell in love immediately. We wish we had more than a week to immerse ourselves, getting lost in the incredible mountain ranges. But, with the time we had, we tried to maximize our experience with what Banff had to offer.
We first visited Lake Louise. After taking a few poses in front of the lake, we hiked towards Mirror Lake. Though it was a challenge for mama Hong because of hills along the three mile trail, she couldn’t resist traveling the full trail when she saw the grandeur of nature. Once we got to Mirror Lake, we saw a sign that pointed to “Lake Agnes Tea House.” We were curious and decided to go for it. It was another couple of miles from there and the cold wind was blowing hard. We weren’t very prepared for the icy wind in summer and I was shivering. When we finally got to the “Tea House,” we were in desperate need of something warm. The hot chocolate that the tea house offered was the perfect solution! The Tea House was very cute in the middle of the mountains without electricity or running water. All the fresh provisions were carried by staff hiking up and down the trail each day. We were so glad to have found such a hidden little gem. To this date, mama Hong says it was her most memorable experience in Banff!
There were a lot of forest fires around Banff, especially coming from Kootenay National Park, just south of the park. Because of the direction of the wind, which resulted in poor visibility in Banff, we decided to take a day trip to Jasper National Park. Jasper was a huge park just north of Banff and filled with many surprises. Malign Lake was one of the most beautiful lakes that I have ever seen. We took a short trail around it and headed on to icefields where we could get up close to the glaciers. It was so windy and so steep that we bundled up and held each other tight along the way. It was our first time to see glaciers up close and we learned the history of changes in the glacial landscape. We could see and feel the effect of global warming more vividly from signs posting where the glacier had receded over the past 50 years.
Later in the week, Sunil and I hiked a 5 hour trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers and stopped by another tea house on the way back. Sunil also did another 10 mile hike in preparation for his 3 day hiking adventure in Vancouver Island, while mama Hong and I explored short trails around the Freemont hotel near downtown Banff. We then submerged ourselves in sulfur hot springs!
As we were leaving, we said, “see you again” instead of, “goodbye,” making a promise to come back soon!
SooJin & Sunil 