Adventures in Banff National Park | Crossing Things off our Bucket List

We have quite a big bucket list.  We love doing, experiencing, and trying things.  So when the opportunity arose to take a trip to Canada and knock a few things off the list, we jumped at the chance.   We packed up all the warm clothes that we had, bought some snowshoes, and set out for the Great White North. On our first afternoon in Banff, we hiked up to the summit of Tunnel Mountain.  The skies were just clear enough to allow us full views of the town of Banff below.  The snow was hard packed on the trail and hiking was easy with the spiked cleats to hooked to our boots.

Day two began with "sunrise" at Vermillion Lakes.  I quickly learned that what matters most in these mountains is how low the clouds are hanging.

After sunrise, we headed to Johnston Canyon to check out the frozen waterfalls.  The entire gorge was practically a sheet of ice and we were in awe of beautiful blue color.

We ended the day with a hike around Lake Minnewanka.  The views around the lake were incredible and we were already dreaming of returning in the warmer months to camp along the lake shore.

Our biggest adventure came next with a full day of ice climbing.  We hired a spectacular guide and surprised ourselves with how much we enjoyed the climbing.  It wasn't nearly as scary as I expected, but it was one of the hardest things I've ever done!  I got in 3 climbs while Forrest did 5 and went much higher.

The next morning we were rewarded with an incredible sunrise at Vermillion Lakes.  It was spectacular to see the clear skies over the mountains.

After sunrise, we stopped by the Banff Hot Springs for a quick soak before trying to beat the snow and arrive at Lake Louise by dinner time.  The snow was really coming down when we pulled into the town of Lake Louise for lunch at the old train station.

The lake itself was absolutely spectacular with all of the fresh snowfall.

Next up would be our first day of snowshoeing.  That's to all the snow that had fallen, the trails were covered in beautiful, untouched powder.  Through miles of trails we followed bunny tracks and trail markers making our way around the lake.

In between snowshoe adventures, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch inside the hotel at Lake Louise and walked around the grounds.  And because we couldn't leave without experiencing it, we rented skates to have our first experience ice skating on real ice!

For the last leg of our trip, we continued further north to Emerald Lake.  We stayed at a tiny, secluded lodge right on the lake's shore.  We were able to snowshoe around the entire lake, keeping the lodge mostly in view.  We are really looking forward to returning to see the emerald color of the lake that was buried under the snow.  And after an incredible dinner and cozy night's rest, we tried cross country skiing before heading off to the airport.

Our trip to Canada was filled with incredible adventure, spectacular scenery, more snow and colder temperatures than we could ever imagine, pounds of delicious game meat, and so many happy memories.  Each time we cross something off the bucket list, we think the list gets shorter.... but more often then not, we just want to return and do more things next time!