Canadian Rockies -Banff- 2017
We (husband and I) just came back from a trip to the mountains! A weekend getaway to the mountains is always so much fun...
This time we were invited to a wedding in Canmore and we knew we had to leave Momiji alone lots (most of hotels don't allow pets to be left alone in the room either), so we didn't bring her with us. Our good friend took such a good care of her, as always, and we're so grateful for that.
Ever since Momiji became a part of our family, we always went to the mountains together, so although this trip was great, it was also strange without her.
This photo below was taken just before we dropped her off at our friend's house. This is her travel bag and she recognizes it, but she's not sure if she's coming with us or not.
On the first day, we arrived at Canmore (which is a town about 20 mins away by car from Banff, a popular place for tourists to stay) in the evening so we didn't do any sightseeing but went out for dinner with my brother-in-law and his lovely wife. (It was a family wedding so we were all there!)
We went to Crazy Weed, I've heard many good things about this restaurant and had always been wanting to try. And so glad we did!
Everything was fresh and so so good! My salmon was simple but had lots of flavour and cooked just right. Really loved the Yuzu remoulad (the sauce).
Sunset on the first day.
The second day was the wedding! It took place on top of the hill at Quarry Lake, which was surrounded by the mountains, an amazing view.
It was scorching day (35-37℃!), but the sky was blue and the mountains were clear. It was hot but very beautiful.
The groom's family is Irish, so that was their theme. The groom and the groomsmen wore kilts, they had bagpipe playing, and the bridesmaids wore beautiful deep green dresses.
The bagpipe sounded oh so magical in the mountains... And look at the bride! She was so beautiful, so gorgeous! Can't wait to see the professional wedding photos of this beautiful couple.
The reception venue was also very pretty, lots of gold and sparkles.
The reception venue was also very pretty, lots of gold and sparkles.
On the third day, we headed to Peyto lake to do a hiking.
On the way there, we spotted famous Castle Mountain. It looks small from this viewpoint, but once you drive up closer, it is pretty big and cool.
As you can probably tell from these photo, the third day was super sunny and hot again.
Bow Lake (photo above.) Bow Lake and Peyto Lake areas have no cell phone service by the way!
Peyto Lake is my favourite lake in Banff, it is absolutely beautiful. It's a bit of drive from the town of Banff but is worth it. It gets pretty busy during summer so I'd recommend checking it out in the early morning or in the evening when it's quieter.
Justs like many other lakes in the mountains, this lake changes its colour depending on the season, the time of the day. During mid-day in summer, the water looks blue-green and almost milky looking like in the photo above.
To the Peyto lake lookout from a parking lot is about 10 mins short walk on the steep path. It's a short walk so anyone who's in a decent shape would have no problem , but if you want to take an easier path, I've heard that the path from a bus parking is a lot less steep.
We took a hiking trail called "Bow Summit Lookout". It's 2.9km one way, it's not a long hike and probably an easy one to those who are in good shape but it is an alpine trail which means the trail is inclined. So to those who are only used to walking on flat sidewalks such as myself, it could be a little hard. I take our dog for a walk daily but we only walk on flat areas, and I don't do any other training or sports much, so I consider my self a weakling. I'm really not great at inclined hikes, so I went slow going up and was tired but still made it to the top!
And it was well worth it. Look at the view!
We usually like to go to the mountains in spring or fall just because it's less busy, less hot, and less bugs. The sky and the air is especially clear in the fall and we love it, but this time we got to see wild flowers that we usually miss out in the fall.
When we reached around the tree line, there was snow on the ground!
View from the lookout.
Remember Bow Lake you saw earlier in this post? It is now waaaaay down there!
Hubby took a panorama photo.
Hubby took a panorama photo.
Going back (down) was a lot easier and faster. By the time we got back to Peyto Lake viewpoint, it was around 5-6 pm and was a bit less busy so I snapped a photo of the lake again.
The last day of our short trip.
We were pretty tired from the hike on precious day and wanted to get back home before too late, so we didn't do a lot. After checking out from the place we stayed, we bought our lunch in the town of Banff and had a mini picnic by Bow Falls.
And that’s a wrap!
I hadn't visited the mountains in the middle of summer for a long time. It was hot, there were so many mosquitoes, and I got sun tanned a bit… But even so it was a great trip! The wedding was amazing, and the Bow Summit Lookout hike was fun.
I already can't wait to go back there, next time with Momiji too!
PS. We didn't spot any bigger animals like elk, goat, sheep, bear... Maybe it was too hot for them to be out and about during the day. I've never been to the mountains without spotting at least one of them. But then again we usually go in fall or spring, so maybe that has something to do with it.
Jul 12, 2017
