Welcome to the Canadian Rockies!
In the last video we showed you the 4-and-a-half day car journey from Ontario, but now it's
time to jump into the sightseeing.
We had 1 full week in the Rockies, splitting our time between both Alberta and British
Columbia, and all of our days were spent hiking in woods, visiting the lakes, and just enjoying
being surrounded by nature.
This was a family road trip with our trusty family dog Togo in tow, so we're going to
be sharing with you our adventure in what may well be the most beautiful part of Canada!
Alright guys so today is our first full day here exploring Alberta.
We arrived in Calgary late last night so we didn't really do a whole lot or see much of
the city but we got up early today um and we got our pass.
We bought the Discovery Pass which is going to give us access to a whole bunch of parks.
It is good for a year as well which is really cool.
But yeah our first stop today is Banff so we drove into town, parked the car and now
we are walking along the Bow River Trail.
So we are now crossing this bridge here we met a local on the trail who suggested once
we cross the bridge we turn left because apparently there is a really nice trail and he likes
that area so since we don't know any better we're going to follow his advice.
Turn left and see what nature holds.
So we are now walking through the forest.
Well it is a little trail you know lined with trees that looks like a forest to me but it
is super quiet and super peaceful here.
We can just hear the river running to the left and then birds chirping all around us.
This is nice.
This is a great way to start our travels here in Alberta.
Alright so we are just starting the day.
We've basically been walking through the park for maybe 20 minutes and we came across some
benches right along the side of the river.
Why are you wimpering?
It is beautiful.
It is beautiful Togo.
So yeah we just wanted to take a minute and kind of talk about our first impressions of
the place.
Starting with my Dad who has always wanted to visit and come out to the Rockies.
Yeah, that is true.
I always wanted to come.
First impressions is wow.
This place is hard to describe in words.
This is nature at its best.
Anything and everything you see here is extremely beautiful.
The mountains, the rivers, the turquoise colour of the waters.
The trees.
I mean it doesn't get any better than this guys.
You know like I mean anyone that has the opportunity to come and visit this part of the world do
so because I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed one bit.
It is a beautiful place.
It is nature and uh yeah it is taken care of everything is pristine.
It looks like you know nobody has ever been here.
So I recommend it highly to visit.
The Bow River trail is just a few steps from downtown Banff and it follows the riverside
with lots of benches along the way so that you can stop and enjoy the scenery.
We followed it up to the Bow Falls Lookout point.
From there, we walked over to the Banff Springs Hotel.
This historic hotel opened up in 1888 it's one of Canada's grand railway hotels built
by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
If it's luxury you're after, this Châteauesque property fits the bill.
We didn't stay here, but that didn't stop us from admiring the exterior.
After that, we continued over to Canmore.
So it is now time for our second stop of the day.
And we've come over to Canmore.
So basically once we finish hiking a little bit in Banff we went to the supermarket bought
a quick lunch.
You know some bread, salami and cheese.
We ate in the car and then we drove to Canmore which I would say is maybe like 15 minutes
away so it is super close by and yeah now we're just doing some more hiking.
Walking, I should call it walking on this little boardwalk following the river.
It is super peaceful.
The dog is loving it.
He's already jumped in the river a couple of times to drink some water and cool down.
So yeah we are enjoying it.
It is our first full day in Alberta but it is great.
It is great so far.
This particular trail is called the Policeman's Creek Boardwalk Trail.
It's 3.9 kilometers in length and it's a very light and easy walk.
Do you think he is going to take a little swim?
A little dip?
Go swim.
And the one who has been enjoying this the most has been the dog.
And I feel so happy for the dog because it has been in the truck for like four straight
days and today it has done more walking than it has in any other day of its life.
I feel as though its instincts are being awakened.
Its wolf and German Shepherd like instincts are being awakened out here in nature.
And that brings us to Day 2!
Our first stop was Cascade Ponds, which I would describe as one of the hidden treasures
of the Canadian Rockies.
It had glassy emerald waters, a beautiful rocky backdrop, and not a soul in sight.
So it is day two here continuing our road trip and exploring the Rockies.
My sister got married around here in a little forest so she is showing us around, kind of
retracing her steps but yeah this place is beautiful.
Like I thought yesterday was beautiful and now today it is like oh wow we haven't even
seen the best stuff yet.
And we're the only people here so far.
The only ones here so far.
Gotta love it.
You've gotta love it.
Yeah except for some ducks on the lake.
Oh those ducks they had to go ruin it for us.
From there, we drove over to Lake Minnewanka, which has more of a bluer hue in comparison
to the other turquoise and emerald lakes in the Rockies.
Lake Minnewanka is a glacial lake 21 kilometres in length, making it the 2nd longest lake
in the Rockies.
It's a hub for water activity like boat cruises, kayaking, canoeing, and well, it's
beautiful.
(Splashing sounds from dog)
And that brings us to day 3.
Alright guys so another day of sightseeing here around BC (British Columbia) and Alberta.
Today we are driving through Kootenay Provincial Park and honestly if there has been like a
theme or a word that we keep repeating over and over again it is just wow.
Wow, wow the whole time.
Um we just stopped over at the Kootenay viewpoint lookout so yeah you can see like the whole
valley, the mountains, forests.
It is amazing.
My parents are struggling with the dog.
They forgot the dog's collar so we've had to like make due with a leash and like wrap
it around his body because all dogs must be on a leash here.
So yeah Togo.
Togo sit with the background.
Toghetti show off your little harness.
Leash situation.
Haha.
So we are stopping at a place called the Paint Pots.
And we are going to be having some lunch here.
We packed a picnic.
We are also going to let the dog walk around a bit, stretch his legs.
He's a little squeaky at the moment.
Whenever we arrive somewhere new this one has to sniff it out and get used to the environment.
Food.
Do you want food?
Isn't that right Togo?
Let's give you a tour of the picnic.
Bananas, triscuits, cheese and salami.
Peppers.
Grapes.
Peanuts.
Peppers.
Crackers.
Olives and artichokes.
Yum yum.
That looks awesome.
It looks like bears tend to roam in this area.
Maybe we'll see a bear if we get lucky.
Maybe not.
So now that we've had a quick picnic we're going to do some hiking.
A little walk in the woods.
Hello there.
I've got to burn off that meat and cheese.
That was a light meal I will say.
There isn't much to burn off.
No that is true.
It was more of a snack and it is better like that because if you had a great big lunch
then you wouldn't want to be doing all these outdoor activities.
Yeah.
You'd want to be taking a siesta instead.
So we are hiking to the Paint Pots.
Mmhmm.
And apparently these are like little lakes, little lagoons where the water has strange
colors I imagine because of the minerals.
Maybe sulphur.
Yeah and I've noticed that there is a few different I don't know if it is routes but
different varying lengths of this trail.
Yes.
And so we're not going to go that far in.
We have a lot to do today but if you want to like make this into a half or full.
Maybe not a full day but a half day activity you definitely can because some of these trails
go I think like five, six or eleven kilometres.
You can hike a lot in here but we want to see the Paint Pots apparently they are like
yellow and orange and green.
So let's see if we can find them.
To find the paint pots, we walked across the bridge and then turned left.
This led us down a forest trail, and eventually to an opening.
The
Paint Pots consist of 3 pools made up of cold mineral springs, surrounded by earth predominantly
composed of iron ore, which stains the ground an orangey-red color.
A nearby stream then flows into the 2 larger pools creating a greenish color.
Later that day we drove to Moraine Lake, which is another glacially fed lake.
It has a brilliant blue-green colour due to light refracting off the rock sediments, and
like most destinations in the Rockies, this one was another stunner.
Even Togo couldn't resist the waters!
Okay okay one more lake to visit.
Lake Moraine.
This is one of the lakes we've just been dying to visit.
Yeah.
It is just beautiful.
It really lives up to its reputation.
I mean just check out the turquoise waters guys.
The color is unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
We were so lucky to get a parking spot.
Yeah.
Like actually every car in front of us had been turned away and suddenly some spots opened
up and like we were honestly going to come tomorrow.
We were able to go today.
So yeah that is something worth mentioning.
We are visiting here on a weekend yes and it is super busy so it is better if you can
come in the middle of the week or like early in the day or late in the day if you are here
Saturday or Sunday.
Exactly or not during peak season.
Yeah.
Maybe later in
the fall.
(River sounds)
Update.
Update.
It is time for our final lake of the day.
Yeah, tell us where are we?
Lake Louise.
Yes.
Probably the most famous of all.
Yes.
We were very lucky to get a parking spot right near the end of the parking lot.
Mmmhmm.
Like we had to wait until someone pulled out.
Haha.
Yeah, so we're visiting this one at 4 pm so people are slowly starting to leave but they
are still you know quite a few people snapping photos.
Yep.
But yeah this lake is probably the most famous in all of Alberta.
It has beautiful kind of like turquoise milky waters.
Mmmhmm.
Right now we are just waiting for the light to pop because the sun is hiding behind the
clouds.
And I think it actually just is right now.
So we better run and do that.
Yeah.
The views from the shore were nothing short of stunning, we had Victoria Glacier perfectly
framed by mountains on either side, and then the brilliant glacial waters with dotted with
red canoes.
Since we spent part of our trip in the town of Invermere in BC, we also did a bit of hiking
around East Kootenay.
One trail we really enjoyed was the Old Coach Trail, which sits between Radium Hot Springs
and Dry Gulch.
This is a 9-kilometre trail that follows the Columbia River from a height, offering views
of the river and the wetlands below.
Mas.
You are waisting it.
Haha.
Oh look at him getting all dirty.
Toghetti.
We finished off that hike by driving back into town and enjoying a break along the shores
of Windermere Lake, where you guessed it, the dog enjoyed some more splashing around.
Next up, another cool stop on our road trip through the Rockies: the Continental Divide.
Hello!
Hey!
So right now we have stopped off at the Continental Divide.
You can see the sign kind of right behind me here.
So in a second we are going to explain to you what that is all about.
Get him up.
On camera.
Togo.
Hey.
Hey.
Togo.
No he is distracted.
Oh he sees a dog.
That is why.
There is another dog that is why.
Okay so another stop on this road trip right now we are standing at the Continental Divide.
The dog is going with my sister.
Um so yeah right now we are standing at the Continental Divide.
We've got this big sign right behind us and basically this line right here divides three
different things.
So let's try to go through them.
Okay.
Number one yeah it divides the two provinces.
Yeah.
Alberta with British Columbia.
Yep.
It divides the two parks Banff National Park and Kootenay National Park.
And also divides the area where the rivers start flowing either towards the Pacific Ocean
or towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Yeah.
Yep.
So pretty cool.
It is fascinating stuff.
Also we are at 5382 feet above sea level.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that is pretty cool.
And yeah we're just surrounded by mountains, by forest.
A really scenic spot so we are stopping for a few photos and to walk the dog again.
Yeah.
It is an area that is really attractive and for the last hour or so we've been traveling
through part of the forest that has been devastated by the wildfires.
The wildfires.
And it seems that they've been three different fires at different times because some of the
forest has already regenerated.
There is another area where it is beginning to get there.
You know the new trees are about a meter and a half height and the third part is the newest
burnt there is nothing there.
Everything is charred to a burnt wood.
Yeah, it is really sad to see that isn't it?
It is really sad to see but I guess it is part of nature you know.
It is part of nature.
The forest gets to a point where it chokes itself with so much growth that the trees
are just have no place to go.
And this gives the chance for new regeneration.
New regeneration, new growth and a new forest has been born all of the time.
Yeah.
So yep.
And with the fires it is something that happens every single year here in BC (British Columbia)
and Alberta.
And they say that 73% of the fires are started by lightning.
Yep.
Um and I guess the other percentage is either people smoking or campfires or stuff like
that.
Carelessness.
Carelessness.
Yes.
But yeah it is an issue every year.
We are here at the end of the summer and start of fall so a lot of the big fires have already
gone out but yeah you can see that it is scorched.
Temperatures dropping and also some rainfall coming soon will help put out the rest hopefully.
Yeah but we have scene a few smokes.
Like there is areas where it is still smoking in the mountains off in the distance so hopefully
that will be over soon.
Another day of sightseeing here we go.
Yeah.
We are in Kananaskis Country.
Mmmhmmm.
This place is a little more remote.
Yeah.
Definitely a lot more quiet.
It is awesome.
There aren't really any tourists here at the moment.
We are the only ones here.
It is just us and the dog basically.
Yeah.
And a big lake to explore so it is exciting.
A warning.
What does it say Sam?
Let's get a big closer.
It says you are entering a bear travel corridor.
Prevent a surprise encounter by looking and listen for bear signs, make noise, travel
in groups, keep pets on a leash and carry bear spray.
Alright we didn't do the bear spray.
No bear spray so hopefully we don't get too close of an encounter.
And last but not least, our final destination in the Rockies was Kananaskis Country.
Our first stop was Lower Kananaskis Lake, which was a nice place to hike, picnic, and
splash around with the dog.
He didn't seem to mind the icy waters at all!
And from there, we drove to Upper Kananaskis Lake, where we didn't stay quite as long
because the weather started to turn.
But the real highlight was finally spotting some wildlife just as we were leaving for
the day.
And that's a wrap for our Rockies Road Trip!
We still have lots left to see of our home country, but we can honestly say this is one
of the most beautiful destinations in all of Canada.
We hope you guys enjoyed following along, and that you also got a few ideas of places
to visit on your trip.
Wishing you happy travels and see you next time!
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