Banff Cuz Trip

A 8-day adventure by The Read more

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Trip start
August 20, 2017
Banff Cuz Trip Traveler
Johnston Canyon
August 19, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Well after a few flight delays and a mix up at car rental place, we are finally here! A few stops in Calgary to pick up some essentials and of course a Tim Hortons stop, then we were on our way!

We arrived at our destination tonight around 8pm. We checked in, unpacked, then did a short hike to the Lower Falls where we got our first taste of how amazing this trip is going to be!

Headed back to the cabin where Mandy found another guest in the cabin, yep a mouse. One loud scream and everyone was quickly informed of our new visitor. The evening was filled with great stories, laughs, Canadian drinks, and pizza pops. A late night ready to rest up for our next destination tomorrow.Read more
TravelerBeautiful. Have fun!
8/20/17Reply
Looks amazing! ENJOY!
8/21/17Reply
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Banff Cuz Trip Traveler
Johnston Canyon Resort
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Packing up...1st night destination complete
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Upper Falls, Johnston Canyon, AB
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Started our morning today with a nice 5km light hike to the Upper Falls of Johnston Canyon. It was pretty quiet for traffic, but on the way back started to get pretty busy. The falls were beautiful and did not disappoint. Once back at the cabin, Christi made breakfast for us, while we packed our bags into the Expedition. Goodbye Johnston Canyon - on to our next destination!Read more
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Yoho National Park
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
On the way to Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, we stopped to see the spiral tunnels. Unfortunately we missed the train by about 5 minutes entering the spiral tunnel where you can see the train running on 3 levels all at the same time as it spirals around the mountain. We are hoping to see it on the way back.

On the road to the falls we stopped at a couple look out points which were absolutely fantastic. We were the only people to stop so we had so much fun exploring.

Ryan had a mild incident which you'll see from one of the pictures something appears a bit off!Read more
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Takakkaw Falls - Yoho National Park
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
We connected with Josh's brother Nick and his wife Jen who are vacationing in Golden, BC. They met up with us in the trail to Takakkaw Falls which was so great to see them!

The falls was very busy with people but still worth the drive. The powerful waterfall that drops the entire side of the mountain was incredible to see...the pictures do not do it justice.Read more
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Emerald Lake - Yoho National Park
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
We've heard so many great things about Emerald lake yet somehow this managed to be our first time here. The lake colour is as beautiful as Lake Louise and the trail around the lake provided amazing views. We then stopped for a bite to eat at the restaurant on site where unexpectedly we bumped into Nick and Jen and their friends at the restaurant! After some great food, drinks, and many laughs we headed on to one more stop before checking in to our cabin.Read more
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The Natural Bridge - Yoho National Park
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
On the road leaving Emerald Lake, we stopped at one last site before heading to check in to our cabin at Golden. The name "natural bridge" kinda speaks for itself. An amazing spectacle of natural beauty!

On the drive to the cabin you'll see the pics of our first wildlife sighting. So fun to stop and see these guys up close.Read more
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The cabin in Golden
August 20, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
The cabin we are staying at it deserves a post of its own! After a bit of a mishap with the lock getting in, once in we were not disappointed! The cabin is surrounded by mountains and next to the wolf sanctuary so we will hear the wolves howling!

After a big day of hiking, sitting in the hot tub outside was a great way to end our evening.Read more
Very nice
8/21/17Reply
Wow
8/26/17Reply
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Rock Garden Trail
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
One more quick stop before heading back to the cabin was Rock Garden trail where Ryan was really excited to show us the area of rocks that feels like air conditioning. We got to the spot, but sadly it was not the same. We are guessing that it wasn't as cool because it was already cool outside and it was getting late, Last time we did this trail 2 years ago and it was a really hot afternoon.

We drove back to Golden after this and luckily made it past the forest fire alongside the highway. Because it was dark out we could see the flames in some parts and the embers burning. We were all found it hard to breathe in the worst section as we were driving through the smoke.Read more
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Northern Lights Wildlife Sanctuary
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We woke up this morning to the sound of the wolves next door at the Northern Lights Wildlife Sanctuary. We could especially pick out the pups who were trying to get the rest of the pack going.

After a quick coffee we walked down the road to check out the wolves and wow it was amazing.

We had a 30 minute guided tour of the wolves learning everything from their physiology to conserving this magnificent species.

The 3 pups were a highlight and seeing how the older wolves interacted and corrected the little ones.

All four of us didn't want to leave, but we needed to go if we wanted to get in all the sights we had planned.

A quick walk back to the cabin for breakfast then we were on our way to zip lining.Read more
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Solar Eclipse
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
After visiting the wolves we headed back to the cabin for breakfast and our little solar eclipse viewing party. The sky started our pretty cloudy, but by the time the eclipse was starting the sky started to clear up. Amazing to see in our valley surrounded by mountains!Read more
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Wapta Falls, Yoho National Park
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
After taking the advice of our ziplining guides we headed for about a 20 min drive to climb Wapta Falls. The hike started out nice and easy, and leads to the top of Wapta Falls. We then made the difficult trek down steep inclines and cliff drop offs all the way down to the bottom of the falls. The pictures here will not do it justice. The feeling you get being next to these powerful falls is like no other, not to mention that our clothes were soaked by the heavy mist. The round trip of this hike took us about 3 hours. Next we headed back to Golden for a quick lunch before heading to Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park.Read more
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Ziplining
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
After viewing the solar eclipse we then headed on over to our booked Ziplining Adventure which was about 30 minutes east of Golden. The tour includes three zips. The first one starts out fast but short, the next is slower but higher, before heading to the big finale. The last zip is 40 meters high and 500 meters long. The last zip provides amazing views of the valley as you fly over the Kicking Horse River...spectacular. To get up to this zip we had to climb a suspended bridge at a 45 degree angle all the way up. The guides here were so fun and apparently they loved us too as they invited us back for night zipping and drinks. Unfortunately we ran out of time to make it back, but boy that would've been fun.Read more
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Fire at Glacier National Park
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
On our drive up to see the Giant Cedars we witnessed our first Forest Fire. We first saw the helicopter dump water which appeared to be on the side of the highway ahead, once closer we were able to see that yes indeed the water was being dumped on a live fire on the side of the road. The helicopter then dipped its bucket into the river to collect more water to dump on the fire. Incredible to see up close and so sad to see the destruction of the fire. The next decision was do we continue on or are we at risk of not being able to get back. After a some quick discussions and assessment of risk, we decided to keep going.Read more
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Giant Cedars Trail
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Our furthest destination to reach today, but well worth the drive was the Giant Cedars boardwalk trail at Revelstoke National Park. This trail features Cedar trees which are as old as 500 years. The prickly low lying vegetation that covered the entire floor of the forest was called Devils club. The smell of cedars and the enormity of how high they were gives you a feeling that you are in another world.Read more
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Skunk Cabbage Trail
August 21, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We were quickly losing daylight as we started this short trail so we decided to make our way walking briskly along the boardwalk. Not much to see here other then the skunk cabbage plants which basically look like giant spinach leaves. The boardwalk is nice, and the scenery is still quite beautiful as the trail sits along side the river with the mountains as the backdrop.Read more
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Peyto Lake, Banff National Park
August 22, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
We all woke up early to meet Nick and Jen for breakfast at Tim Horton's before heading out to our next destination, Jasper. Breakfast was great as we all shared stories of our trip so far. We left around 10am as we had a long drive ahead of us,

Along the drive we stopped at the spiral tunnels again, but sadly no train was seen yet again. There is no set train schedule here, so one is very fortunate if you do actually manage to see the train.

We stopped along the highway for a variety of scenic views before our biggest hike of the day, Peyto Lake.

The beauty of Peyto lake cannot be described, and the pictures to do not do it justice. These pictures are not enhanced!

We hiked up the heavily trafficked area to the main point, before heading to a harder trail, with few people on it. This trail led to the most spectacular views of the lake and the glacier that sits behind it. None of us wanted to leave, but we needed to get back out on the road.

Next we stopped for lunch at the crossing pub which turned out to be the worst experience ever. The service was terrible and the dining expierince was the strangest ever. All of the entrees on the menu were not served, but rather you had to cook the food yourself! We decided we didn't want it cook so we opted for soup and salad, but the soup looked and tasted like canned soup! Clearly we didn't stick around long, and made our way back on the road,Read more
Beautiful
8/26/17Reply
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Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield
August 22, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We pulled into the parking lot and saw the hike to the Glacier in full view and it didn't appear to be too bad, but looks can be very deceiving. The climb up is steep at times plus, your body is adjusting to the high elevation. Breathing was not only difficult from the climb, but the altitude was definitely kicking in.

This is the most visited Glacier in North America and it is quickly evident why. The color of the ice had a blue green hue underneath the white sharp shards of ice that helped with our traction. The Glacier recedes at a rate of about 5 meters a year. They had signs along the way showing you where the Glacier had reached previously in a variety of years. Crazy to see how much it has melted over the years.

At our highest point we filled a couple water bottles with the pure Glacier water pouring down the crevices of running water down the Glacier. What an experience to taste water in its purest form. It was very refreshing and you could slightly taste the mineral content.Read more
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Glacier Skywalk, Columbia Icefields
August 22, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
A short distance from the glacier, we were shuttled over to the Glacier Skywalk. An engineering marvel, this Skywalk extends out of the mountain providing the most spectacular view of the mountains and Glacier in the backdrop. Walking on 4 layers of bullet proof glass you can see a full 360 view, 918 feet over the Sunwapta Valley below. The Skywalk cost 21 million to build and was built in 2014. They provided us with handheld devices to listen to a guided tour of the Skywalk which was quite interesting to hear.

On to the next stop... Jasper!Read more
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Moose Sighting
August 22, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
On our drive up to Jasper we saw a number of vehicles pulled over which usually means wildlife ahead. Sure enough, we pulled over and saw a moose and her calf were attempting crossing the river. They were stopped about 1/3 of the way just assessing how they were going to cross. We stayed quiet among the shoreline marvelling at the beauty before us snapping as many pictures as possible.

What an exciting way to start our time in Jasper! Next stop was dinner in Jasper at the Jasper Brewing Company where we had the best poutine ever!Read more
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Elk sighting
August 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
On our way to dinner we decided to take the scenic route to look for wildlife. We drove up Pyramid Lake Rd, where Christi spotted an elk in the forest. We were all so excited we all ran out with our phones and cameras to take pictures...doors left open, may have even left our vehicle running. We were so excited. Captured some great pictures, before heading back to the vehicle. We headed up the road further and found an entire heard of elk on the outside of a ranch for horseback riding. Quite incredible, we even spotted a baby nursing on the mama elk - beautiful! Next we headed to the golf course where we heard from some locals that the bears like to hang out, but no bears were spotted. Off to pick up dinner.Read more
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Morning coffee in Jasper, AB
August 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Our first morning in Jasper we started our day off by doing laundry and walking along the trail by the cabins with a cup of coffee. As we took a seat, we watched several whitewater rafting boats float on by through the rapids - pretty cool to watch.

From there we headed back to the cabin to get ready for our hike at Maligne Canyon.Read more
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Maligne Canyon, Jasper AB
August 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
After breakfast we headed out to Maligne Canyon. The trail ended up being much longer than expected but provided amazing views of the canyons and waterfalls within. Along the way back we thought we saw a mountain lion paw print, but when shopping in Jasper later we found at shirt which described the different paw prints that confirmed it was a husky dog. Kinda burst out bubble.Read more
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Bear!
August 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
As we were crossing a bridge travelling back from Maligne Canyon to Jasper, Ryan thought he spotted a bear swimming across the rapid flowing river. We continued across turning onto the very busy highway 16 where we pulled the vehicle over to see if we could get a closer look. Waiting for a moment for the traffic to thin out, we quickly ran across the highway to the other side to the area we figured we may get a closer look at this bear. Still unsure if this was even a bear, we continued to search. We decided to head back to the vehicle and pull over to the lookout point just ahead. Josh started walking closer to the area when Ryan called out, "There he is...Josh Run!" The bear was running right towards Josh! We all started running back towards our vehicle. Unfortunately, we didn't get the best shots of the bear, but as you can see...it was definitely a bear running right for us! What an adventure and adrenaline rush!Read more
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Jasper Tram up Whistlers Mountain
August 23, 2017 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We made a quick stop for lunch in Jasper before heading to the Jasper Sky Tram. We were hearing from the locals about this bear that had run up a tree in town, so we went on the hunt to find it. Found it! Parks Canada had the area taped off as they were monitoring the bear. The bear was a brown black bear and appeared pretty big in size. It was pretty hard to get pictures as he was way up in the tree, but it was pretty cool to see. He apparently had been around town for the last 2 weeks feeding on the fruit trees from the yards in town.

After we headed on over to the Jasper tram to then hike to the summit of Whistlers Mountain.Read more
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