Yoho & Kootennay National Park

It was still snowing when we woke up, but the snow plowers had been busy overnight and the streets were pretty clear. Soon we had reached the familiar road leading from Calgary to Banff, just this time with the magnificent views of the snowy peaks of the Canadian Rockies. When we reached Banff it was still icy and foggy cold. We stopped by the visitor center to see which trails in the various National Parks in the area were open and which one is the best way to cross the Rockies. It felt surreal being back here but this time with our Ruedi 🥰🚙
Luckily there were still some shorter trails open as well as the road leading up to Emerald Lake. We weren't allowed to take the rental car outside of the province and Emerald Lake is already in British Columbia. So we were now able to do this with Ruedi and it was absolutely worth it. When we drove there the weather started to get better and it was soon sunny with a deep blue sky. Each of the lakes has it's own charm but for us this one is our favorite with it's relaxed setting, beautiful little chalets and the backdrop of mighty mountain peaks. We did the little 5km loop around the lake, taking pictures and enjoying the different views from the various angles.

Our next destination was the Kootennay National Park, consisting of several viewpoints and shorter walks scattered along the winding parkway. We stopped at a few of them but some were closed and others not that interesting. The best feature is probably the views you get when driving. And at the end of it are the Radium Hot Springs as a little treat in the afternoon 😊 With that we visited all three hot springs in the Rockies 🧖

Fresh, clean and relaxed we continued our westward journey driving through the Glacier National Park and Mt Revelstoke National Park without any stops as most of the trails were already closed. Surprisingly there was also another timezone we crossed 😅Read more