Somebody Pinch Me

samanthabprue
Jun 11
4 min read

Reporting live from Jasper National Park, it’s Day 10 and boy do I have A LOT to catch up on! We had some truly weird weather as we departed Regina Saskatchewan on Sunday morning, and by weird I mean 50 degrees and WINDY. But this wasn’t just any wind, this was prairie wind, which means we now have a whole new definition of what windy really is.

With a long day ahead of us, we set out early for Calgary, not making it more than 20 minutes down the road before encountering a very long, very dusty dirt road that would take us to the Trans Canada Highway – glad we got that off-road truck package, also, don't always trust the Google Maps shortcut. When we finally made it to the highway we were hit with a wall of westerly crosswinds gusting up to 45 miles per hour, bouncing our truck and trailer all over the road. This continued for the next 3 hours during which time we probably got about 4 miles to the gallon and had to stop for gas every 50 miles – yeet.

I wasn't kidding about the wind. Our first 30 miles on a dirt road, and the unsurprising theme of the day: flat.

Thankfully, as we got closer to Calgary the wind eased and our final few hours were uneventful with only minor winds. We arrived at our first hotel stop of the journey and thank goodness for that after the day we had! We enjoyed a nice dinner and made it an early night.

Our night out in Calgary.

In the morning we set out for our shortest drive of the day into Banff National Park – the highlight of our trip. Before stopping at our campground, we decided to hike the Grassi Lakes trail in Canmore, about 30 minutes south of Banff. All we can say is wow – and that’s most of what we’ve said for the last three days. The color of the water at the small alpine lakes at the top of the trail were stunning and if it wasn’t for a small sign that said “no swimming” we would have gladly jumped in. Back on the road, we made it to our campground, an expansive “trailer court” up above town with beautiful views of Tunnel Mountain.

Our drive into the park. The Grassi Lake Trail. Views from downtown Banff, and my "I'm just happy to be here" face.

During our first full day in the park we decided to visit Lake Louise hoping to do a bigger hike. Upon realizing the trail we wanted to try was closed, we decided to walk the lakeside path. When we reached the beach at the other end we said why not keep going? And man are we glad we did! Brian and I have both done our fair share of hiking over the years, but this trail puts them all to shame. Our journey took us up almost to the edge of the Plain of Six glacier, you know, the one you see in all the pictures from the shores of Lake Louise. Our lunch spot treated us to an incredible 360 degree view of the nearby mountains, and Brian noted, “I’ve had lunch in worse places.”

The trail tops out at the Plain of Six Tea House. That’s right, you can get tea and cake at 7,000 ft. right next to the glacier. On the way down we encountered a couple who was eager to try the tea house, only to learn it was cash only and they were fresh out. On the side of the trail we were happy to hand over a few Canadian dollars so they could enjoy and we received a high altitude Venmo reimbursement in exchange – we hope they enjoyed their tea.

Starting from the bottom at Lake Louise - yes we're going to that glacier behind us! Our incredible lunch spot, looking back at the lake, and the tea house.

After completing our hike, which took us over 10 miles, we decided it was only fair to treat ourselves to a snack at the famous Fairmont Hotel in Lake Louise. We shamelessly ordered the cheapest side dishes on the menu, enjoyed a few cocktails, and devoured some cheesecake before heading back to our campsite. For dinner we enjoyed a true smorgasbord of Korean BBQ – something we know we won’t get for a long time – and downed a few shaft cocktails before calling it a night. Wildlife sightings for the day included: ground squirrels, chipmunks, moose, elk, ravens, magpies, crows and canada jays.

This morning we set out for Jasper National Park, just a short three hour drive up the road. Obviously we haven’t made it to the Alcan yet, but this was probably the most incredible drive we’ve done to date. I’m not kidding when I say you need to put the Icefields Parkway on your bucket list. We basically spent the entire day with our jaws on the floor just enjoying every single view out the window. I said to Brian at one point that I felt like I didn’t have enough eyes. We made lots of stops along the way to marvel at waterfalls, wade in rivers, and just take it all in. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.