Jasper/banff

I keep hoping to organize our trip adventures in a better way on my other site but somehow I never have the time. sigh. Here is a summary of our trip

Day 1: Flight: Painful. Short at least. Much crying. Banff  - Douglas resort has an indoor waterslide and playground. The word indoor is key for the rest of our time there since it rained off and on every day.

Douglas Fir Resort

Day 2: Banff gondola - After getting ripped off paying $75 for 2 gondola tickets, we realized you could just hike up the mountain about 4 miles. Still debatable about the tradeoff. Dropped by Surprise corner viewpoint for a picture of the fairmont on the way back.

Johnston Canyon

Day 3: Banff: A torrential downpour of a day so a perfect day for a quick walk to the bow river falls behind the Fairmont and then lunch at the fairmont where for some reason there was no highchair so we had to corral babyH using some armchairs which oh so did not work. Drove around to see the Vermillion lakes and Lake Minnewanka since BabyH once again passed out in the car.

Day 4: Banff: Drove up the bow valley parkway to hike johnston canyon. Pretty crowded even for the off season. Best park bathrooms ever - they have changing tables!

Lake Louise

Day 5: Lake Louise: Drove to Moraine lake in the Lake louise area. Checked out the spiral tunnel viewpoint nearby but C said he couldn't see much. Hike up the rock pile and around the lake. Checked in at the paradise lodge bungalows.

Day 6: Lake Louise: Headed to lake louise and did the steep 1k hike up to the fairview outlook. Lunch at the fairmont again afterwards. Went a little better since we had both highchair AND crayons. woot.

Day 7: Lake Louise:  Drove up to the columbia icefield and visited the icefield center. Stopped to look at a few lookouts. 2 bear sightings.

Parker Ridge Hike

Day 8: Jasper: Stopped to hike parker ridge on the way to jasper which was a steep hike up to a glacier but reportedly one of those can't miss hikes. Didn't check trail conditions so this was a really hard hike through snow and mud. Tis unfortunate my shoes aren't waterproof. BabyH had a complete meltdown in the backpack carrier at the top - possibly b/c her little hands are frozen. Unfortunately then she screamed for 20 minutes on the hike down. At least she scared away any possible bears.

Maligne Canyon hike

Day 9: Jasper: Hiked maligne canyon which had super strong waterfalls due to the early season. Quite impressive.

Day 11: Jasper: Very rainy day so a boat tour of Maligne lake was in order. Not sure if I regretted the decision. babyH was a little screamy on the boat but it was a beautiful lake. In any case, that 90 minute tour felt like hours. Good thing the other tourists seemed to think babyH was cute and excused her crying.

Day 12: Jasper: Visited mt edith cavell which was a last minute decision since babyH fell asleep right away in the car so needed to drive somewhere farther to continue her nap. Best choice ever. Gorgeous and well maintained walk with beautiful views.

Mt Edith Cavell

Day 13: Jasper: Rented some bikes and biked over to the fairmont near Lac Beauvert. Really loved the mountain bike trail system there. Was really doable for me. Really have to go back one day for some real biking.

Day 14: Drove back to calgary and ate some brazilian bbq on the way. yum.

Day 15: Back to SFO. Major meltdown on flight once more but then at least she passed out asleep.