Rainy days are hard. It rained on and off all day and was generally pretty cold. We killed a couple of hours at the Banff public library writing website updates, went to the local museum, and even took in Monsters University, which we think was Q’s first feature length movie.

After the matinee, we found a campground just outside of town. It was still cold and rainy, so we heated up some leftovers in the van. We even slept with the heater on for the first time.

The next day, after a stop in town for groceries, we continued north on the trans-Canada highway to Lake Louise. We arrived at about 2 pm, and after circling around the parking lot for awhile, we finally found a spot. We went for a 2km hike to an overlook and were very impressed that Quinn did the whole thing without complaint!

Hiker Quinn

Arriving back at the lake, we got on a guided canoe trip. It was a good experience – our animated and fun gude, Bruce, was also well versed in local history and told stories and even sang songs about the fur traders who plied the rivers between Montreal and the outer territories by canoe back in the day.

Canoe tour of Lake Louise

By the time we were done it was late, so we headed north until we found a campground. Even though we got almost the last spot, it was right on the creek. The kiddo had a great time making dams, diversions, and waterfalls.

The next day we went back to Lake Louise, this time heading up to Moraine Lake. We got there by 10am, and already the parking was backed up along the road leading in. By the time we left a couple of hours later they had traffic stopped at the entrance. Sightseeing at these spots is as crowded with people as you’d expect for peak tourist season, although the scenery is so spectacular that you can understand why people come from far and wide to see it.

Moraine Lake

Headed north once again, we were stopped at one of the many crazy-photoshopped-blue-lake-in-the-foreground-and-glacier-in-the-background overlooks when we decided on a whim to give a ride to a couple of German backpackers. They looked to be under twenty and rode with us for a couple of hours to the Columbia ice field, the next stop on our trek.

Checking out the scenery