This trip was definitely a bucket list kind of trip. Last week we spent the week camping in Banff and taking a tour of the now very “Instagram” famous lakes. When Rod and I decided to move back to the west coast, this trip was at the top of my mind. In all the time, we have spent exploring Alberta, somehow, I found that after living here for five years, I had still not seen some of these iconic Alberta locations.
So, we decided to piggy back our northern trip onto a preplanned trip to Calgary to catch The Chainsmokers playing for Stampede. Rod had gotten me the tickets for my birthday, and we finally got to cash them in six months later. The best part of our trip to Calgary though was head over to a local brewery that now let’s your dog join you for a pint. Cold Garden Beverage Company, has gotten permits to allow dogs to join their owners on leash inside the brewery. So of course, Rod and I had to go and check out this place, we are always so excited to take Avery with us to places like this. So, we headed up to Calgary for the concert and the night before heading out to basecamp at Two Jack Main Campsite for the remainder of the week.
We got up to the campsite right at check-in time, found our site and went to work setting up the overhead tarp and tent. Thankfully with a few minutes to spare we were able to get everything up before a huge thunder and rainstorm began. The rain was off and on, mostly on, so we decided to cook dinner and make it an early night in order to try to get up early the next morning for a paddle.
We had heard so many rumors about how busy all of these places get during the day, so we decided on alpine start mornings, to get up, drive out, actually get a decent parking spot and be out on the lake before the crazy crowds descended.
Lake Louise was up first on Tuesday morning! With the weather a little on the cloudy and slightly drizzling side, we decided to take a chance and get out of the water. We figured we have the waterproof jackets and layers to help keep us warm, why should a little rain stop us. It was by far the best decision we made, just as we were putting in, the canoe shop was closing up, which meant we had the lake to ourselves. With the beautiful Lake Louise Fairmont as our backdrop we headed straight out into the middle of the lake. It may have been a little chilly, but the lake was beautiful and glassy and so peaceful to be out there with just Rod and the dog. We may not have spent as long as we would have liked, as our toes started to feel the cold, but it was a breath-taking experience, that we are thankful we chose the answer yes to if we should go out or not.
After packing up the boards, we decided to head into the Fairmont to take a little look around. I keep saying to Rod that one day we will stay here, just for the experience, even though the price is a little outrageous. The rest of the afternoon, we dealt with a little more rain and sadly a disintegrating tarp, so we headed into Banff to get so more supplies. After a lovely evening meal, we read by the fire and made it to bed early to be ready for another early morning start.
Wednesday, we got up at the 530am alarms to pack up the car and head out to Moraine Lake. This lake is up near Lake Louise, and also deals with a small parking lot and large tourist populations. But being up at 530 meant that we got up to the parking lot by 7am and was out on the water by 745. With the sun out shining, there were a few others on the lake, but it was still such a beautiful place that we all just enjoyed the space together. It was so crazy how blue the water was, most of the pictures kind of show it, but I really feel they don’t do them justice. This place should be on everyone’s bucket list. The water was a little chilly, but the warmth of the sun made our paddle super enjoyable.
Avery has really come to feel comfortable on the boards, sadly this day she got a little too comfortable walking around near the front of the board, had a little slip which gave her a good swim in the water. Thankfully with her amazing recall skills we were able to get her to swim back to our boards where I was able to lift her up and back onto Rod’s board. I don’t think I have ever seen her shake that many times, you could tell it was colder then I think she was expecting. We also took the chance to take a little walk up to the top of the rock pile to catch the “instagram” view from the top.
Following our paddle at Moraine Lake we headed back to basecamp for a quick nap and small bite to eat. This afternoon/evening we were meeting some very excited people and needed to get ready, i.e. shower and make ourselves look a little descent, this meant heading out to the Banff Hot springs for this task. It was a little awkward doing my hair in that bathroom, I got a few strange looks, but there was no way I was going to have my engagement photos done with toweled dried hair 
We met our wedding photographers (Willow and Wolf) for an early dinner in Banff, before we headed out to Peyto Lake to take is some beautiful views and create a couple of square frames. They were so awesome to meet, so awesome to work with and really can’t wait to see how they capture us on the day. They were excited to get some variation, so after we spent a couple hours shooting at the lookout for Peyto lake, we jumped in the cars, headed back down the road to Herbert Lake. By the time, we finished there and made the drive back to basecamp it had turned into a very long day. We all decided to crash, as we were planning to get up early again the next morning to do another shoot on Two Jack Lake with the paddle boards in tow.
Willow and Wolf Blog Post about our Engagement Shoot
These lakes were all so beautiful in the early hours of sunrise. They were also so peaceful and calm, you almost felt bad making a ruffle in the water as you paddle around. The dog was awesome and stoke as usually to get out on the water, and super photogenic in her stoic stance as we paddle around with her. Andrew and Bec came back for a little breakfast and hang out at Base Camp before taking off for more photos around the Banff area. Rod and I spent most of the day reading, napping and snacking. The day before had just wiped us out, and so we decided to enjoy the sun and some quiet time together. We did head out to Lake Minnewanka for a little evening sit and stroll around the water and the rock faces before heading back for dinner and fire time.
Friday morning was pack up base camp and head home. I had decided to join some lovely ladies from the gym for another camping trip in Beavermines that weekend, so that meant Rod and I got to drive back from Banff, unpack the car, repack the camping stuff I needed, shower and then leave right away for another trip. Let’s just say the weekend was also awesome with the girls but I was so excited to sleep in a real bed come Sunday night!
All in all, it was a great week of camping, paddling boarding and photos. This week Rod and I spent time working away on a bunch of different wedding projects that we are super excited to share with our guests. Next week we head to Waterton for a week of hiking, paddling, dog walks, bike rides, ice cream runs and all the cabin deck relaxing time I can get!
Until next time,
– Tracy