Canada Day 3-4

Back to the Canada 2017 novel!

Day 3:

We slept well the night before and wanted to take advantage of how well we felt, so we planned to do our biggest hike that day. We had plans to hike up Sulfur Mountain. There is a gondola that shuttles tourists to the top and bottom, but it cost $62 a person so we opted to hike up instead! The hike up was around 3.5-4 miles all uphill. Once upon a time a 4 mile one way hike wouldn't scare me, but I'm not in great shape now that I have a child and can't/don't dedicate my free time to keeping in shape AND oh yeah... I am also pregnant again (more info on that to come in the future!!!!), so 4 miles of uphill was rather daunting. However, the views were beautiful and the company was fabulous so I enjoyed myself.

 Once we got to the top our jaws hit the floor.

We were on top of a mountain and could see the entire Banff Valley along with several different mountain ranges. It was amazing! So, so, so, so worth the hike up. We took some pictures and then set up lunch at a picnic table. We were soon approached by two ladies who asked if we had hiked up the trail. After answering affirmatively they asked us if we'd like to use their tickets to ride the gondola down. HALLELUJAH!!! What a blessing! I was exhausted and had been fighting an internal battle about whether or not I should try to convince Caleb to spend $31 a person for us to ride the gondola down. These ladies wanted to hike down, and they freely gave us their tickets. I was so relieved. We filled our bellies, and then took the 1/2 mile trail to another view point. Aspen had a blast climbing all the stairs and waving at other people. She especially seemed to like another 1 year old that we kept bumping into. The two girls kept smiling at each other and waving. She is so sweet with other kiddos! The views were amazing and we met the nicest people who took our pictures.

The gondola ride down was another big highlight of the trip for me. Aspen had never been on one so I was excited to watch her experience it.

She was happier than it looks in the picture :)

Afterwards we ate lunch near Bow Falls and went shopping downtown. I had to get my gift bag from Ardene (the first time my sister and I were in Canada as young girls we bought surprise bags from Ardene and since then we have always tried to find the store, similar to Claires in the US, whenever we are in Canada)!! We were pooped afterwards so we headed back to camp where we ate and tried to wipe off our stench with washcloths and wet wipes, aka "hobo showers". Aspen had another good night :)

Day 4:

Tuesday morning we headed to Lake Morraine. The crowds made us nervous that we wouldn't be able to get in, but lady luck was still with us and we made it. Aspen wanted to explore every tiny trail she could find instead of sticking to the main trail. She has such an adventurous spirit! I have a history of falling in this lake, so we didn't stick around long enough to let that happen.

 We headed north to Herbert Lake where we ate lunch and Aspen waged her war on the dandelions.

 After lunch Aspen fell asleep in the car so we drove farther north than we had planned. Caleb and I saw a Grizzle Bear! We stopped at Mistaya Canyon and took a quick hike.

We then drove to Peyto Lake. The last time we were here, my parents van broke down and with that broken down van we drove (in 2-10 mile spurts since we had to stop often to put more water in the water pump) 288 km to Jasper ( I should note that my Dad is a wizard at making broken down vehicles keep on going despite being broken) .  I was hesitant to go back, just in case karma decided that Caleb and I needed to relive that stressful stressful experience.

After seeing the lake we were blessed with a still working vehicle! Wahoo! Next up was Bow Lake.

 I really really wanted to hike to Bow Glacier Falls but once we got to the trail head I remembered that the trail was about 3 miles one way. It was nearly 3 in the afternoon and we'd already been playing pretty hard. Possibly without a toddler and a baby growing in my belly I would have been up for it, but in the circumstance we were in, I was not. Next time I hope to be able to hike that trail though! I found this blog to have some pretty pictures of it though, so check it out to see what we all missed out on. So we headed back to camp instead. We ate walking tacos, took Aspen around the campground in the stroller and then tried to get her to sleep. She was difficult. She spent all night in bed with us, specifically with Caleb. She sometimes refuses to hangout with me when Caleb is around.. We all slept badly :(

Day 5 was one of the best days of the trip so come back soon and I'll tell you all about it!