Banff

The long awaited and highly anticipated vacation of a lifetime came and went. Boy, do I have some stories.

This was my very first excursion out of the country and it was to the beautiful, tremendous Canadian Rockies. We started the trip by heading to the airport at 2am for a 5am flight to Salt Lake City. So we bundled up to greet the Canadian weather while it was an easy 70 degrees in the wee hours of the morning in the midwest. It made for some perspiring times, but we weren’t about to take up valuable luggage space for our coats. And so, we were off and were blessed with the most magnificent sunrise above the clouds as we landed in a gorgeously mountainous Utah. We stopped for some celebratory breakfast (celebratory because we were both still going after 2 hours of sleep) that the layover left us just enough time for before we officially crossed into Canada.

I slept the entire plane ride into Calgary, which was much needed of course. After waiting for our friends to catch up to us in the airport, we rented our car and headed towards Canmoore. 

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. The spouses went to rent the cars while my girlfriend and I ubered into Calgary to pick up these custom birthday cakes she ordered for us (we were celebrating 3 birthdays on this trip!). After we picked up the cakes, we were starving. We found a corner restaurant called St. James Corner Restaurant & Irish Pub and had our very first dish of poutine. Let me tell you, I don’t think any other poutine that we had compared to what we got here. The gravy was so creamy and divine, we got bacon and mushrooms on top . . . it was just delicious. I’m mostly just name dropping the place as a mental reminder to myself of the restaurant name with the fabulous poutine.

Anyways, I digress, the boys picked us up shortly after and we were on our way to Canmoore. By this time, it was around sunset. We got our first looks of the larger-than-life Canadian Rockies, the seasonal larches peppered into the landscape, and eventually made our way into Canmoore. Our rental home away from home was adorable, spacious, and had everything that we needed. It was 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, had a full kitchen and living room space, AND had a hot tub overlooking the mountains. It was both divine and private. It was a blessing to have somewhere that incredible to rest after a long travel day. We spent the rest of the evening unpacking ourselves, planning the next day’s excursions, and catching up. This was short lived, as we found we had to get up pretty early in the morning to do the Big Beehive hike. So, with that, we settled in and slept for our first night in the Canadian Rockies.

Our first hike was the Big Beehive. We got there well before sunrise and took in a shadowy version of Moraine Lake. This trail is an out and back, nearly 7 mile adventure. The really unique thing about it is about halfway through. Therein, on the shore of Lake Agnes, is a tea house. There are no roads up to the establishment and all supplies have to be hiked up there by mule or person. The staff stay in the teahouse for days at a time and shift in rotations. The tea and biscuits we shared together were lovely a light snowfall fell around us.

The hike was spectacular with some semblance of mountain views the entire way. We even saw a mountain goat very briefly dotted along a mountain.

The real jewel of the hike is reaching the top of the beehive. The mountain, appropriately named for it’s knobbed, layered appearance, sits nearly 7500 feet above sea level and offers a beautiful vista view of Lake Louise. It was one of those moments that truly felt larger-than-life. The lake had a bright, cyan color to it that felt electric. It felt like a truly fitting introduction to these sacred mountains. It was a beautiful way to start our trip.

The elevation gain was no joke. The trek left us exhausted.

We got a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant in Banff and promptly headed home, eager for a good night’s rest. Me, maybe, more than most. Tomorrow would be my birthday and the part of the trip where Shea and I got a car to ourselves. Stay tuned for the report on my embarkment into Chapter 25 :)

Enjoy the gallery <3