BANFF... a MAJOR destination on my bucket list. Check!

Thanks to the encouragement of Susan Hull and years of having Banff on my bucket list we FINALLY got to Banff and it was so worth it... Almost magical... (sorry Joanna Gehr who doesn't like the word). Banff is one of the Canadian Rockies National Parks. It seemed that every time I saw a beautiful picture of an alpine scene, it was taken in Banff...so, it was time, I took some of those pictures... I will say that pictures just can't capture the beauty of this park, but I'll attempt to share my pictoral perspective...

We stayed right in the National Park and it was possibly the largest campground we have stayed in with amazing views and literally 2 miles from downtown Banff... which was kinda like Jackson Hole or Vail, CO... upscale but so cute...

The highlight of Banff is across the river and up the hill... to the Banff Springs Hotel. It's a castle...with a GREAT view! We went in it, and almost got lost! just amazing!

This was the back patio of the hotel... we brought the beauties with us...

Here's me and my stud-muffin... I think we're already planning in our little minds a long weekend gateway to this hotel... as we left a Scotsman came out and played his bagpipe which resonated thru the mountains... another peaceful moment...

This was the waterfall at the base of the hotel... they were starting rafting trips right around the corner from this site.

We caught this guy while driving to Lake Louise. Nice bear...

There seemed to be views like this around every bend... yeah, I have already filled an 8GB card...soon to fill a second... almost 3000 pictures... I'm a freak about pictures...

SO...oh my... I thought Banff was pretty? Then we came to Lake Louise, still in the National Park, just north... here's the view from the parking lot...

Here's a panarama of the lake... the wall is actually slightly curved but the focal point is right in the center... hard to see in this picture but it's a series of 6 glaciers... the main one being Victoria Glacier...

The water at Lake Louise (and most of the lakes in glacial areas are a teal blue green... not clear, but an amazing blue green... it's from what geologists call "flour" which is tiny rock sediment from glacial runoff that suspends in the water. When the light hits it, it looks blue green... Kristin has declared that it's her favorite color!

I stopped counting the people I asked to take our picture... but it was usually a split deal as they wanted a picture of them too!

My brother Dean had a book on great hikes and it included a hike in Lake Louise called the Plains of six glaciers trail. It started at the opposite end of Lake Louise and was 7 miles round trip. Michael wasn't a big fan of longer hikes on this trip so I dismissed the thought... so we walked the length of the lake... I was actually feeling a bit weak as I have had a little stomach bug for the last few days and I realized that I had eaten very little protein... we had two water bottles, no food and two out of our four walking sticks and when we got to the far end of the lake, mike says..."let's do the 6 glaciers trail!" WHAT? I was so excited, but prayed that God would give me some strength back... within about 10 minutes, with nothing but a prayer, I was back in business and we started the assent to Voctoria Glacier... It took us about 2 hours but it was SOOOOO worth it! At the top of the trail (as close to the glaciers that you could safely get) was a tea house.... they helicoptered staples like flour and sugar once a year... then int'l students work there all summer and hike in and out every five days to bring fresh food... I'll tell ya, we almost gave up a few times.... we saw FOUR avalanches off the melting Victoria Glacier and finally made our destination and I'll have to tell you, lemonade and PBJ and Tuna sandwiches on freshly made bread was the best food I had ever tasted... we even had home made hummus and chips.... it was awesome! Truly! Here's the pics from the hike:

This was one of the small avalanches from Victoria Glacier (top part of the mountain). The CRASHING sound that it made was AWESOME! They say it takes 20 seconds to actually reach the Lake Louise hotel at the other end! You had to see it to catch it as by the time the sound reached you it was too late!

Here's the TEA HOUSE with four VERY HAPPY HIKERS!

We ate on the second floor on two tiny tables... they even made chocolate cake from scratch without electricity...

They make the wheat bread FRESH every day and literally cut it in slabs for their sandwiches... We definitely concluded that they were the best sandwiches EVER... this of course was based on the fact that we had no food on the trek and were starving and in need of protein when we got there...

Finally back at the lake level... this hike is a MUST for anyone traveling to Banff... Thanks Dean for the use of the book that lead us here!

I was a tired girl after this climb... but it was a GREAT tired.

I couldn't help to take more pictures of this lake... and had a new appreciation for Victoria Glacier...

This was on bow Lake en route to the ice fields in northern Banff...

We caught another black bear on the way home...

These two bull elks we caught coming out of the woods... so we pulled over... they proceeded to get swo close to the truck that I COULD reach out the window and touch their antlers... of course, I didn't becuase Michael said it would break EVERY rule inside a Natl Park if I did so... but oh, I wanted to...

We concluded our evening with a drive up to Two Jack Lake and Lake Miniwanka... we caught a herd of Big Horn Sheep up there... this guy basically ASKED me to take his picture...

We left the next morning at 7am in our first real rain storm... seemed appropriate for our mood... it was the most western and northern part of our trek and after Banff, we were heading home...

I read thru a Psalm this morning that seemed appropriate for Banff.... it was Ps. 33:8-9...

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let the people of the world revere Him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

I really don't understand experiencing the breathtaking places that we've been in the last three weeks and not see God's hand in it all. "...even the rocks will cry out!"