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Our hiking team just before clearing treeline on this hike.
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Walter and Chandler on Nihahi Ridge. This hike was ~12 km with ~350m of elevation gain and this was
right at the edge of what Walter could do. I did have to finish the hike with Walter on my shoulders
AND with the very full parking lot at Forget-Me-Not, that meant I had to park on the highway.
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Chandler and a baby bighorn sheep at the top of our day.
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Hanging out on the rocks on the way down.
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Natalia and Elizaveta with Nihahi Ridge behind them.
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And every good mountain outing ends with ice cream, this time in Bragg Creek.
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Our National Parks pass, for posterity as I clearly lost ours and had to get a replacement ($16).
Hiking, biking, and camping in Lake Louise
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I was able to get a couple of nights at Lake Louise soft-sided Sunday to Tuesday and so we went for
a tour. Check out the sweet dumplings and mac and cheese for the kids.
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Since the parking fee is now $37.45 at Lake Louise, and there aren't even spots when you want to go,
we decided to bike up the Tramline trail and then hike from there.
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I had to pull Walter on the Tow-Whee, but he still did quite fine.
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The boys giving each other bunny ears along Lake Louise.
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Walter seeing purple Gog quartzite for the first time at the Back of the Lake.
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This was Walter's first time he saw forget-me-not flowers and thought they were cool.
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Henry having a look at the exit to Surprise Pass in the summer.
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It dripped for the balance of our hike, making some of the hiking trail a bit slippery.
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Natalia enjoying chocolate cake at the Valley of the Six Glaciers teahouse.
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The boys were SUPER stoked to have lemonade and chocolate cake at the teahouse while they dried out.
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Our family at the teahouse checking out the six glaciers viewable from here.
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The boys were quite jacked to fill themselves full of candy after we got down from the lake.
They liked being able to bike downhill after hiking as it was a nice break from hiking. Since
the candy store closed at 7:30pm, it was the gas station convenience store for us.
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Our last day in Banff, we went up the Sunshine gondola to have a hike in the meadows. This was
Walter's first time at Sunshine, and Henry's first time in the summer.
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The Standish chair also operates in the summer and the boys were jacked to ride it.
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Riding the Standish chair. It was frigid for sure, but it meant there were less people here,
which is good.
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Chasing gophers around the area is always a hit. This is a view looking back at the Continental
Divide chair and back into Alberta. The boys thought it was cool they could walk across the
border to BC.
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View of Rock Isle Lake, a very famous spot for paintings.
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The boys hiking back to the top of the Standish chair, since they were quite excited to
ride DOWN a chairlift for the first time.
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Walter was thrilled to try out a lemonade slushy up at Mad Trapper's pub.
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The boys were stoked to get a yellow gondola car on the way down.
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Big chair photo, but not sitting on the chair.
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Walter liked this spot with the big Sunshine Village firepit.
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It's good to see WHERE the giant Canadian Tire animals wind up. A note for posterity is that Sunshine
DOES offer an AMA discount that was almost $25 so always worth asking.
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Walter loved taking the monster kite for a fly.
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Henry liked the macaw, which needed a bit of work to stop it dive-bombing.
