Banff

It was only two days but two days was all I needed to know two things:

The Canadian Rocky Mountains are beautiful and I needed more time there.

I hiked Boom Lake in the Banff National Park. Six and a half miles round-trip and 574’ elevation gain. It was bear country so I arrived with not one but two cans of bear spray. As if I was a gunslinger from the wild west. I left Calgary at 7:30 and 2.5 hours later, I arrived, ready for another Kilimanjaro test. I’m glad I got there early because even though this lake is a lesser known one, by the time I was on my way back, 30 or so hikers passed by me on their way to the lake.

After the hike, I had planned to check out Johnston Canyon or Marble Canyon or maybe Numa Waterfall or the Natural Bridges. But no cell service had me panicking about getting lost so instead I went back the way I knew and checked out the village of Banff. It was such a cute mountain town that I messaged my niece saying, I could see myself retiring there.

On day two, I left Calgary even earlier because I had a shuttle reservation at 8am. I left on just four hours of sleep and not sure how the drive was going to go. But adrenaline kept me going and I made it to Banff early. I grabbed the shuttle (thank you my fav LLM for making sure I knew I needed to prebook my ticket) and headed to Lake Louise for my next hike, Plain of Six Glaciers. It was a 9 mile round-trip hike with 1200’ elevation gain, along the lake, through alpine forest, and switchbacks on the second half. I must have asked myself how much longer at least a dozen times but when I got to the top, I wanted to scream. I checked out Moraine Lake but after nine miles on the trail, the heat and crowds had me hustling back to the shuttle and Calgary.

Banff wasn’t just a test of aerobic fitness. It tested my psychological fitness, the strength of my legs, and my motivation. I’m nowhere near ready for Kilimanjaro but my confidence got a boost after Banff.

Now I need to plan my next hiking destination.