Banff Road Trip- August 19-26, 2018

This post is going to be basically just a picture dump. The road trip was amazing and I want to go back. But, for a longer period of time. A one week road trip up there was a nice end to the summer, but spending at least 2 weeks up there in the future would be amazing.

We left Sunday evening, the 19th from Provo. We picked up the 4th member of the party in SLC. She had gotten off a plane from Guatemala that morning, so she was a trooper for heading out for Canada immediately. We ended up in Pocatello, Idaho that night and found an awesome spot off the road on the hills West of the city to camp.

Monday, we put alot of miles behind us, Idaho Falls, Butte, Missoula, then we started having problems with my car.... The engine was running rough and misfiring during acceleration. Being familiar with cars, I was pretty sure it was my spark plugs being worn down and misfiring. We took it slow into Kalispell and called the AutoZone there and asked for mechanic recommendations. All the shops were already closed for the day and would be at least a day before they could have fit us in. We got the number of a travelling mechanic though, and he met us at a parts store in town and diagnosed the problem. I was right, it was the spark plugs! I had him replace all three plugs and the coils, and we made him grilled cheese over our camp stove while he worked. Super nice guy and a great experience. I was just glad it wasn't anything more serious.

It was about 7pm by the time the mechanic finished up his work and we had planned on pushing through across the border, but it was too late to go much further. We asked the mechanic for close camping recommendations and he highly recommended Tally Lake. We set off for the lake, arrived in the dark and the camp host set us up with the last campsite available, right next to the lakeside! We woke up the next morning and were blown away by how beautiful it was!!! We rented some kayaks and a canoe from the camp hosts and paddled around the lake for an hour or so. The water was surprisingly warm and I took a swim with a bar of soap and got cleaned up.

Tally lake was refreshing, and definitely a great find. I would swing through to camp on my way back up to Canada in the future. We pressed on, and made it to Banff that night! We had reservations at Johnston Canyon Campground for the next few nights. We set up camp and went an hiked to Lower then Upper Johnston Canyon Falls.

                      

The next few days were filled with some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. The wildfires in the area were dumping significant amounts of smoke into the air and I honestly did not mind it. The smoke shrouded everything and made things seem farther away. The mountains seemed taller, and the lakes longer. We did so many hikes, waded in the rivers, took pictures etc.... Que the picture dump.

Out of everything we did for the first 2 days in Banff, I think my favorite hike was the Twin Falls hike. I think the favorite part of the trip was on day 3 in Banff, our last day there. We went climbing at the back of Lake Louise. The climbing there was exceptional. The rock was solid, and the higher your got, the better the views. Out of everywhere I have climbed in the past two years, I think the back of Lake Lousie takes the cake for most fun and most picturesque. 

     

We spent all morning and afternoon climbing and by the time we were done, boy were we done. Completely exhausted. We headed into the town of Banff for our final meal in Canada. We had some amazing buffalo and elk burgers in town. I forgot the name of the restaurant, oops!

We crossed the border that night and camped off to the side of a back country road about 45 minutes south of Roosville. Woke up refreshed but sad the majority of our trip was over. We drove SO MUCH that day. We drove from Eureka, Montana all the way to Almo, Idaho and camped at City of Rocks National Reserve. We had last minute set our sights on City of Rocks because we still had the climbing bug from the day before. We woke up and drove over to Castle Rocks for our selected climb. We climbed a mulit pitch to the top of Castle Rock and enjoyed our lunch up there.

After working out the rest of our climbing bug, we headed back into Utah. We stopped in Tremonton for dinner, and ended back in Provo early evening worn out but happy.

The road trip was great! In the future for such a long road trip, I would definitely plan better as far as what everyone wanted to do and make sure everyone's main expectations were clear for what they wanted to see and do. I also thought the trip was a little too short to drive over 1,000 miles one way and spend only three days in the area before heading back. The trip was a great scouting trip and I am definitely planning on going back in the future. Still missing Banff!!!

Parting Shot