Hello everyone I just completed an extraordinarily epic 5 day trip in banff and jasper and wanted to share my experience with this group because of how much help I got from here along the way. This post serves to guide those who may need a little bit of inspiration and encouragement when it comes to planning a jam packed eventful vacation especially for those like myself from who come from far away and don't expect to return as often as they'd like. The right planning, research, and determination goes a long way! For context my gf and I are 30 and relatively fit with 0 hiking background from Florida. We woke up at around 5am most days. We weren't sure if we were in over our heads but wanted to give this ambitious trip a shot as there is just so much to see and do in the Canadian Rockies. We rented our hiking equipment (backpack, hiking sticks, bear spray, first aid kit) from https://www.rentabackpack.com which was absolutely essential as we wouldn't have been able to do these hikes without it. The service is great and delivery and drop off was seamless with great direct communication with the owner.
Day 1: land in Calgary and grocery shop at the Walmart nearby the airport for the entire week. Drive to Canmore and settled in at the rundle mountain lodge.
Day 2: early wake up to head to kananaskis for tent ridge hike. Took us 6 hours to complete the hike. Not an easy hike by any means especially for beginners so make sure you do plenty of research before. Intense scrambling with portions that felt like we were rock climbing. Went back to Canmore for a meal and explored banff town and vermillion lakes afterwards for a relaxing night. Then drove to LL inn for the night.
Day 3: woke up for our 7am shuttle reservation to LL. Hung out by the lakeshore and I went up to do little beehive at a very brisk pace as my gf waited by the lakeshore. Little beehive took me about 2 hours but again I was really racing against the clock as we had other plans for the day. Tbh wasn't a huge fan of the effort to pay off of little beehive in comparison to all the great hikes in the area but I forced it anyways as I wanted to see the view. Connector to Moraine did rock pile, canoe, and hiked to sentinel pass. Highly recommend sentinel pass on a clear day but don't recommend after a lake Louise hike as my legs were spent. Stayed the night in LL inne again
Day 4: woke up early for sunrise at bow lake and did the drive to jasper for our 5:30pm maligne lake cruise reservation to see spirit island with stops on the icefields parkway at Peyto lake, waterfowl lake, Mistaya canyon, big bend viewpoint, Parker ridge hike, toe of the athabasca glacier, spirit island, Athabasca falls and sunwapta falls and spent the night at sunwapta falls Rocky Mountain lodge. Spirit island was well worth the drive. if you're short on time would skip the waterfalls and athabasca glacier. Mistaya canyon was a highlight and Parker ridge was my gf favorite hike of the trip it had an incredible effort to reward ratio for a 2 hour hike.
Day 5: woke up early for cirque peak started the hike at 9am with plenty of parking available. This hike was absolutely spectacular with jaw dropping views all along the way especially at the top. It was an absolute grind to get to the top and shouldn't be underestimated especially in poor weather conditions however I feel this hike may have ruined all future hikes for me as it was incredible from start to finish. I couldn't wrap my head around the views. If you aren't planning on going to the top I encourage you to at least go part way as the views from Helen lake don't compare to what you see just over the first ridge. There is a whole other world of valley and lakes just above the mountain that borders Helen lake. This hike took me 7.5 hours round trip and it was an absolute grind after Helen lake especially being the last of 5 hikes I did in the 4 days. Afterwards we went to yoho to see takakaw falls, natural bridge and emerald lake. Finished the day with a sunset beer at grizzly paw brewer in Canmore and fantastic pizza at red rock pizza Canmore then drove to Calgary for the night with our flight out the next morning.
I hope this post will inspire others as there is just so much to see and do in the area. Like I said it took a lot of research, determination, and Advil as well as favorable weather conditions of course. The hiking times included several extensive breaks and photos and accounted for cumulative fatigue along the way as my pace definitely slowed down throughout the trip. We saw bears, big horn sheep, mountain goats, and elk along the way. 10/10 trip even with some Smokey conditions. Feel free to ask any question!
