We went for a family weekend in Lake Louise and kicked it off by having a picnic lunch and going hiking in Banff on the way. We had lunch at the end of the parkway at Vermillion Lake with a nice view of Mt. Rundle in the background and a posse of Columbian Ground Squirrels nearby, and then we went for a short hike up Silvertip Creek to Silverton Falls.  This trail is only a few kilometers away from Johnston Canyon, but it is almost unknown and doesn’t see anywhere near the huge crowds that travel to Johnston Canyon every day, yet it is arguably more beautiful and definitely made for a really nice hike!

Although we stayed in Lake Louise, one of the main reasons for the trip was to travel up the Icefields Parkway to take a tour of the Columbia Icefield in the Icefield Explorer.  Basically the explorers are massive buses built specifically to travel on ice, snow, and rock.  They are extremely impressive machines and they take thousands of people up onto the Columbia Icefield every day in the summer months.

The weather wasn’t great while we travelled the parkway, but we still managed to take in some amazing views and we stopped for some really nice hikes.  And while it started raining at pretty much the worst possible moment (right at the very top of the Icefield tour) we still really enjoyed the trip.

We ended our family weekend with a trip up to Moraine Lake.  This is one of the most beautiful places in the world and I could spend days hiking and photographing there and still not see everything I want to see.  It was a great end to a really nice weekend!