A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Tuesday, July 7, 2026 . From the Takakkaw Falls, it took us about two hours to reach the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, where we had planned to stay one night. Inna had found an amazing Nordic Spa, and she wanted everyone to rest after so many days of hiking. . . . . . . We reached the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge at around 16:30, and it…
Read More: Kananaskis Village Hotel & Nordic Spa
Tuesday, July 6, 2026 . We checked out of the Storm Mountain Lodge (Lake Louise area), where we had been staying for the past 3 nights, and started our drive to Yoho National Park, where we had planned multiple hikes. . . Our first stop was at Emerald Lake. As we started our drive at 09:00, we were worried about the limited parking there. .…
Read More: Yoho National Park
Sunday, July 5, 2026 . We awoke at 06:00, brushed our teeth, and quickly dressed. At 06:30, we started our drive toward the Summer Gondola at Lake Louise, where we planned to park before catching the shuttle to Lake Moraine. Our shuttle was scheduled to depart at 07:25, so we had a 15-minute wait to drink coffee (from our Thermos) and eat pastries (Pastel de…
Read More: Stunning Lake Moraine
Saturday, July 4, 2026 . After the 50-minute drive from Peyto Lake, we arrived at Storm Mountain Lodge, near Lake Louise. Inna had chosen the Storm Mountain Lodge for its convenient location for the many hikes around Lake Louise (since shuttles were required to access the hiking trails). (I wish that UberX were available for drop-off at Lake Louise, as the price for shuttle transfers…
Read More: Gorgeous Lake Louise
Saturday, July 4, 2026 . At 10:00, after we finished breakfast at Hotel Canoe's Sudden Sally restaurant, we loaded our Hyundai Kona. We made several stops on our preplanned road trip along the Icefields Parkway. . . . . Our first stop was Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint, about an hour away from Banff. We pulled into a fairly full parking lot at 11:00, but managed to…
Read More: Icefields Parkway
Thursday, July 2, 2026 . On the way to Hotel Canoe in Banff, where we planned to spend two nights, I intended to stop at Wild Flower Bakery to purchase the next day's packable lunch. Once we reached Banff, traffic was extremely heavy, so I dropped off Alex and Inna nearby so they could order pastries and sandwiches while I looked for parking. . .…
Read More: Beautiful Banff
Thursday, July 2, 2026 . We had always wanted to see the Canadian Rockies, Banff, and Lake Louise, but had never had the time. For the July 4th weekend, I checked to see whether flights from San Francisco to Calgary were available at a reasonable price (and luckily, they were). With Inna's and ChatGPT's help, we came up with a detailed plan to see as…
Read More: Calgary