Honeymoon in the Mountains.

After a long two years without travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic we were finally able to plan our next trip. Josh and I had a trip to Calgary planned for March 20th 2020 with our two good friends to explore, ski and enjoy the mountains. Little did I know Josh was planning on proposing during this trip but plans came crashing down when the world literally shut down.

We were devastated and didn't know when we could ever travel again. In May of 2022 I married my best friend and love of 8 years in front of our family and friends and it was the best day of our lives.

We decided to use our travel credit to finally see the mountains and off we went to Alberta! We were so excited to finally explore a new place and this was the perfect place to celebrate our marriage and future together. We hope to come back one day and explore Jasper and more beautiful lakes and mountains.

---

Day One

We travelled early in the morning and landed around lunch time in Calgary. We picked up our rental car and began our journey to our Air BNB just outside of Canmore. Today was mostly grabbing groceries taking in the view of the mountains on our drive to Canmore. We decided to grab a bite to eat at this lovely restaurant that had the most delicious perogies and margaritas.. my two favourite things.

📍Exploring Canmore & Dead Man's Flat

📍Policeman's Creek Boardwalk

📍Dinner at Tavern 1883 Canmore

Day Two

Today we decided to get up super early to drive along the Icefields Parkway to see a few scenic spots before heading to Lake Louise. We were not expecting to see such beautiful views along the way and would often stop to explore. It was late May in 2022 and we were not prepared to see snow and had to pick up some warmer jackets. Being from Ontario we don't get to see mountains and were blown away and just couldn't believe how incredible our country is.

I had joked before walking down to Lake Louise if we could canoe not realizing how frozen the lake still was. Locals told us it definitely wasn't normal and it has been a cold spring so we unfortunately couldn't see Moraine Lake or Peyto Lake but decided we will have come to back to explore in a warmer month. We plan on driving even further next time we are in Alberta. 🇨🇦

📍Driving down Icefields Parkway (Waterfowl Lake and Bow Lake)

📍Lake Louise

📍Explore Banff and little shops

📍Ice Cream at Cows Ice Cream

Day Three

Today was honestly my favourite day in Banff due to the fact that we explored some not as touristy lakes and I hope it stays that way. Lake Louise was indeed beautiful but with so many people around it just wasn't as special and relaxing. I had done some searching and thought we should explore some of the following lakes below and we were in love.

The Cascade ponds was an incredible area and we ended up relaxing and looking at the mountains and taking some pictures by the slow river running through thousands of rocks and pebbles. We also saw some very cute gophers peeping out of their holes throughout the area.

We also took the Gondola up Sulphur Mountain because we just had a packed day but the hike up we heard can be very beautiful if you are up for the extra exercise. We knew we were planning on doing Johnson's Canyon the next day so wanted to take it easy before that trek.

📍Sulphur Mountain and Sky Bistro

📍Cascade ponds

📍Johnson Lake

📍Two Jack Lake

📍 Lake Minniewanka

Day Four

Today we started out with a relaxing drive to a few viewpoints before grabbing breakfast before a long hike up Johnson's Canyon. We decided to walk both upper and lower falls so it was a busy morning but enjoyed the extra bit of exercise during our trip. After our hike we grabbed a bite to eat before heading to Vermilions lake which I have to say was BREATHTAKING. We actually got to see a little furry friend as we were walking down to the dock.

Late afternoon we went to our scheduled horse back riding adventure and this was something I will never forget. It was our first time riding a horse which I was a little nervous for but our guides were amazing and very helpful throughout the ride. We got to experience being fully surrounded by nature and the mountains and it was such a beautiful experience.

Our last stop of the day was driving up Mt Norquay and seeing Banff from above. If you have time we 100% recommend doing this as it was very peaceful and we happened to see lots of wildlife as well.

📍Castle Cliff View Point

📍Castle Mountain View Point

📍Breakfast Blackswift Bistro

📍Johnson’s Canyon

📍Vermilions lakes viewpoint

📍Bow Falls

📍Horse Back Ride at Warner Stables

📍Mt Norquay Lookout

Day Five

We spent today at the Rimrock Resort and Spa and had our first couples massage as a married couple. It was such a relaxing morning having breakfast at the hotel before our massage. After that we headed to the Banff hot springs, although it was very busy and crowded it was still a cool thing to do while in the area.

Today was our last night in Canmore so we decided to see a few more view points and stopped at Cave and Basin Historical Site for some history on the original hot springs. The smell was really something!

After another wonderful day we headed to our next Air BNB located in Calgary for our last two days.

📍Breakfast at Primrose

📍Couples Massage at The Rimrock Spa

📍Banff Hot Springs

📍Hoodoos view point

📍Cave and Basin Historical Site

Day Six & Seven

Well we have reached our final two days in Alberta. We woke up and decided to do something I never thought I would ever get the chance to do. We got to go Whitewater Rafting through the Kananaskis River. It was such a rush of excitement and we enjoyed every second of it. Our guide was super fun and promised us we wouldn't fall out. To end day six we went to see Top Gun Maverick at the movies, we can't have a honeymoon without making a trip to the theatre.

Our last full day in Calgary we spent exploring Downtown Calgary seeing beautiful murals, structures and eating delicious food. Towards the end of the day we were trying to decide on something fun to do after our final dinner so we looked up a local cat cafe.. yes you heard that right. We missed our boys Johnny and Oliver so decided to get some snuggles and love some very friendly cats.

📍Kananaskis Whitewater Rafting

📍Exploring Downtown Calgary

📍Calgary Tower

📍Peace Bridge

This was the most incredible trip with the love of my life and I am so lucky I get to explore the world with the one I love most. Josh got a beautiful tattoo to represent our time spent in Alberta with two trees and a mountain. Here's to exploring more of Canada and the rest of the world together.