A few day back from Banff now. The total trip was 4060 miles round trip. I did a good amount of maintenance to the truck and trailer before heading out and it paid off. We had zero issues the entire trip. We left Wednesday, August 23 after work and drove 5.5 hours up Rochester Minnesota. Given the late hour of arrival and the fact it was still 100 degrees when we got there, we booked a hotel room for the night. That would be the last night on our trip that we did not sleep in the camper. The next day we drove 13 hours to Moose Jaw, Canada. We stayed at the Lorne Calvert Campground. It was fine. Perfectly fine place to sleep for a night, but it was a heavily trafficked area and very near a refinery, so not the most pleasant smelling. On Saturday we drove 8 hours to Banff. It was a rather uneventful drive with very little traffic until we hit Calgary. We stopped in Calgary for fuel and both my wife and I were extremely surprised at the density of the housing even at the very outer edges of Calgary. It seemed like they were stacking houses as close as possible, one right on top of the next. Thankfully, we were only there long enough to fuel up and move on.
We stayed our entire trip at the Tunnel Mountain Village 2 campground in site B71. The views were absolutely stunning. The facilities at the campground were great. The campground is very busy between 2:00-5:00 PM every day as the sites have a pretty high turnover rate. However, every night was quite and peaceful in the campground. We spend every evening sitting behind our camper watching the sunset on the mountains. It was wonderful.
First Day
Last Day
Day 1 we did a 6 mile hike on C-level Cirque trail and did a little bit of a driving tour of the area. We entered the town of Banff to pick up a few odds and ends. It was not the most pleasant experience with a large truck. Parking is minimal, most spaces very tight and the town is overrun with tourists. We did our best to limit our trips into the local IGA grocery store.
Dusk from our campsite
Day 2 we got up early and scored parking at Lake Louise. We were in the lot by 7:30AM. I would guess the lot typically fills by 8:00. After that, you are relegated to taking a shuttle, which was not possible since we brought the dog along. Early is definitely better for Lake Louise. As we started a 8 mile hike up to the Plain of 6 Glaciers Tea House there were few tourists out and about around the lake which made for easy photo ops. Upon our return we found the area packed with people, making it difficult to navigate around the perimeter trail. Thankfully most people don't venture more than a half mile or so from the lake so once on the trail it was a very pleasant experience and beautiful hike.
Day 3 we drove to Emerald Lake with intentions of only hiking the 3 mile lake loop but last minute decided to hike the Glacier Basin trail. It added about 6 miles to the hike, but was well worth it. My wife especially enjoyed the hike up and through the dense, lush forest. The dog did not overly enjoy the blistering heat and little to no shade in the basin, but we made shelter under some lower shrubs from the sun and had lunch before heading back to Emerald Lake. The reward was a nice swim in Emerald lake before completing our hike. The lake is just stunning as are all the bodies of water we observed. Pristine, clean lakes. Unfortunately, on this day we had the worst of the smoke from the wild fires Southwest of us so the picture really don't do it justice.
Day 4 we drove back up towards Emerald Lake stopping to check out the Paint Pots and Marble Canyon. Both were easily accessible roadside stops right off highway 93 just across the border into British Columbia.
Day 5-6 we did some shorter easier hikes closer to our campsite, as our flatlander legs were feeling all the elevation we had ascended and descended at the start of the week. Both days were calling for rain so we didn't want to get too far out from the vehicle, though it only ended up raining on Day 6 after we returned to camp. We explored Johnson Lake, and Lake Minnewanka as well as another short hike in the Kootenay forest.
Unfortunately, it was then time to head home. We took the scenic drive home down highway 93 to Missoula then Interstate 90 over to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. It was a very small primitive campground but was well kept. I wish we could have explored the park more, but we got in just before sunset and had a 13 hour drive ahead of us the next day so we were up and on the road early.
Our last night on the road was at the Blue Mounds State park outside Luverne, MN. This was our second stay at this campground. I wish it was closer to home as it is a great little campground with excellent facilities. It's a great place to stay if you are traveling down I90 and need a rest day or a place to stay over. We arrived at dark and were back on the road at 9:00AM to complete our 7 hour drive home.
4060 miles of beauty, fun, and adventure. Already looking forward to our next trip!
by cjlangellier » Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:25 pm 
