This will be the last entry covering my September visit to Jasper and Banff National Parks in Alberta, Canada. In part 12 I finished off in the mountain village of Banff, and today we'll be making stops along the way back to Lake Louise. On my way to Banff I took highway #1, which was under construction during my visit, but there is another route with some scenic views, Highway 1A (The Bow Parkway). Of many places to stop Bow Parkway, I only stopped at a few of them. My first stop was at a location of a forest fire in the area, which is still evident today, many years later.
The other place that I took time to explore was the Johnston Canyon. This little Canyon is well worth visiting if you are in Banff National Park, and the lower section of the trail that leads to the lower falls shouldn't be hard for most people to walk along.
The walk starts along a gentle path, which does climb a little, but not too much. After about ten minutes of walking you come to the most interesting part of the walk, when you travel along walkways that are suspended over the Johnston Canyon.
Walking through the Canyon in this manner gives you an interesting perspective of the area, and the advantage is you don't have to worry about tripping over tree routes. The bridges are somewhat narrow, so you do need to be courteous to other walkers.
At one point along the lower path the bridges hover just over the Johnston River, which cut it's way through the soft rock in the area to form the canyon. The lower trail ends at the lower falls, which you can get closer to, although I liked this view for photographs better.
From Johnston Canyon I traveled north along the Bow Parkway and made a few other quick stops along the way, first at Castle Mountain.
After the quick stop at Castle Mountain I stopped at one of the viewpoints overlooking the Bow River Valley, which cuts down below Lake Louise and through the city of Banff on it's way north east.
My last stop of the day, and of the trip was at Moraine Lake. Moraine Lake is accessed by the same road that leads up to Lake Louise, but it takes a little longer to get there. Half way up to Lake Louise you take a left turn and travel east for about 11 KM. The short drive is worth while though, because the view is spectacular.
The day after my visit to Moraine Lake I drove for just over 8 hours to get back home in Vancouver. The trip was wonderful, and was truly a highlight of the way photographically for me. I am currently planning on visiting the area again in 2011. I wont be doing a series like this again, but pictures will likely appear on the blog over time. This post wraps up this series on my visit to Jasper and Banff National Parks.
If you want to see all of my photos from the trip, visit the photo gallery.
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