Post 20 - September Long Weekend Camping

 Ok, so this blog post is all about our September long weekend camping trip that we took with Alex and Shannon.  We had a camping site booked in Banff over the weekend and had a great time, but I'll just let the pictures tell the story.

We stopped at Peter's in Calgary for dinner on our way down to Banff on Friday night.  Those family fries are enough for two families, but the pregnant lady had no trouble finishing them off.

Saturday morning we hiked up Johnston's Canyon.  Here's Julie (7+ months pregnant) and I at the lower falls.  It's such a nice hike, but the long weekend is soooo busy in Banff.  There were thousands and thousands of people there on the trail.  Bit of a gong show, but it was still a good time.  We found that I could really help Julie climb the hills by pushing her right from her lower back.  Saturday evening we went and explored the town a bit.  I had never actually seen the  Banff falls in the summer before...pretty cool.

After church Sunday morning we packed up our picnic and went out to Lake Louis.  Again, it was stupid busy.  There was no where to park, so cars were parked all along both sides of the road all over the place.  It was even a challenge to find a decent spot on the grass for our picnic.  Still though, what a beautiful place for a picnic.  We played games, enjoyed the scenery and the food, and had a great time people watching too.

From Lake Louis we went up to Lake Moraine.  Also very beautiful...and busy.  We hiked across this cool log jam where the lake empties into the creek, then up this rock face to a cool look out.  After that we hiked around the lake.  It was great. The girls walked and talked and Alex and I goofed off a bunch.  Good times!

We got matching bruises on our noses from wrestling in the tent the night before!

We had some great camping food too!  Above is the preparation of our tinfoil dinners and then the final product.  Sooo GOOD!  Below is desert.  Waffle cone stuffed with nutella, bananas, marshmallows, and chocolate chips, then wrapped in tinfoil and cooked above the coals...awsome!

On Monday we drove home, but we took the long way around.  We drove through the parks up to Jasper and then home.  It's such a pretty drive.  We stopped a couple of times to see some cool waterfalls and do a little hikes

Sunwapta Falls - That was a great little hike!

Athabasca Falls (above)

All in all, it was a great long weekend. There is something wonderful about being out in the mountains and spending lots of time in nature.  The company was great, the food was great, and the setting was great too!  We loved it.