When it comes to vacation, most people do the normal tourist/resort route. But since I am just wired differently AND I am semi-anti-social, i tend to stay away from the crowd and head towards the mountains. The last few years I’ve done the Southern Utah National Parks, Oregon/Washington parks and forests, and this year was Banff and Glacier National Park.
The idea of Banff came to me late 2015 when I saw a photo of Lake Louise online, I knew I wanted to visit. I ended going to Hawaii that year because it was much warmer than Canada.
Two years later, my friend Mara brought up the destination and I just couldn’t pass this opportunity. It took us a month or so to plan, but I got all the running trails written down on a spreadsheet. The trip was planned, and another “Running Vacation” was about to happend!!!
Total
- Days: 9
- Distance: 148.5 miles
- Elevation Gain: 32,264ft
Banff Day 1 - Cory Pas
We landed in Calgary from SFO just before noon, got our rental car, and drove to our airbnb in Canmore; which is about 20min away from Banff. My adventure buddy Mara had to do some work so I decided to do the first run on my list.
It was about 5pm when I started the run, and since it was technically still bear season and getting dark, I ended up just doing just over 4 miles before calling the day.
- Distance: 4.5 miles
- Elevation Gain: 1,535ft
- Running Time: 1h6min
- Strava: Cory Pass
Banff Day 2 - Tunnel Mountain, Lake Minnewanka
Rainy and overcast so we decided to run the least epic route of the trip. Started with the Tunnel Mountain Loop, finished up at Tunnel Mountain. Drove to Lake Minnewanka and tried to do 10 miles but ended up detouring due to bear activity warning signs!
- Distance: 22.75 miles
- Elevation Gain: 2,872ft
- Running Time: 3h32min
- Strava: Tunnel Mountain Loop, Lake Minnewanka
Banff Day 3 - Sulphur Mountain, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Moraine Lake
The day started with some rain and light snow at the town of Banff. Our first run was up Sulphur Mountain. Unfortunately Mara had to work so I ended up running the first of the four trails solo. Half way up the mountain, I realized the best view of the town would not be visible due to the snow. At least the down hill was fun!
Once I got back down to the car, we drove another hour or so north to Bow Lake and Peyto Lake. We ran the trails I have mapped out and headed toward Moraine Lake. Not sure if it was a good idea, but we really wanted to check this off the list. Our last run of the day started late afternoon up the mountain, got as far as Larch Valley before the sun was setting so we headed back to the car in the dark.
- Distance: 20.75 miles
- Elevation Gain: 5,429ft
- Running Time: 4h39min
- Strava: Sulphur Mountain, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake, Moraine Lake
Banff Day 4 - Lake Louise
We got lucky with the weather and decided to spend it at Lake Louise. From the lake, we went up to Mirror Lake, toward Lake Agnes Tea House, then a quick stop at Little Beehive. We continued climbing up to Mout St. Piran. Got lost a bit in the snow coming back down to Lake Agnes … Once we figured out the trail, we headed up to Big Beehive, then down to Highline trail toward Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House before ending up at Plain of Six Glacier.
- Distance: 16.5 miles
- Elevation Gain: 4,944ft
- Running Time: 4h26min
- Strava: Lake Louise
Glacier National Park - Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Glacier
The only day we were in Glacier National Park due to wild fire on the west side. We ran Iceberg Lake and I ran Grinnell Glacier Trail in the late afternoon. We stayed there for the night and left the next morning, headed back to Banff. I had some awesome trails I really wanted to do but unfortunately it didn’t happend. Maybe they will be crossed off some other time.
- Distance: 19.75 miles
- Elevation Gain: 3,314ft
- Running Time: 3h55min
- Strava: Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Glacier
Banff Day 5 - Mt. Bourgeau
Drove back from Glacier NP and decided to summit Mount Bourgeau. 9500+ft peak … No biggie, just finish before sunset I guess! :P
Funny thing was when we got back to the car, we found out some of the hikers we bumped into on the trail were from the bay area. Small world! How did we know? their plate was from Livermore, CA :P
- Distance: 15.75 miles
- Elevation Gain: 3,619ft
- Running Time: 3h22min
- Strava: Mt. Bourgeau
Banff Day 6 - Sulphur Mountain, Norquay Green Spot
Sunny day, so I decided to run up Sulphur Mountain again and get the view of the town of Banff. Came down from the back side, ran across town, up Mount Norquay to the green spot.
- Distance: 21 miles
- Elevation Gain: 4,262ft
- Running Time: 4h13min
- Strava: Sulphur Mountain + Norquay Green Spot
Banff Day 7 - Moraine Lake to Lake Louise
This was the mother epic run of the trip. Mara had to do some work so I decided to just take the shuttle to Moraine Lake. My goal was the catch the 6am shuttle from the train station. Unfortunately I missed the shuttle by few min so I ended up sitting there in the cold for the 7am bus.
The run started from Moraine Lake, this first part of the run I was familiar because we ran it few days prior. When I reached Sentinel Pass, I asked two hikers if they have seen anyone hiked down the other side of the pass; the said no. That was not a welcoming sign since the trail was covered in snow and I have no clue what the valley is like. But I decided to keep going, not sure if I was just stupid or wanted to reach Lake Louise, I slid down the trail covered with snow, fingers getting numb, definitely fearing for my life at this point.
Since I didn’t really have a map other than few pictures I took, the valley felt sketchy; that plus the possibility of bear sighting. But at this point, theres no turning back. Two mountain passes later, I finally reached Lake Louise which I am more familiar with. Took few pictures at the lake then just back tracked most of the trails Mara and I ran few days prior. By the time I finish, it was close to 4pm, luckily I was able to catch one of the remaining shuttle buses back to Banff.
- Distance: 22.25 miles
- Elevation Gain: 6,066ft
- Running Time: 5h7min
- Strava: Moraine Lake to Lake Louise