Canmore 2 - Posende Chipmunks 😅

We are sleeping in again and enjoying our breakfast.

Today it’s rather rainy/cloudy, so we are planning to change things up. Thursday is supposed to have better weather 🙂

We are excited that we spontaneously found another AirBnB accommodation near Bella Coola (from where we will take the ferry to Vancouver Island in 4 days). This saves us a night in the car 😅 Nearby, we discover a wildlife park (immediately written on our planning list 😊).

We are heading north to Banff National Park to Lake Minnewanka - a huge mountain lake! There we encounter squirrels and chipmunks - one of them even posed with Melly 🐿😅

We hike to the northwestern tip to a bridge (Stuart Canyon Bridge) and enjoy the peace away from the tourists (sooo many around the parking lot 🫣).

It’s only 12 degrees, the clouds are hanging low, but despite the forecast, there is no rain 💪

Unfortunately, we don't see any bears today, but sooo many mega cute chipmunks - Benny can’t stop taking pictures 😅

We make a stop for lunch at the nearby Two Jack Lake - again on the back of the truck 😊 On the way back, we see a young moose by the roadside? A young elk? We’re not quite sure since we can’t see its head for long 😅

We briefly cruise through Banff Town and then enjoy the view of the Bow River on a side road. Just before the highway, we encounter a marmot😇

We use the cheapest gas station in the area and reach our eastern travel point at Mount Lougheed View Point. Our Dodge (by the way, we named him Eddi) has brought us well from A to B so far 😊

Back in Canmore, we decide to walk to Gressi Lake, which is located a bit above the town. A perfect place for many downhill bikers and joggers. By the lake, we observe a newlywed couple during their photo shoot - in the distance, the 'Three Sisters' (3 mountain peaks).

We skip the lake round (too cold and too far - over 20000 steps are enough for today 😅) and instead stroll through the Main Street of Canmore. A sweet little promenade with restaurants and shops.

Today, we are cooking Asian food. With one(!) hotplate and a microwave 😅 it turned out amazing and we now also have lunch for tomorrow 😇

After a long back and forth, our decision for tomorrow: No Lake Louise/Moraine Lake... These are indeed the hot spots in Banff National Park and especially beautiful at sunrise. Unfortunately, since 2023, you can no longer drive to the lakes by private car and the shuttle service is too expensive for us.

Our journey east ends here. Tomorrow we are heading west again - next stop Sicamous. We want to stop there where we couldn’t make it on the way here😇 We treat ourselves to our ice cream and book an accommodation on Vancouver Island just before going to bed... All done!

Good night 😊😴

P.s.: The rafting photos have reached us via email. They will be added to the post 'Golden 2' later😉