Rockies Day 3

There are no dearth for exciting winter activities like snowshoeing or ice walking or skiing/snowboarding at Lake Louise Mountain or Sunshine Mountain, Banff Hot Springs , Sulphur Mountain Gondola and many more at Banff. I decided to go for Johnston Canyon Ice walk.

A Johnston Canyon hike is a popular Banff National Park thing to do in all 4 seasons. In winter, snow and ice transform the canyon, creating a gorgeous Narnia like winter wonderland. Complete with frozen waterfalls, a snow-covered forest, and a canyon dripping with icicles, it’s no wonder the Johnston Canyon ice walk is one of the top things to do in Banff in winter. The Johnston Canyon trail is a combination of steel walking platforms and forest paths, which, in winter, will be covered in snow and ice. Large sections of the walk will be slippery so its advisable to have ice cleats strapped to boots.

The walk starts as a flat level trail through the forest and then elevation increases gradually. In no time, you will start observing icicle formation and frozen waters. There are two important viewpoints, lower falls and upper falls. The lower falls is about half a mile from the entrance. You can walk through the natural arch for a close-up view of the frozen falls and the natural plunge pool. From here, the slope increases significantly towards upper falls, but definitely doable. The trails are well marked and offers some great insta worthy photo opportunities. We should just keep our eyes peeled. Upper Falls has 2 viewing platforms, one from below and the other a bit further up the path. The lower platform comes first and gives you a spectacular look at the tall waterfalls frozen along the canyon. If you are lucky, can see ice climbers practising ice climbing.

I reached hotel post noon and I could go either to Banff hot springs which was outside city or go to downtown . I did latter as there was hot springs in the hotel itself. I walked till the end of the downtown relishing Beaver tail dessert.

I left Banff in the evening and started towards Golden as stay was there. Golden is along the Trans Canada Highway and its one of the important mountain towns. The stay was at Prestige Inn.

Enjoy the photos below,