Thanks! Banff National Park is a magical place ✨ for the animations between each hike, we used Google Earth Pro with a built-in GPX track from when we recorded our hikes
One of the places I most wanted to visit but never made it, not even a remote possiblity now as I became permanently disabled a little over three years ago, but I truly appreciate the beauty that you've shown me with this video, THANK YOU!
Super video 👊👍👍👍 like10# 😎 Really cool location! And some really creative shots and great colours 👍 keep up the good work, best regards Up'n'Down-Traveling
Glad the video was helpful for you! Yes, the times are something that we always look for when planning our hikes too so we thought it was important to add to these rockies videos. Welcome to our channel! 👋
Great video! I have the hiking books of the Banff, Jasper and Kootenay Parks areas by Vicky Spring from the olden days. Times have changed with video! I grew up next door to Banff outside the park on the B.C. side. Keep the videos coming!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. We will have to check out those books by Vicky Spring! They sound like interesting reads. So much to explore in the Rockies. We feel like we’ve only touched the surface so far. Can’t wait for more hiking adventures
@@worldwildhearts I haven't hiked for a long time, so it's good to see your videos. I had to learn to walk again last year after a mishap, so I want to get out there again after Covid is over. So seeing your videos is a boost. Keep 'em coming!
@@lawrencegleason4666 so glad to hear they’re inspiring for you! Keep pushing forward and you’ll be out on the trails soon enough 👊 Glad to have connected with you on RU-vid
Gorgeous hikes... love all of the info. I think I would want to go see that bright bright blue lake! Not sure when well make it to Banff National Park but I would love to!
They were some of our favorite hikes ever! 🤩 definitely recommend Banff if you guys like hiking and outdoors 😊 how is everything in Australia these days?
Great job capturing the beauty of Banff......we are planning a trip this summer...what time of year was the video shot. Any avalanche issues late spring early summer?
We were there during July and August! There was some snow up until mid-July on some mountains. August was the best time. Avalanches might happen especially in spring time like April-May. Possibly still lots of snow then
Thanks for the videos - yours are so informative and fun to watch! We are planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies in late June for about 2 weeks. We are fairly experienced long day hikers (12-15 miles) but we are planning to venture into backpacking on this trip. We are starting our training now. Any tips for training and also which backpacking trip is best for experienced hikers/newbie campers? We are looking at Assiniboine, Lake O’Hara and Berg Lake. But open to others as well! We just want to be away from hordes of people. We love to get up early too (4AM starts). Also, I’m obsessed with the ridge hiking in Kananaskis! Your videos are incredible! Looks like Switzerland. 💕
Thanks for watching our videos! We appreciate the support 🙏😊 stoked that you’re planning a Canadian Rockies hiking trip. We’ve done all 3 of those that you mentioned (Assiniboine, lake O’Hara, berg lake) and they all offer a different experience and have different degrees of planning / booking needed. All of the camping needs to be booked in advance and the spots go quick. We were lucky and just showed up at berg lake on our way to Jasper and there was a cancellation of a campsite at Kinney Lake. So for that one, we took the Kinney lake camp spot and then did the whole 30km up to berg lake and back as a day hike. Lake O’Hara is also hard to get camping sites, but if you can secure one, it’s probably the best views you will see in the Rockies in our opinion. You can also do a hike up to Opabin Plateau as a day hike from the parking lot if you can’t secure camping, but it’s another 30 km day hike 😅 Finally, Mt. Assiniboine… this was our favorite multi-day backpacking trip throughout our two years hiking in the Rockies! It’s much more wild and less people since it’s basically 100+ km over a 3-5 day period depending on how long you stay and what day hikes you do from the campgrounds. We have a whole video on Mt. Assiniboine on our channel as well as a blog post on our website about it where we go fully in-depth on the planning for it, the best route to take, and how it looked as well as how to book your camping there. We also have blog posts on our website about Berg Lake Trail and Lake O’Hara. Just some useful info to check out that might be helpful if you are planning for them.
Good list. Vista and Gibbons Pass down to Shadow Lake in the fall is your only omission. I took spectacular pics with my Bronica years ago and my house is full of Assiniboine, ShadowLake, Gibbons Pass, Rockwall, and Lake O’Hara shots. Hard to compete with the Canadian Rockies
We haven’t done that one! Will put it on our bucket list ✅ agreed, you can’t go wrong hiking in the Canadian Rockies!! Thanks for stopping by our channel 😁
I don’t do the RU-vid thing, but I have been just about everywhere in Banff except between Shadow Lake and Sunshine Meadows (ie Egypt Lake area). There is a few other spots I just keep to myself
We were at Morraine twice. Once at sunrise around 5am (where the colors of the mountains were beginning to shine) and once at noon (when the water was a really bright blue color)
@@vace8295 yes both times are equally as beautiful! If we had to choose one time only, we would choose the afternoon since the water color is such a beautiful blue
You should be fine alone in Banff as the trails are pretty busy. September is still a good time and you might see the larches as well. Some trails (like larch valley trail) will require you to hike in groups at that time of the year as the bears will be close to hibernation again
Hi! Thank you for the video, it's very interesting and informative. Me and my boyfriend are going to Banff at the end of August, but we're very scared of bear encounters. Any tips?
You will love Banff! So many great hikes there. For tips, we would recommend definitely bringing bear spray on any hike and know how to use it. Also, try to go on the busier trails since they have more people on them and tend to have less bears. Make lots of noise while walking so the bears know you’re coming. And finally, if you have the option to hike with 4 or more people, then that’s best. We did it with only two people for most of these trails and were fine but did see a couple bears ourselves out there.
Thanks very informative and images and graphics are terrific, but narration is too soft in comparison to the music. It needs to be the other way around. Sadly detracts from an otherwise great video.
Thank you! We’re glad you enjoyed the video. We love hiking and traveling, so will keep making videos of hikes we do around the world. The Canadian Rockies had some of our favorite hikes we’ve ever done so far!
Awesome! You will have a great time there in the mountains. Both Kananaskis and Banff have the same window of good hiking windows. We recommend July to mid-September. At those times, the lakes are normally not frozen anymore and the snow is usually melted away on most hiking trails. Enjoy!
Yes bears can be dangerous. Especially the grizzlies. But in general we didn’t have any issues with them ourselves. Some protection measures we took were: carry bear spray on every hike and know how to use it, make noise every few minutes so the bears know you are there, don’t leave your food out next to you for too long, keep your distance from bears when you see them and back away slowly while keeping your eye on them at all times. You can also hike in groups of 4 or more if you’re not comfortable with bears. It would be very rare for a bear to attack a group of 4+ people.
Back in the mid-1980s I hiked up the Cirque Peak / Helen Lake trail especially to photograph a Hoary Marmot family. But as I was on my stomach, the baby marmots all squeaked and dove for the rocks. A few seconds later a WOLVERINE ran up and stopped about 30 metres away. Had incredible experience watching. It couldn’t figure out what I was since I was on my stomach. It stayed for close to a minute before leaving.
@@worldwildhearts started around 7 am. As I recollect, there were perhaps 6 other hikers. Checked notes, and year was 1987. Second part of story was that I had just finished off the 3rd of my kodachrome 36s, so there I was with my Nikon FM2 and 300mm lens on a good gitzo tripod with no film. Oh to have had my present Nikon with nearly unlimited digital imaging.
When you post the times for the hikes is that round trip? There and back? Also, travelling with a 10 and 13 yr old boys: would the medium difficulty be too much? Thx for your help.
Time is always for the full hike, so there and back. Medium difficulty might be because of the lenght or steepness. Like Healy Pass was very long in distance, but not in elevation change so it was fairly easy to hike. Both Big Beehive and Larch Valley are steeper and require good fitness, but the trail is very wide and well-maintained so it's easy on that part! If your kids are in good shape, they can definitely do it! We saw many kids and teenagers hiking with their parents on those trails.
Were there any limits to the group hiking size when you went? I am planning to go there with my husband end of August but I think some hikes need to have min 4 people
For the hikes listed here in this video, the only ones that required 4 people in August when we were there were the Larch Valley Trail and Mount Assiniboine. However, if you get closer to the end of august, the bears are more active because they’re getting closer to hibernation. So if you have the option to have 4 people even on the trails that don’t necessarily require them, its better to be safe if you can. Definitely bring your bear spray on all these hikes no matter how big your group size is
Very helpful video, been planning my vacation for months (anxiously waiting for Canadian/US border to re-open). Very well done. I'd really love to see a breakdown of some of these hikes, in terms of how the trails are. In your first hike, you mention clear paved and well marked paths, but leave out information on trail quality for other hikes. Just being constructive. For myself, I'd like to ask about Cirque Peak. How was the hike? I notice many people climbing loose rock towards the peak. How was the trail up until that loose rock? Does the time given include the peak? Lastly, are there any good (and cheap) hotels nearby? Just need a place to crash overnight, outside of Banff and Calgary.
Thanks for watching! Glad you found it helpful. For cheap places near Banff, the best option is honestly camping at one of the nearby campgrounds. Airbnb might have a cheap option or two as well depending on how far in advance you book. For the timing / lengths of the hikes, they are the stars for the full length and time for each hike, not just the one-way stats. In terms of more of a full breakdown for the individual hikes, we do have most of them as full individual videos on our channel as well if you would like to learn more about them. You mentioned cirque peak was one you wanted more info on. Here’s the link our video on that hike. Hope it helps plan your own hike out there: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-alULCHX8msY.html
I have only done 2 of these hikes and I agree with Assiniboine! We backpacked it over 5 days and it is still one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. Big Beehive is amazing too, I wanted to do the Devil's Thumb as well, will have to go back for that. Cirque peak looks amazing! It's on my extended list. I would also add Eiffel Lake (at Moraine Lake). It's an underrated hike and gives you really amazing views of the Valley of the 10 peaks! And of course, Lake O'hara. Was lucky enough to do that one in 2019 but we got rained on most of the time. Opabin lookout is something else.
We haven't in all the time we were there. It might be possible from time to time, but it's unlikely. you genearlly need to travel more to northern BC / Alberta for that or provinces like Yukon
We haven’t but that’s a very easy/touristic one! Starting at Bow Lake and then to the falls. Bow lake itself is beautiful! The trail is for less experienced hikers we’d say and there’s definitely better hikes around but either way it’s a beautiful environment!
Guys thanks for such amazing video. Looking for Mt Assiniboine hike. Is there any options how to get back to “Sunshine Village” after finished? Thank you!!!❤❤❤
Hi, thank you for sharing😊 may I know which month did you take to Bug Beehive hike, I am planning to Banff in mid September to do some hike and would like to know the temperature around the trial for preparation
The weather is very unpredictable in the Canadian Rockies. But we did the hike at the beginning of July and the weather was lovely. September is generally still good, but it's never a guarantee!
