2019.07.23

Woke up in the middle of the night to the loudest thunderstorm I have ever heard. I was quite groggy but the thunder was immense honestly making me think the earth was breaking apart or something. I was tired from my previous days adventure and couldn't bring myself to get up for 4:00am as my Mt. Temple plans required so I abandoned that idea. I woke up around 7:30 and after having breakfast and breaking camp I decided to try my luck at Lake Moraine.... bad choice. The place was absolutely packed and as much as I wanted to see it there was no way I was walking up that road. I decided to try and catch a shuttle from the overflow parking lot but when I got there they announced to everyone that it was a 2 hour wait (did I mention Banff is crazy busy?)! I decided to bail and head towards Banff proper where I was booked at the hostel that evening and hit up a medium hike along the way. Looking at my hiking map I chose Taylor Lake as it was ~3-4 hour return and easily accessible. I hit the trail at ~10:30 and was very nervous on my way up as I hadn't hiked in bear country before and I was alone and didn't have bear spray. I kept jumping at every print that looked like it could be a bears (I'm no tracking expert) and only felt better when I passed another pair of hikers.

I made it to the top by 12:00 and was greeted by a beautiful little alpine lake with a scenic mountain backdrop (see picture below). There were a few other people up there and it appears you can back country camp there which seems appealing. I didn't dawdle for too long before heading back down. I got back to my truck at ~2:00, had some lunch and headed to the hostel. I checked in at ~5:00 eager for a shower and then headed to downtown Banff to pick up some supplies. The rest of the evening I made dinner, researched hikes and the area on my computer and made plans with my step-dad Ken to meet up on Thursday to go fishing. Around 9:00 I went to the hostel bar for a few pints since I knew the weather the next day wouldn't be good for a big hike. They were having an open mic night and I hung out with a few British and Aussie travelers who were quite energetic. I probably drank a bit too much and headed to bed around 12:30...

Mountain backdrop at Taylor Lake

Taylor Lake

Banff hostel