Anniversary Trip: Johnson Lake

After our visit to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site we decided to head east to the other side of the city of Banff to check out a couple lakes.  Sometimes when I get to an area I like to sit myself down in front of a map (sometimes a real map, sometimes a virtual one) and just inspect the area for smaller parks and lakes that you might not really hear about or see too much online during your travel planning.  That's how we ended up on the Minnewanka Loop to check out Johnson Lake and Two Jack Lake.  Since geographically Two Jack Lake is far bigger than Johnson Lake, I figured we'd save that for last and head to Johnson Lake first.  Little did I know how beautiful and quiet it would be...right up Antoine and my alley!

Man, the Canadian Rockies are pretty!  Everywhere we drove we were in awe...nonstop gorgeous mountains, it was ridiculous.

Our first day in Banff was just about the most beautiful day ever!  The sun was out and shining and it was nice and warm.

The lake had a great walking path that looped all the way around it.  It was such a nice relaxing walking that weaved in and out of the trees and a long the lake.

I mean, seriously!?  Look at that water! And those trees!  And those mountains!

A couple of people were even out paddle boarding, which was fun to watch!

While the first half of the trail was mainly in the woods, along the bank, the second half was higher up, un-shaded, and had kind of a steep drop.

After Johnson Lake we continued up toward Two Jack Lake (which feeds into the even larger Lake Minnewanka), but it was so nice out and it was a little later in the day and it was super packed with people taking lake cruises and taking out their boats.  We even saw a couple of people in scuba gear.  Crowded areas are not our things, so we high-tailed in out of there.  Johnson Lake was perfect for us, quiet and gorgeous without all the crowds and craziness.  The perfect morning/early afternoon stroll!

Happy Friday everyone!  Any awesome plans for this weekend?  Antoine and I are doing glass blowing for the first time and I'm super excited!!