Our Adventure

We selected 150 of our favorite photos from Kananaskis, Banff, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, Icefields Parkway, and Jasper (it was a busy week!).

We arrived 2 days before the rest of our family so we could get our marriage license. We used one of those days to explore Kananaskis Provincial Park. We hiked Kananaskis River, Troll Falls, and Ptarmigan Cirque. We were fortunate to arrive when wildflowers were in bloom! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), we didn’t see any bears. We did see a bighorn sheep!

Wildflowers were blooming. Pictured here are American harebell (top left), alpine forget-me-not (top center), pink mountain heather (center), mountain pasqueflower seed head (top right), moss campion (bottom left), and common red paintbrush (bottom right).

We met our photographers and flew to Marvel Pass on July 31. While we were exploring Marvel Pass, our family was at the Airbnb recuperating after a long day of travel (delays and cancellations the day before).

Back in Canmore, we met up with our family for dinner. Well rested and well fed, we took a short walk out to Policeman’s Creek where there was a beautiful view of the Three Sisters. We made a hasty retreat when the mosquitoes found Raymon.

We were so thrilled with our trip to Marvel Pass and the incredible views from the air that Gordon, Whitney, and Doug went out with Alpine Helicopters the next morning. They didn’t touch down in Marvel Pass, but they flew over where we had been and got some fun photos!

After their flight, we bid farewell to Canmore and started our drive up to Lake Louise. We took the scenic route and drove the Bow Valley Parkway (i.e., Hwy 1A as opposed to Hwy 1) .

We hiked the Fairview Lookout and Lakeside Trail when we arrived in Lake Louise. We didn’t try anything too ambitious since it was the day before the wedding!

As you can imagine, we were otherwise occupied on our wedding day and didn’t take many of our own photos! Here are some of the photos our family took.

The day began at sunrise at Moraine Lake. Jianbo, Wei, and Alison watched sunrise and took photos. Doug followed us as we clambered over rocks. We think it’s sweet that, while at one of the most beautiful sunrise spots in the world, all he wanted to see was his kids celebrating.

Time to get ready! While Emily was in the salon, Ray and Jianbo played ping pong (Jianbo won). The rematch will have to wait; the table was repurposed so Emily’s nail artist (Ray 🙂 ) could get to work.

No one took photos during the ceremony, so we next pick up at the top of the Lake Louise Gondola for portraits and food.

We headed down the mountain and off to Moraine Lake. Gordon and Whitney weren’t able to see Moraine Lake at sunrise, so this was a nice opportunity for them to enjoy the stunning view.

Our adventure-filled day came to a close back at Chateau Lake Louise for dinner and dancing.

The next morning, we hiked the lakeside trail before driving the Icefields Parkway.

We were lucky to have perfect weather on our wedding day. We weren’t so lucky the next day when we drove the Icefields Parkway. It was a beautiful drive, but we were a little damp by the time we arrived in Jasper. The waterfalls and rivers were especially spectacular with all the rain.

We hiked up Athabasca Glacier on our first full day in Jasper. There were tour buses available, but we opted to get up close and personal with the glacier, walking with a guide and learning about the glacier’s natural history. We drank glacier water (only after which did our guide tell us about glacier worms). Our guide, Rupert, spent his career working for Parks Canada’s Search and Rescue team. He had incredible stories about a lifetime spent living and working in the Jasper area.

Gordon reached out expecting to find Whitney’s hand. Here’s who he found instead (featuring Whitney in the background, confused about why Raymon has the giggles). Gordon quickly realized his mistake.

The rain cleared on our second day in Jasper. We started the day by hiking the Valley of the Five Lakes trail. The color of the water was surreal. Each lake has a slightly different color due to its depth and algae content.

The red chairs overlook third lake. Parks Canada has over 200 red Adirondack chairs in parks across the country. They provide a place to sit and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Emily and Doug went for a swim in fifth lake (it was very cold!).

Wildlife sightings: golden mantled ground squirrel and green comma.

Our last Jasper excursion was to Maligne Lake and Maligne Canyon. We saw Wedding Cake Falls in Maligne Canyon, which seemed fitting for this particular trip.

When not hiking or kayaking, we spent our time in Jasper at Pine Bungalows where we stayed in adorable cabins.

After a busy week in the Canadian Rockies, it was time to head home. We drove southbound on the Icefields Parkway and enjoyed views that had been obscured by rain on our northbound trip. We didn’t have as much time to linger since we had to make it back to Calgary for early flights. Here are some highlights from our last day in Canada.

We hope you enjoyed joining us virtually for our adventure!

With love,
Emily & Ray