I've finally visited beautiful Banff in Alberta - yahoo! Jerome's been before (I think) and said that he wanted to take me because I would love it. And boy was the boy right! As much as I love the ocean, I loveee the mountains too. The crisper temps, the clean air, the motion sickness the winding roads - everything.
The first place we hit up was Johnston Canyon. It has a hiking path to follow to get to a couple waterfalls, and the path follows a bright blue river that leads to the first waterfall. You have to walk through a bit of a cave to get to the first waterfall, and it lead right to the side of a waterfall where the roaring is so loud that it makes kids scream and the spray hits your camera in all the wrong places. (We got closer that what's in the photos below, but I didn't have a good lens on to get a wide enough photo).
I was huffing and puffing during our hike - this was my first trip after all of my health issues. I learned that my heart isn't as strong as it used to be. I got winded after the smallest trek uphill, and my heart rate got really high at some points. I had to take so many breaks and had to sit down every chance I got. Jerome didn't even complain once. He let me take my time and wait for my heart rate to go back down. I'm so lucky to have him because I was so frustrated with myself, but he was so supportive. (love you Jerome)
A bit more of an uphill hike and we hit another waterfall - definitely more impressive than the first one. Looking one way you could see the river and forest, and the other way was a waterfall in the cliffs. You have to line up to get your photos of the falls, but people were kind and patient so it was totally fine.
On the trek back down to the parking lot, we snuck through some trees and went down to the river. I'm a total clutz so I didn't go as close as Jerome did, haha. Always with the waterfalls, eh?
Oh don't worry, I only have one more waterfall to share with you. (I told you the hiking path leads to waterfalls). This one we had to climb down a hill and a bit of a boulder cliff type thing, but it was very worth it. We got right up to a waterfall and I got soaked by the spray. I guess I was standing behind the waterfall for too long hehe.
I'll leave you with a food recommendation. Nourish Bistro in Banff was one of our favourite places we ate the entire trip. It's a vegetarian restaurant with tons of vegan options. Everything was ridiculously good. I think the best thing we got was the sunflower paté. Oh my gosh, it was so weird how good it was. Their poutine is so good too; it has a panang curry sauce that's so tasty.
I feel like I've become more of a foodie since becoming vegan - and I ain't complaining!
Banff is seriously such a cool place. It's always so refreshing to get out in nature and enjoy God's creation. I'm always so amazed whenever I see oceans, mountains, waterfalls, forests - like, how did He come up with this stuff!? haha.
x Melissa