VAN LIFE IS THE BEST IN BANFF! Lake Louise Sunrise Hike

I've lost all feelings in my fingers. We are in bear country right now. Class three, avalanche warning. This morning, I had no clue how I would ever be warm again.

It's insane.

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Okay, now I just show you one.

Of the most beautiful places in the world.

It's a cold one.

Thank you.

Made it.

This is so fantastic. It is so 7:30. The sun is just starting to rise. It's just starting to get light outside. We are hiking down the most snowy, beautiful trail I've ever seen. And we are on our way to see sunrise at Lake Louise.

Does it get any better than this?

Sun isn't up yet. It's not blue yet.

It will be.

We're not the first ones here.

We got beat by a lot of other people. Very long shot, but.

I don't want to. But we are pulling ourselves away from the lake. I've lost all feelings in my fingers.

The shot where I'm blowing the snow better have been worth it because look how red. It's like I can't even feel it.

We stopped by Walmart to buy hiking boots the other day just for this trip. And then I cheaped out on not paying $7 for gloves. And I'm currently regretting that decision.

It just wasn't that cold there and I didn't feel like I needed them, but I do.

We are retreating back to the warmth of the rv. We're gonna make a cup of coffee, regroup, and figure out what we're doing the rest of the day.

Keith made us some coffee. We cranked up the heat in this tiny van. We're all feeling good and we're about to go on a hike.

It's closed, I think, for the season. Wow. It is a good thing we made it up here when we did. Apparently they have closed down the road because, like, a bus or something wrecked would have been such a bummer if we wouldn't have been able to get up to the lake today.

So the original plan today was to spend the day hiking the Six Glaciers.

Trail, but after talking to a ranger.

This morning, it turns out that it.

Is actually closed due to a Class 3 avalanche warning. So we won't be doing that. So instead, there's actually another tea house.

Hike that you can do here at.

Lake Louise, and that is the Lake Agnes Tea House hike. And for those of you who don't know what a tea house hike is, the tea house is basically just a cabin in the woods that serves warm drinks and some snacks and kind of like gives you a destination to hike to.

How cozy does that sound?

So we brought some snacks and we're hoping once we get there, we can get some hot beverages to warm up because it's already freezing.

It's definitely going to motivate me. I have socks on my hands instead of mittens.

See the remnants of some of these fall leaves.

Okay. So I am carrying one thing on this hike that I've never carried with me on a hike before. It is a can bear spray, which.

We realize in hindsight, we probably should have made sure we knew how to.

Use and that it worked. There's some kind of, like, safety mechanism on here. But we are in bear country right now, and it's fall, so all the bears are trying to, like, eat as much as they can because they're about to go into hibernation. So, like, this would be the worst time of year to meet a grizzly bear. Feels pretty small, though.

That's the size of a can.

That matter?

Believe it or not, we are shedding layers. Y', all.

Y', all, I've shed two layers already. Yeah, My hands are kind of sweating, but then I take them off, and they're freezing.

So this morning, I had no clue how I would ever be warm again. And here I am coming out of my jacket.

Only halfway up, but the Walmart boots are holding up great.

It's insane.

Somebody want to go run out there and break the ice so we can get a good reflection?

This is, without a doubt, top three hikes that we have ever been on. Probably rivaled only by Everest in Patagonia. But I think with, like, the fresh snow maybe number one on the list.

I've never hiked in snow like this before. Like, the trees are just unending. Like, I keep waiting on it to turn into, like, a regular trail, but it just keeps getting prettier.

There's a waterfall. I know I did, but I missed it. It was. Aw.

We made it to the tea house. The view is amazing. We haven't seen the lake yet.

Other than. I can't say words because my face is broken. Going to get some tea or probably coffee. Let's be honest.

Hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Madagascar almond spice chai latte.

The camera's so foggy. Nice and toasty inside the tea house. Fogging our camera right up. There's no coffee here. And so I made a very easy decision and got hot chocolate with marshmallows instead. And we learned that the staff here hikes up majority of the food and takes all of the trash back down every single day. Makes me enjoy this a little bit more. Came up on somebody's back.

Thank you.

Wow.

Now we have an hour hike downhill.

Whoa.

Okay.

Okay.

We've almost made it. Almost.

The lake is so blue. It's gorgeous.

So we really wanted one of those, like, Classic Instagram pictures that you see of the people in the canoe where the guy's sitting in the back taking a picture of the girl that's in the front with the paddle.

We looked into renting the canoes.

105 Canadian dollars for half an hour.

I'm all about, like, splurging, you know, for a good experience, but I just don't think that's worth it. It's so pretty from here.

An expensive Instagram picture.

I know he's kind of hard, you know, and.

Wow, you really sound like a complainer.

Okay, we are back in the van.

Last night, we stayed at Lake Louise.

So we could get up to the.

Lake really early for sunrise. And today, this evening, we are moving to Banff Town.

Banff City.

City Banff, which is where we're going to be spending the next few nights. So we have a 45 minute drive that I expect will be absolutely beautiful. Just like everything else that we're seen today.

The US Banff is like the place in Canada that I've wanted to go to probably since Heath and Alyssa came here, like, two years ago.

Well, now you can obviously see why.

And now we're here with Heath and Alyssa.

Okay. One huge bummer that I'm just being reminded of because we are passing the road.

Oh, it doesn't even look like it.

Has snow on it.

Come on.

So Moraine Lake is, I don't know, maybe the most photographed lake in the entire world. Like, if you see a picture of Canada, you probably see a picture of Moraine Lake. And they have closed the road for the winter because of this big snow that they got a few days ago, which I don't think I would change it. It's been incredible to get to experience Banff in the snow, but at the same time, it's a huge bummer that we can't go to Lake Moraine.

Luis always gets the short end of the stick, overshadowed by her sister, Moraine.

And so we were actually talking to.

A park ranger and we learned that.

It has been over 60 years since.

Bamp has seen this amount of snow in October. So I'm feeling just super lucky that we got to experience this day.

It was an amazing day.

I mean, I think I always, like.

Feel lucky in our travels, but today especially, I feel extremely lucky for what we got to experience.

Oh, my gosh. Look at that mountain.

These bridges are for wild animals like bears and mooses.

Awesome. Appreciate it. You too.

We have made it to Banff.

This is our home for the next couple of nights. And we are about to head into town and meet some locals for dinner.

They're gonna be giving us some tips on what to do for the next couple days.

So we're in the vlog here, but.

We are so excited to explore more Banff.

This is incredible. I've got to stop saying that. I said it. Wait to me has.

Nate, Will you do that exact.

I loved it.

One more. One more while you got it. One more. One more while it's wet.

Okay, ready?

Yeah.

So care whenever you watch this. Hope you're having a good day, huh? Get a good at it. Now I'm talking to future you during the edit.

Oh, thanks. I'm warm.

I'm so happy. And so I put a hand warmer in my sock.

I'm already still here.

Yeah, I'm a little scared.

Hey, Future Carrot Name. It's been a lot of fun. Enjoyed hanging out with you guys.

Oh, gosh.

How much do we owe you for being our assistant today?

How about tacos?

Okay, a little bit of that.

You want some chocolate?

Not right now.

I've got stuff to do.

This chocolate's, like, kind of frozen.

What's the plan?

Delicious.

You need a gas. Gas station. We hope you enjoyed the video.

And don't forget, if you're looking for the perfect stocking stuffer, these quip toothbrushes start at only $25, and you can grab one using the link in the description below.