BANFF NATIONAL PARK, AN OUT OF THIS WORLD JOURNEY FOR YOUR SUMMER (Re-posted containing ALL the pictures again!)

Banff National Park is one of Canada's most emblematic symbol and a monumental legacy to human kind as well as for our world natural heritage.

Over the course of 5 days, I had the occasion of driving through, from the Canmore entry point and headed up north toward Jasper from there.

The highway from Canmore to Saskatchewan Crossing that borders the northern end of this park can easily be driven rather quickly, but unless you have serious business to deal with, one usually takes much more that an hour and a half to drive through...

One option one can take on the way up is to use the old highway road up toward Lake Louise instead of following the main highway. As my sister close friend Sylvain and many more told me, using Highway 1A apparently offered amazing vistas. On this advice, I decided to take the chance and drive it all the way to Lake Louise as I wanted to go and visit the Chateau while in the area and the weather offered a nice window of opportunity.

The first 25 minutes were rather uneventful and made me feel like I might have just wasted a bit of my time instead of bolting over to straight to my first pit-stop but, as one can see right above here, with the two pictures, it was far from being the case and, from there, the surprises kept on awaiting behind every next corner! The Sawback Range, on the eastern side is rather magnificent in colours and designs and offers more than one opportunity to observe wildlife as well.

Racing with the sunsetting, I thought to let the drive be cut short and mosey over to the west side for a quick visit to Chateau Lake Louise. On the way up, Mt. Temple rises of a commanding respect and towers above us.

Thousand upon thousands of people come over to visit the following and the surprisingly quietude of the place inspires our inner most dreams and wonderings...

After paying my respect to the place, I thought it was now more than time for me to go find myself a decent camping spot before nightfall as my drive from Waterton National Park (See my post on the visit to this park too at http://steemit.com/@eric-boucher as well!) had been a long one dodging rain and lightning storms all the way up to Canmore.

The different shapes and contours of the mountains characterizes the mountains from one park to the other and, as one becomes familiar with them, one can notice drastic differences in their general look.

Mosquito Campground still had a few sites left for me to crash for the night and, even though being in the middle of the summer, sub-zero temperatures were sliding in for the night.

A quick set up of my tent and the slow relentless movement of this sunset allowed me to go to Bow Lake and take a few more pictures as the moon was crossing over in the axis of the valley to the south.

The northern view wasn't too shabby either!

Waking up in my tent, covered with a thick layer of ice, what was my surprise to step out of the site area to see Bow Peak in the full majesty of that morning's light.

Sprinkles of fresh snow were definitely visible from the site as I left the campground and looked up above across the highway as well.

At 7:30 a.m., we wouldn't expect loads of tourists like ants on an anthill taking over the different areas of the park yet. So, I thought it was perfect timing to go take a few uncrowded shots of this legendary lake.

Peyto Lake is one of the main attraction of this park and no one wonders why after coming across such a breathtaking view!

On the following day and along White Pyramid Mountain, a mandatory stop during the construction of the new pavement of this unforgettable highway brought me to discover a few more jewels.

Slowly reaching the northern edge of the park, Mt. Murchison towers above the east side of the road as one starts the decent toward Saskatchewan Crossing.

Over the years, I had had the very fortunate opportunity to spend quite a bit of time in the Rockies and had never yet had the chance of seeing what is now in my books the most impressive of canyons, Mistaya Canyon, easily accessible after a short walk down a well maintained gravel path.

The sound alone will send chills up your spine and as impressive as it may be, the intricacies of its design will leave you in awe.

Continuing to the bottom of the highway hill, you can appreciate the waters coming from the canyon and heading down for the main river where the Icefield Parkway, Hwy 93 which you are on, comes across Hwy 11, a.k.a. David Thompson Hwy.

Evidence of wildfire can easily be appreciated from there too.

So, once again, I hope you have enjoyed this little journey through one of the most magnificent natural protected area in Canada, Banff National Park!

Namaste :)