Vehement Solutions for Trivial Problems: Glacier & Banff

Lake Moraine, Banff

We've camped many weekends, but never more than 3 nights. Our ambitious plans for this trip involved driving to Glacier, then Banff, then home, over 12 days and a total of 3,532 miles.

Our planning needed to account for a number of variables:

Significant competition and timing for booking campsites, especially at Glacier
Reservations for Going-to-the-Sun road, Many Glacier, and in Banff Lake Louise and Lake Moraine
Planning driving routes that would break up long drives with a few fun stops
Prioritizing sites and hikes, including all the work that went into making sure we could visit Lakes Moraine and Louise in Banff
Detailed menu planning and packing so we wouldn't run short of food in the parks
Planning and packing for cold weather (spoiler alert- it wasn't cold. We packed a variety of cold weather clothing and didn't use it)

We intentionally planned the trip for the 2nd-3rd weeks of Sep, reasoning that the parks wouldn't be quite as busy, but still enjoy pleasant weather. We calculated exactly 6 months earlier from our intended dates and we were online at precisely the right time in the morning to book a campsite in Glacier's Apgar campground. There was more camping availability in Banff, so that wasn't such a nail-biter.

Itinerary

Observations

We loved the historic lodges and hotels. You don't have to spend thousands to stay there- we enjoyed meals at Lake McDonald Lodge, Many Glacier Lodge, Fairmont Banff Springs, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise
Tim Horton's donuts are yummy. Poutine not so much
While going after Labor Day had advantages (reduced crowd size), it also meant we were out-of-season for things we'd hoped to do, like the gondola, hot springs, and heritage park in Calgary
Gas stations are sparse in these rural areas- we'd fill up when we were at half-tank so we wouldn't risk running out. We went through gas faster than usual towing the camper
Lewis and Clark Interpretive center, Washburn ND

Fort Union
Breakfast in bed