Since moving to the western half of the US, a whole new world of travel has made its way onto my radar. So many cool places are so much closer now! When I’m on vacation, I like to hike, explore, and experience cool new places, and the west is perfect for that. Here are 3 places where I would LOVE to have an adventure this year.
1 | Canadian Rockies – Alberta
I wasn’t quite sure how to narrow this one down. I could probably visit 6 times and still barely scratch the surface. The Canada’s Rockies are home to many gems like Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.
I love the ethereal blue-green colors of the lakes and the striking way they contrast with the surrounding landscape. Moraine Lake (above) is one of the most iconic, along with Lake Louise. Don’t you just want to take a canoe out there and paddle around for a good long while? Well, you can.
Photo: David Wilson via Flickr
My great-grandfather traveled quite a bit around the west, and visited to Moraine Lake sometime in the 1940’s–this is one of his photos. Although you sadly don’t get the striking effect of the water color, it’s a pretty cool picture to me nonetheless.
Emerald Lake is a lesser known destination that’s actually just over the British Columbia border in Yoho National Park. I would love to spend a night or three in Emerald Lake Lodge, nestled away in the mountains.
Venturing a bit further north, Jasper National Park boasts more mountains and other beautiful scenery like the cliffs at Athabasca Falls above. I’d love to visit Alberta in the fall, when the crowds are a little thinner, the weather is crisp, and there’s a chance of some beautiful fall foliage to see, too.
Photo: Pascal via Flickr
2 | Olympic National Park and the San Juan Islands – Washington
A couple of years ago, I visited the Pacific Northwest for a few days, and I’ve wanted to go back ever since. I took a ferry from Seattle to Victoria, BC, and was drawn to the mountains springing up from the water around me. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love dense forests, lakes, and mountains, and the PNW is full of them!
I’d love to go exploring in the PNW wilderness a little, and Olympic National Park seems like a fairly obvious place to start.
Photo: Esther Lee via Flickr
When you hear “San Juan Islands”, you’re probably picturing tropical beaches somewhere in the Caribbean. Not so! The San Juan Islands are actually located north of Washington state, but just south of the Canadian border and Vancouver Island. They’re a unique mix of a coastal feel mixed with dense forest.
Photo: Karen Neoh via Flickr
Whale watching is a popular activity in the area, since the surrounding waters are home to plentiful orca. It would be awesome to see these beautiful creatures in the wild.
Photo: Jeff Gunn via Flickr
I’d love to spend time kayaking, hiking, wildlife spotting, and soaking up the sea air while still getting my fix of mountains and wilderness.
3 | Yosemite National Park – California
I have never in my whole life seen a pic of Yosemite and been like “nahhh, I’m good”.
Of all the national parks I’ve seen photos of, Yosemite is the one that always pulls me the strongest, but I still haven’t been! I’m pretty sure these exact words recently came out of my mouth: “if I don’t go to Yosemite in the next 6 months, I will LITERALLY DIE.” Which is totally not being dramatic or anything. Fortunately, Yosemite is the closest of the 3 on this list–it’s “only” an 11 hour drive away, or a couple of quick flights.
Photo: Todd Petrie via Flickr
Yosemite Valley itself is home to both easily accessible views, like Tunnel View above, as well as more challenging hikes. There’s also miles and miles of backpacking and lots of rock climbing to be had, for those up to it.
Photo: Koshy Koshy via Flickr
The biggest bucket list item within Yosemite has got to be the hike to the top of Half Dome (that hulking thing on the right side of the above photo). Besides the beautiful views, it’s a unique hike due to the cables installed to help hoist you up to the top of the massive granite slab. However, the hike requires a permit, and obtaining one is a very competitive process.
Photo: caruba via Flickr
For the best, most awe-inspiring visuals of Yosemite you’ll ever see (short of actually being there), you simply must watch this video.
What’s on your list of dream destinations this year?
You need to add a 4th. The Eastern High Sierras/Mammoth area! Not to much farther South of Yosemite, it has an amazing array of lakes and, of course, the John Muir trail (which is also the Pacific Crest Trail at that part) on which to hike. Gorgeous area from Convict Lake to June Lake and more.
Yesss totally! This is definitely not an exhaustive list. :D Actually, the other day, my bf and I saw a pic from Mammoth and both of us were pretty blown away! If one day we ended up driving to Yosemite instead of flying (flying is not all that convenient since it’s 2 flights plus several more hours of driving), we’d actually go right through Mammoth! So, seems like that’d actually work out really well if we wanted to spend a couple days in that area. :)
The San Juan Islands pics and description totally remind me of Acadia National Park up in Maine. It is gorgeous up there with great hiking along the rocky coastal trails and through forest. If anyone has the urge to go north on the east coast, I highly recommend it. Attached two pics from my trip up there in August (assuming they really attached). :)
Wow–love those pics, thank you for sharing them! I spy SW ’13 speeds. ;) You’re right, it’s very similar, just with less pointy mountains. :) Acadia is probably the top of my list for eastern national parks, but now it’s so far that it would be a bit of an ordeal. Not that it won’t happen, just will probably be a bit further down the line.
We definitely like the same type of vacations! Olympic is on my list and a possibility for this year (we’ve been to Rainier). My friends in San Fran have kinda scared me against Yosemite though–they say it’s always crazy crowded no matter what time of year. Glacier NP is high on my list for this year, mainly because I loved the Montana/Idaho/Utah area so much last year, I can’t wait to go back!
Well, there’s only one way to find out about the crowds! ;) I thought about adding Montana/Idaho to the list too, but decided to keep it short and sweet. Loved seeing your Yellowstone pics last year, so if you go to Glacier I’d love to see those too!
I live in Alberta so I’m partial to that area ;) Plus your trip would be 30% cheaper because our dollar is so low against the greenback. You could even grab some Lulu for cheap in Banff!
Yes! Seriously the best time for Americans to visit Canada! My bf and I haven’t booked anything yet, but we’re pretty much dead set on going to Banff this fall.
My husband are going back to Banff NP for the third time this August. Yes, we love it this much. We will split our time between Banff and Jasper this time. We did visit the Banff Lulu last year. It has to be the busiest out of the 26 Lulu stores that I have visited. I totally took advantage of the strong US dollar and hope to repeat it this year!
My parents, my sister, and I will visit Seattle area in June. The video that you included in the post convinced me that Yosemite should be on the top of my list of NPs to visit next!
Glad to hear the positive review. :) It’s totally an awesome time for us Americans to visit Canada since our dollar goes that much further for everything. I’m hoping we’ll make our way to Banff this September. :)
My dream destination is Machu Picchu. I need to find someone to go with me. The hubs is not that adventurous. Would also love to see the Giza pyramids but there are travel restrictions for military personnel. :(
Yeah, it’s definitely tough if you can’t get your other half on board. Sucks about travel restrictions too! I hope you can work both out sometime, one way or another. :)
I really want to see glaciers this year. Maybe it’s because I live in a warm climate, I feel like glaciers are magical! Icelanders believe the same thing, and they should know. Ha! I really want to go to Sólheimajökull in Iceland where you can walk and touch the glaciers. If Iceland doesn’t work out, then maybe Glacier National Park in Montana.
I just googled that hike and it looks so cool! I’d love to visit Iceland sometime, too.
I absolutely adore all three places. My husband, our 3 kids and I for the past 6 years have been visiting all the national parks. We spent a week in Lake Louise and stayed in Fairmont Hotel right on the lake. I thought it was heaven. So easy to drive to from Calgary airport. So much to do and food was amazing. I didn’t have time to visit any lulu shops. We were too busy with family activities.
We stayed in Awahanee hotel in Yosemite which was incredibly beautiful. We spent a week there as well. My goal one day when the kids are older is to do that Half Dome Climb.
My husband had a business trip in Seattle so we all tagged along for a long weekend. We stayed in W Hotel in the city which was so close to everything. We didn’t even rent a car and walked everywhere. We took a ferry to San Juan islands on a crazy rainy day. It was still magical.
Wow, you’re 3 for 3! Nicely done. ;) Thanks for all your recommendations! I’ve seen the Fairmont Hotel in my searching–it looks absolutely majestic! There are so many beautiful hotels in that area, I’m not quite sure how I’m ever going to narrow it down…
Anywhere you stay in Banff near Lake Louise will be incredible. Wish we can live there full time… A little thing called husband’s job keeps us in east coast. ?
Jobs can be a bit obnoxious like that, huh? :P In an ideal world I’d have a remote, location-independent job, and I’d love to live in Canada for a while!
Awahnee at Yosemite, Banff, Lake Louise/Lake Morraine – the Post Hotel have been our fav holiday spots !! You’re totally on the right path!!!
The Post Hotel looks wonderful!!! Thanks for the suggestion. :)
LOVE the Canadian Rockies!
How can you not??? :)
I’ll take a trip to all three please :)
Yes! Grow, money tree, grow!!!
I lived in alberta for a large chunk of my life and I’ve never been to lake Louise or moraine lake. What is wrong with me?! Planning my trip now!
Yes! Do it! :)
Love this list! I live in Vancouver BC and with our dollar being so abysmal, it’s a good opportunity to travel my own country. I love Seattle so much and will miss my twice yearly trips dearly, but again it’s a good time to see more of Canada!
Very true! Not the worst silver lining. :)
Nice post – as I sit here in Yosemite and can’t watch the video due to crappy satellite internet, kinda funny. Anyway, I would suggest that you might visit Yosemite in early fall, while the pass through the park is open and come up 395 (Bishop/Mammoth are fun – make sure to eat at Mobil gas station before entering the park, a chef bought it!). I say this because Tuolumne is my favorite part of the park (upper elevations, dome formations), and spend some time in that area hiking before heading down to the valley. Can kayak in lakes up there too. Fun stuff in Hetchy and Wawona too, but really don’t miss Tuolumne in addition to the valley. Permits for other overnights are easier to get than Half Dome which honestly can be quite crowded and make for not the most peaceful hike but there is a reason folks flock there too. Awahnee is cool to see, but no need to pay crazy hotel rates, can even just walk around and enjoy ambiance or grab a bite to eat there. Also nice to ride bikes around the valley to get around! Have fun, hope you make it out and its amazing visit! Thanks for your blog, love it!!! (I’m the one that used to live at Grand Canyon & Sedona – I do miss northern AZ!). PS-Not sure how into earth sciences you are, but consider reading Geology of Yosemite book (Greg Stock) before you come too! And try to stay for a while, this place is huge and a lot of driving so plan accordingly.
Thanks for all your tips Vanessa!! :) I’m definitely going to keep those in mind for next time. We went for just 2 nights last week (we flew), which was enough time to check out a bunch of the cool spots in the valley and at least temporarily scratch the itch. Next time we go, if it’s more in the high season, we’ll just be able to avoid that area (and the crowds!) and check out some of the spots you mentioned. :)
My husband and I stay at Emerald Lake Lodge every year, usually in the winter. It is easily one of my favorite places on the planet. It is gorgeous! We cross-country ski, enjoy the beautiful mountain views from the (outside) hot tub, and eat amazing food. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Yesss, thank you for the mini-review. :) Sounds heavenly!!