Canadian Rockies: Mountains, Lakes & a Party in the Back of the Bus

The Canadian Rockies are spectacular. There really isn’t another way to say it.

Mountains that look like somebody turned the contrast up too high. Lakes so blue they almost don’t look real. Snow and glaciers in the middle of summer. And around every corner, another view that made me reach for my camera.

North America is perfectly imperfect, and this trip reminded me how much beauty we have right here on our own continent.

We traveled through the Canadian Rockies with Gate 1 Travel, along with about 32 people on a tour bus. Now, if you’ve ever traveled with 32 people on a bus, you already know the scenery is only half the story. 😂

Fortunately, this group was much friendlier than the group on one of our previous tours. Everyone was respectful. Nobody was the person who strolled back to the bus twenty minutes late while 31 people stared through the windows plotting their disappearance.

The Great Gate 1 Seat Rotation

Gate 1 uses a seat-rotation system so everyone gets a chance to sit in different parts of the bus. Very democratic. Very civilized.

At least that was the plan.

Somewhere along the way, the people toward the back of our bus apparently decided democracy had run its course. 😂

They didn’t want to rotate anymore.

They liked the back.

At first I thought, Fine. They prefer the back. More front seats for the rest of us.

Then I started noticing something.

The people in the back seemed…very happy.

Suspiciously happy.

Yes, they were closer to the bus’s limited-use restroom, which would not normally be my definition of premium real estate. But during one of our longer drives, I finally discovered what was really happening back there.

They were having a picnic.

Food came out.

Then wine came out.

Apparently, while the rest of us were admiring the Canadian Rockies and behaving like responsible tour passengers, the back of the bus had quietly become its own little traveling wine bar.

Suddenly the refusal to rotate made perfect sense.

They weren’t protecting their seats. They were protecting the party. 😂🍷

And honestly? Everyone was respectful, nobody caused trouble, and everyone got back to the bus on time.

So the back-of-the-bus wine club was well managed.

Same Mountains, Different Price Tag

One thing I appreciated about traveling with Gate 1 was realizing that we were visiting many of the same Canadian Rockies destinations as travelers on much more expensive tours.

We traveled with Gate1. Other travelers arrived with companies charging considerably more.

There they were.

There we were.

Same mountains.

Same lakes.

Same spectacular views.

Different invoice. 😂

I’m perfectly willing to spend more when spending more actually gives me something I value. But I’m also not interested in paying extra simply for the privilege of saying I paid extra.

Gate 1 isn’t fancy. That’s not what they’re selling.

What we got was a knowledgeable tour manager who was born and raised in the area, an organized itinerary, a group that actually got along, and access to the places we’d traveled all that way to see.

And that matters.

Sometimes value isn’t about spending the least. It’s about knowing when spending more isn’t buying you more.

The Unofficial Mayor of Lake Louise

Lake Louise was spectacular—the mountains, the water, the scenery, everything you expect from one of the most famous places in the Canadian Rockies.

And then, at the footbridge, we met someone who apparently believed Lake Louise was actually about him.

A squirrel. 🐿️

He refused to leave.

People stopped. Cameras came out. Attention shifted from one of the most beautiful lakes in Canada to this tiny creature sitting near the footbridge like he had personally been assigned to greet tourists.

And he seemed to love every second of it.

He didn’t run away. He didn’t appear particularly concerned about us. If anything, I think he was wondering why some people weren’t taking his picture yet.

There we were, surrounded by mountains and that incredible Lake Louise scenery, and Mr. Squirrel had somehow managed to create his own meet-and-greet.

No reservations required. No admission fee. Apparently, tips accepted in admiration. 😂

Honestly, he had main-character energy.

Once we finally managed to tear ourselves away from the local celebrity, Lake Louise reminded us who the real star was.

Up We Go

The Canadian Rockies have a way of making you feel very small.

Apparently, the solution is to get even higher. 😂

One of our stops included a gondola ride into the mountains. From the ground, the mountains already looked enormous. Once we started climbing above the trees, the perspective changed completely.

Up went the gondola.

Down went everything else.

The roads became tiny. The buildings disappeared into the landscape. And suddenly we were looking across miles of mountains and forest instead of looking up at them.

I love a beautiful view.

And apparently I also love photographing one, which is why the travel gear I actually use tends to earn its place in my suitcase.

I am considerably less enthusiastic about being suspended from a cable to get one. 😂

But sometimes travel requires a little cooperation between you and gravity.

And the Canadian Rockies were worth it.

Sometimes the Group Makes the Trip

Thirty-two people on a bus can go either way.

You can have thirty-two strangers who remain strangers for the entire trip.

Or you can get lucky.

This group was different.

People talked to each other. People laughed. Everyone was respectful. And, perhaps most importantly on a bus tour, people came back to the bus on time. 😂

That shouldn’t sound like a major accomplishment.

Trust me. It is.

Our tour manager was born and raised in the area, so we weren’t simply being transported from one famous stop to another. We were traveling with someone who actually knew this part of Canada.

Somewhere along the way, thirty-two people stopped feeling like thirty-two strangers occupying assigned seats on a bus.

Even the rebels in the back had found their community.

Of course, they also had wine. That may have accelerated the process. 🍷😂

Sometimes the destination makes the trip. Sometimes the people do. On this one, we got lucky enough to have both.

Or somewhere between the mountains, the seat rotations, the bathroom stops and the unofficial wine club in the back of the bus, people start becoming part of the trip itself.

This group did.

Nobody was chronically late. Nobody made the rest of us wait while they casually wandered back to the bus. Everyone was respectful, and people genuinely seemed to enjoy one another.

By the end, I wasn’t just photographing the Canadian Rockies. I was photographing the people I would remember being there with.

Canadian Rockies: Perfectly Imperfect

The Canadian Rockies reminded me that we don’t always have to cross an ocean to find something extraordinary.

Sometimes it’s right here in North America.

The mountains weren’t perfectly visible every minute. The weather didn’t always cooperate. Some photographs came out better than others. And traveling with thirty-two people on a bus will never be anyone’s definition of complete luxury. 😂

But maybe that’s the point.

Travel doesn’t have to be perfect to be spectacular.

We saw turquoise lakes that didn’t look real, glaciers in the middle of summer, mountains that made us feel very small, and a squirrel at Lake Louise who was absolutely convinced we’d all traveled there to see him.

We rode gondolas despite my complicated relationship with gravity.

We met people who started as strangers.

And somewhere in the back of the bus, apparently, there was a traveling wine club operating without my knowledge. 🍷😂

I would have liked an invitation.

But I’ll let that go.

North America is perfectly imperfect.

And the Canadian Rockies were a beautiful reminder that sometimes you don’t need the fanciest tour, the most expensive ticket, or a flawless itinerary.

You just need to go.