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. Before we jump into today's vlog, we'd like to say a huge thank you to Quip for sponsoring another video. Earlier this summer, we found the perfect travel toothbrush, and we liked it so much that we threw away our other toothbrushes after only using them for a couple of days. So since we're five months into this journey, we wanted to give you a little bit of an update about the things that we're still really enjoying. First and foremost, one of the reasons we were most excited to get these toothbrushes in the first place is because we both wanted electric toothbrushes, but we didn't want the bulk of having to carry around more cords, and that's because we already have enough of those to deal with in our life. We pretty much have to charge everything that we own, so it's super nice that these operate off a AAA battery. Another thing that we love about these brushes is that they come with this little mirror mount that also doubles as a travel case. But this is one of the things that I was a little skeptical about when we first got these. These have a little suction cup sticky thing that sticks to all the mirrors, but we are in a new place pretty much every single week, and I was worried that this would get worn out, but it has yet to fall off of a mirror. It still sticks like a charm. Another huge benefit for us is that we are definitely taking better care of our teeth. So these toothbrushes, when you push this little button on top, it vibrates for two minutes, and it's broken up into four 30-second segments. And I learned quickly that maybe sometimes I brush my teeth for two minutes, but there's definitely been times where I've been standing in the bathroom going, really? This is still two minutes. The holiday seasons are upon us, and you are probably looking for the perfect stocking stuffer and you can look no further because these brushes start at only $25, and you can get a $5 refill subscription that will be delivered every three months so whoever you get it for, it's like the gift that keeps on giving all year round. So if you use our link, getquip.com forward slash KarenNate, you can get a free $10 refill credit. And that link will be in the description below. Okay, now I want to show you one of the most beautiful places in the world. A cold one. Thank you. Made it. This is so fantastic. It is 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. Walking in a winter wonderland. Does it get any better than this? Sun isn't up yet. It's not blue yet. Come help me. We're not the first ones here. We got beat by a lot of other people. We got a lot of shotguts. Wow. 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 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 three avalanche warning, so we won't be doing that. Instead, there's actually another teahouse hike that you can do here at Lake Louise, and that is the Lake Agnes teahouse hike. And for those of you who don't know what a teahouse hike is, a teahouse is basically just a cabin in the woods that serves warm drinks and some snacks and kind of 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 gonna be okay for me. I have socks on my hands, so I'm in. 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 of bear spray. Which we realize in hindsight, we probably should have made sure we knew how to use it and that it worked. There's some kind of safety mechanism on here. But we are in bear country right now, and it's fall. So all the bears are trying to eat as much as they can because they're about to go into hibernation. So this would be the worst time of year to meet a grizzly bear. Feels pretty small, though. It's not the size of a can that matters. Believe it or not, we've shed layers, y'all. I've shed two layers already. 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. Some of you want to go right out there and break the ice so we get a good reflection. This is without a doubt, top three hikes that we have ever been on. And probably rivaled only by Everest and 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. It's a waterfall. It was awesome. Made it to the tea house. The view is amazing. We haven't seen the lake yet. I can't say words because my face is frozen. Going to get some tea. Or probably coffee, let's be honest. Hot chocolate and marshmallows. Madagascar almond spice. Ooh, a chai latte. The camera's so foggy. It's 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 the 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. Wow. Now we have an hour hike downhill. Woohoo! Whoa! I'm okay. You're okay? We've almost made it. Almost there. The lake is so blue. It's gorgeous. So we really wanted one of those 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 splurging for a good experience, but I just don't really think that's worth it. It's so pretty from here. An expensive Instagram picture. It's all I'm saying. Canoeing's kind of hard, you know? Wow, you really sound like a complainer. I'm tired. 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 of Banff. Which is where we're gonna 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've seen today. The huge. 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, like, 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. Louise always gets the short end of the stick. Overshadowed by her sister, Moraine. And so we're actually talking to a park ranger and we learned that it has been over 60 years since Banff has seen this amount of snow in October. So I'm feeling just super lucky that we got to experience this today. It was an amazing day. I mean, I think I always 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. 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 of days. So we're gonna end the vlog here. But we are so excited to explore more of Banff. This is incredible. I've gotta stop saying that. Say that way to me, guys. I loved it. One more, one more while you got it. It's so cold. One more while it's wet. Okay, you ready? Yeah. So Karen, whenever you watch this, I hope you're having a good day. Huh? Get a good edit. I'm talking to future you during the edit. Oh, okay. I'm warm. I'm so happy. Since I put a hand warmer in my sock, it works fine. I'm already sweaty. Yeah, I'm a little scared. Hey future Karen. 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. Want some chocolate? Not right now, I've got stuff to do. Mm, this chocolate's like kind of frozen. What's the plan? Delicious. 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.