Backpacking in Banff: Aug 29 vs Aug 30 (hard edition)
The last week of August 2026, I went backpacking to Mount Assiniboine starting from Banff Sunshine Village. 4 nights/ 5 days. It was stunning!! 28 kilometers each way. It was warm and sunny the first several days, then the 4th day the temps dropped a bit (Aug 29). We knew there was a chance of snow on our last day (Aug 30) so we luckily had packed proper warm gear.
However we never could've anticipated the amount of snow we woke up to on Aug 30!! I included pictures of the tent because we woke up early to my tent caving in with snow! All of these pictures were taken a single day apart (**exception: the last non-snow-covered pic I included is of Howard Douglas Lake from the beginning of the trip, to give context for the snow covered H.D. lake picture). The last picture is of me in front of the majestic Mount Assiniboine because it's iconic.
Overall, this was truly a once in a lifetime kind of trip. I think that waking up to all the snow on the last day made the trip all the more memorable. But we were definitely glad to only have snow that last day because we were pretty miserably cold and exhausted by the end. 10/10 would do again!