Banff National Park: Get Your Wanderlust On
Jagged peaks, violent glaciers, aqua-blue lakes, fall colors, astral phenomenon; the Canadian Rockies are a special place.
We filmed Epic Trails at a perfect time of year. In late September/early October, the fall colors were in peak form. The week before our arrival, the mountains around Banff received over a foot and a half of snow. But when we showed up, the skies were clear, the days were warm, and the nights were crisp and cold. 
The biggest highlight for me was getting to see the Northern Lights. I woke up in my tent one night as nature was calling. It's never fun to get out of a nice warm sleeping bag. But I grudgingly got up. And as soon as I exited my tent, I couldn't believe what I was seeing! The night sky was literally pulsing with light. 
Before I went to sleep, I had set up my camera to shoot a timelapse of the night sky. I had no idea what sort of magic I was about to capture. There had not been any Aurora warnings in the days leading up to our backcountry excursion. So we were caught by surprise when the Aurora Borealis moved in overhead. Before I went back to sleep, I debated checking my camera in order to shoot the event. But I didn't want to disturb my camera as it was still in the middle of shooting whatever magic it was shooting. In the morning, I raced down to where I had left my camera overnight. It was completely covered in frost. But luckily, it had been successfully shooting through the night before it frosted over. And I couldn't believe what I had caught on camera.
During the course of the Aurora Borealis, a band of light streaked across the sky. Someone on Instagram pointed out that I had shot something called a STEVE ray (not to be confused with a Stevie Ray Vaughn). A STEVE ray is a band of ionized gas traveling through space at a temperature over 10,000 degrees at a speed of 4 miles per second. Pretty impressive stuff.
I had never flown in a helicopter before. So I was very excited to get to do some heli-hiking. In Canmore, just outside of Banff National Park, one can hire a helicopter to drop you off high up in the mountains for a really unique way to explore the Rocky Mountains.[video width="640" height="480" mp4="https://www.erichanson.tv/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/helihiking480.mp4"][/video]
If you play your cards right, they'll even pick you up too.
One of the great things about working on Epic Trails is the opportunity to hike incredible landscapes with locals. In Banff National Park, Alison of Yamnuska Mountain Guides led us deep into the mountains for a spectacular multi-day backpacking trip. She works super hard, waking up early to cook elaborate breakfasts and to ninja-fight any bears we might encounter (no animals were harmed in the filming of Epic Trails).
Morning in Banff National Park.
This is just a taste of the goodness of Banff National Park. Unfortunately you must exercise a bit of patience before seeing the full episode of Epic Trails. But I am confident it will be worth the wait!