Early September in Banff could not be more beautiful. When thinking about packing for the weekend, layers are key! The mornings and evenings were refreshingly chilling (~50s °F), while the warmth of the sun heated things to the high 70s (°F). Here’s a look at what we packed for the weekend:

Clothing Essentials

• Tops
  • short sleeve (3)
  • lightweight long sleeve or light flannel (1)
  • thick sweatshirt / puffer / vest (1)
  • rain/shell jacket (1)
  • casual dress / top for dinners (1-2)
• Bottoms
  • shorts and/or athletic dress (1)
  • leggings / joggers (2)
  • casual pants for dinners (1)
• Footwear
  • comfortable hiking boots
  • camp shoes (sandals / light weight sneakers)
  • shoes / booties for dinner
  • thick hiking socks
• Other
  • swim suit (for lake swimming / hotel hot tub if you’re up for it!)
  • hat (wide brim or baseball)
  • warm hat (for chilly mornings or high altitude hikes)
  • gloves (for chilly mornings or high altitude hikes)
  • sunglasses
  • sunscreen
  • cards (for any lounge time)

Gear / Equipment

• Water pack – we initially ordered this 50 oz size and this 70 oz size, both were great size just depends on preference
• Fanny Belt Bag for the lake paddles and casually walking around town. There are plenty of options out there, but I found this option was a great inexpensive alternative to some of the Lululemon / Alo Yoga versions.
• This phone tripod was compact and perfect to fit into our day packs. We liked being able to capture some photos of just the two of us on the less populated hikes, and the bluetooth remote was super easy to use. The only downside was that it was hard to find a flat surface on some of our hikes, so something like this option that is more flexible with the rocks could have also been good.
• Sunscreen