Our last outing from Banff was to Kootenay National Park. We drove out to Radium Hot Springs but neither one of us had a bathing suit so we did not indulge. We had a quick view of the town and the visitor center and enjoyed some stops on the way back.
The Kootenay River
Some other miscellaneous things… A land bridge in the Kicking Horse River Valley, Yoho National Park
A cool canyon we came across someplace or other…
And a few snapshots of Calgary…
Ciao Canada! It was great!
One of the best things we did was go to Sunshine Meadows, a hiking and ski area just outside of Banff. We rode a gondola up the mountain for about 30 minutes and then got onto a chairlift that took us the rest of the way up the mountain to about 7,000 feet. The views were spectacular. It was a beauty day. We hiked back from the top down to the gondola station, along the Continental Divide.
Back at the lodge we stopped for some after hike refreshments. It had to be Poutine, of course.
On the way down we saw a purple gondola.
All in all a very good day.
Banff has many hotels and lodges and shops. There are a couple of museums. And a large expensive hotel. We went to the Banff Trading Post where I bought some earrings. We went to the Banff Park Museum and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies. And we dined at the Fairmont Hotel just outside Banff. We also saw lots of “Bears” scatters about. My son actually saw a grizzly on one of his hikes. Very exciting. I saw a black squirrel and some chipmunks. And some deer were crossing main street in Banff. Next time…
The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is a luxury resort originally built by William Cornelius Van Horne in 1888. Van Horne was a Canadian railroad magnate who built the first trans continental railway in 1885.
Around Banff…
The Bears…
Next time – hiking the Continental Divide…
I had planned on starting the trip with two days in Jasper, Alberta, but due to forest fires in the area, Jasper was pretty much shut down and my boat trip on Maligne Lake was canceled. So we flew into Calgary and drove directly to Banff. Banff is a tourist town. The main drag is hotel after hotel after hotel followed by shops shops shops. And none of it is cheap. The town actually sits within the Banff National Park and is close to hiking and skiing in the area.
Our first day we headed for Yoho National Park which is actually in British Columbia. We hiked to Takakkaw Falls, the third highest falls in Canada.
Still in Yoho we stopped at a very crowded Emerald Lake where tour buses lined the drive and parking was non-existent. There is a lodge with cabins along the lake on one side. We hiked up to get a better less crowded view. The lake and setting were spectacular.
Our next stop was back to Banff National Park and the famous Lake Louise. I was excited to go because I had heard so much about the beauty of Lake Louise for many years. At the Lake Louise Ski Resort we rode a gondola up the mountain for about fifteen minutes. At the top there was a viewing area where you could see across to the Lake and the glacier above it. There was nothing else up there.
Back down at the ski center, we had to reserve a time and buy a ticket for a bus to take us to the actual Lake. Between the gondola and the bus this put me back about $70 per person. We opted for a return ride two hours later. Luckily we were able to get on an earlier bus as that was way too long to spend at an over crowded lake with nothing else available. There is a large expensive hotel on the lake but if you are not staying there, they are not welcoming. We sat on benches by the lake and watched people take picture after selfie after picture after selfie for ever. Yes, the lake itself was beautiful and the glacier above is impressive but really way too many people. And we weren’t even at peak season. All kind of a let down. Luckily I managed to get some clear shots.
It was a long day but it seemed like everywhere you looked was another breathtaking view. Stay tuned, next we head off on the Columbian Icefields Parkway.
We were in Nova Scotia last week. A truly beautiful place. Here is a glimpse of what we saw in Halifax.
