Banff Canada — It Took our Breath Away

We left Shuswap Lake at around 9:30 and headed west toward Banff. We thought we were in the mountains until, about an hour later, the real mountains appeared. It was one of those moments when your breath catches and you marvel at the beauty of the view.

Now, we have seen mountains before. After all, we met in Colorado and got married there. And, we love Colorado mountains. These mountains, however, were different. They went straight up. They had craggy cliffs and jagged peaks. It’s hard to describe. And, the photos clearly don’t do them justice. But, let’s just say we were awed. And, for these world travelers, that’s hard to do. We now know why Lisa’s mom and dad so wanted us to visit, as they did thirty years earlier.

We only had two days to explore Banff National Park. So, we knew we couldn’t possibly see all it had to offer. But, if we could get in a couple of nice hikes, see some of the key offerings, and enjoy the views, we would be satisfied. We arrived at our camp on Monday evening. It was stationed at the base of the towering Mount Kidd. We set up camp and then set out to explore the area.

Those hikes we mentioned? Well, we were constantly being warned about bears. Not those friendly black bears we have in California. Grizzly bears. Signs told us not to go hiking without bear spray. That’s like super, ultra, extra-strength pepper spray. You’re supposed to carry it with you and have the presence of mind to pop off the safety and spray a charging bear in the eyes before he eats you. Even our campsite had constant reminders along with a big fine if you left bear “attractants” out overnight. Attractants are anything a bear might want to eat — leftover food, an ice cooler, Ralphie. That kind of thing.

Fortunately, we keep the Winona Rider equipped with bear spray so we were ready. So, off we went on two beautiful hikes. One began at Lake Minnewanka and headed up the canyon on the river that feeds it. And, one hike was from Tunnel Mountain to “the Hoodoos.” We learned about hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park so this hike held promise.

Before we show you photos of the hikes, we need to explain the aqua blue water you’ll see in the rivers and lakes. The landscape at Banff National Park is largely influenced by glaciers carving the stone in the mountains. As these glaciers move down the rock, they grind the stone into a super fine powder called rock flour. This rock flour flows in the streams, rivers, and lakes creating silty water. The stone isn’t bright blue, rather, it absorbs all incoming light except this aqua color giving the waters a magical turquoise appearance.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is the most famous site in Banff National Park. So, of course, we wanted to see it. We got up on our first morning and headed out to the lake. It was an hour-and-a-half drive so it took us a while to arrive. Once we approached the turnoff to the lake, signs informed us that the parking lot by the lake was full. We needed to go to the park and ride lot. Lisa, never deterred by these things said, “let’s just drive up and see if we can get in.” So, we drove up. And, we didn’t get lucky.

So, we drove back down to the park and ride where they summarily informed us that dogs were specifically not allowed. (I think they read our blog about Ralphie.) So, we drove home with the beautiful mountain views as our consolation prize.

The next day, we decided to head up at the end of the day. While we wouldn’t be able to get in a hike this way, we might be able to get in to see the lake. As we approached we got the same no parking available signs. Lisa, still not deterred, said we should drive up and see if we could get lucky.

We got to the top by the lake (You can’t see the lake from your car, by the way), and the same people that waved us back down the mountain appeared to be doing so again. But, no . . . They were sending us up to another lot right by the lake. We’re in!

It was worth it. The lake is all that was advertised. It was a bit of a cloudy day so the blue wasn’t as iridescent as it could have been. But, no matter. It was spectacular.

We went into the town of Banff one afternoon and, as we always do in a new place, bought a Banff Christmas ornament for the tree. While it was clearly aimed at tourists, it was clean and beautiful.

Canadians

We’ve spent the past week in Canada and, while the country is beautiful, our lasting impression will be of the people of this country. They were polite, kind, friendly and accommodating. Not just some of them — but, everyone we met were plain good people. Even the drivers were polite. When Brad mis-communicated an order at lunch, the wait staff were so apologetic that they got the order wrong, they brought out this amazing dessert for free and offered coffee and tea and water for the dogs. Now that’s hospitality, eh?

This trip so far has been an incredible experience. We highly recommend both Vancouver and Banff National Park for your future travel plans. On our way out of town we did, finally, stop at a Tim Horton’s. We do recommend Lake Louise. Tim Horton’s — well, you’re on your own for that.

Next, we’re back in America at Glacier National Park, Montana.