Banff
September 16, 2023
Yikes! We drove into Banff, which was like dropping into a crowded theme park. Granted, it was a Saturday, so we deserved the traffic we got, but transitioning back to civilization is always challenging. We were glad to be in the truck camper to find a parking spot in town!
As always, we went to the Park Visitor Centre to chat with a ranger about advice, weather, and general information before catching some groceries and heading back north on the Trans Canada Highway to our campground at Johnston Canyon. I had picked this campground as a base of operations between activities we had planned in Banff to the south and the Lake Louise area to the north, which worked well for the week we were there.
On Sunday, 9.10, we drove to Lake Louise, and I made a good breakfast before we joined a Parc Canada ranger for a guided hike to Hidden Lake. It is usually a long hike with a steep, dusty road to the trailhead, but we got a shuttle ride to skip the road walk.
As we hiked, the ranger stopped periodically to talk about the cutthroat trout and efforts to preserve it.
The short story is about the cutthroat trout going extinct, so they found the perfect place for it (Hidden Lake), killed all the fish there, and reintroduced the trout. It was a full day with a stop by the lake for the lunch we brought.
On Monday, we drove east to Golden for the Skybridge.
This particular adventure was part of a discounted package I purchased through Pursuit Pass Rockies and I’m not sure I would have gone otherwise, but it was enjoyable. The plan for the day was to first sightsee at YoHo National Park. We drove up to Takakkaw Falls —a very steep drive with a switchback that vehicles over 24 feet must back up to maneuver. The Falls had a neat rooster tail, and it was a quick walk out to them.
On the way to Emerald Lake, we stopped at Natural Bridge, where the water eroded the rock across the river to form a cool bridge.
Emerald Lake was truly emerald, and we walked around the perimeter.
After that, a bit of a drive to the Skybridge, where two pedestrian suspension bridges span the kicking horse river gorge. It was a lovely day, and we enjoyed ourselves.
On Tuesday, we were at the Lake Louise parking lot before 7 am to get a parking spot in their RV lot. To get there that early meant we left the campground in the dark, which is not unusual, but as we drove through the parking lot, we were surprised by a giant black bear! We watched the sunrise over Lake Louise, then hiked the Plain of 6 glaciers trail up to Agnes Lake Teahouse.
The trail climbed steadily to the Teahouse, and we watched a helicopter making multiple trips.
We thought it was bringing food, but on arrival at the Teahouse, we learned they were emptying the pit toilets. We had hot chocolate and a snack – not the sandwich and soup we had anticipated, as the crew was primarily busy with the helicopter.
Then, we hiked to the trail’s end, past and on glacial moraines, where you could see six glaciers across the valley and on the mountains. It was spectacular!!
We hiked back to the Teahouse and had a piece of chocolate cake (they still weren’t serving lunch).
Not getting the lunch we’d intended left us a little flat on the hike back, but we met another hiker whose enthusiasm and joy were uplifting. He shared pictures of his morning hike and plans for his vacation, confirming that one of the best parts of travel is the people we meet! We shared our amazement at seeing one of the glaciers calve with a huge thunderous roar and our appreciation of all the beauty around us.
Now that’s one way to travel!
This chubby guy clearly gets food rewards for his boldness!
We drove into Banff early on Wednesday to get a picture with the Banff sign. There was always a line of people for this, and in the afternoon, the light was from behind the sign, so we knew we wanted to do our picture in the morning.
We walked the trail to Bow Falls and the overlook before going to the Banff Gondola, where we had tickets for 10:10 am.
The views from the boardwalk and stairs to the top of Sulphur Mountain were clear without the recent smoke! Northern Lights Alpine Kitchen had a delicious buffet, which we treated ourselves to at a table right by the window.
We drove to Lake Minnewanka in the afternoon for the 6 pm boat cruise.
The trip had no stops, but the narrator gave a great demo of how the “Stoney” people used hot rock to boil water and cook food!
Thursday, we went back to Lake Louise, where we had reserved early morning shuttle tickets to Lake Moraine. We climbed Rockpile to get the morning light and sunrise photos, then did the Larch Valley hike.
The larches were not at peak yet but in a lovely grove. Larch trees are the only evergreen trees to have their needles turn yellow/gold and fall off each year, so this area of Banff is famous for fall foliage (hike early!).
We started hiking the upper and lower Johnston Canyon Falls near our campground on Friday before sunrise. We got to the upper falls as the light was getting pretty and enjoyed the beauty and solitude, though it was chilly!
Our next adventure was a four-hour horseback ride to Sulphur Springs Mountain, and we ended up going under the gondola we’d taken the day before and then further on to Spray Creek. All the horses at the stable are rescued from auction and well cared for. From his lip tattoo, they knew my Arabian horse had been a Level 4 Dressage Horse, which is hard to fathom how he ended up at auction, but he was pretty popular with all the riders.
Saturday, we just had to go back to Lake Louise for one more gorgeous sunrise before heading to Calgary!
I did not mention that the young man we met on the hike down from the Teahouse walked with an unusual gait, which suggested some orthopedic issue, yet it didn’t stop him from hiking further than we did that day. His hands started at his elbows and had missing or misshaped fingers, yet he could scroll through the photos on his phone faster than I could. He will always be an unstoppable ray of sunshine in my memories. Banff is a beautiful gem of a place, but the real treasure is people like him.
Be unstoppable.