Part Five: In which we drive through Kootenay National Park, arrive in Banff at last, relive our Honeymoon and enjoy the scent of sulfur in some hot springs.
Day 8 - Thursday, August 4:
We had a long drive ahead of us to Banff, so we skipped making breakfast at the campground. We still stopped at Tim Horton's for breakfast though (think Starbucks - coffee and baked goods). After a few hours of driving, we stopped briefly at Columbia Lake. It was pretty with the aqua water and reminded me of the view at Waterton Lakes with the mountains in the distance for as far as you could see.
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| Columbia Lake |
We also made a brief stop as we entered Kootenay National Park. Finally, after a few hours of driving we entered Banff National Park. The Canadian Rockies were huge, snow covered and beautiful. I think every mountain range has its own personality and this one was very majestic and rocky. I loved them.
Our first stop in Banff National Park was the town of Banff. Here we spent some time at the Banff Springs Hotel. It's an old railway hotel built in stages beginning in 1911. It's very similar in style and a twin to the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec. We felt like we were on our honeymoon again! It was interesting to note that it was so similar to the Chateau in style, yet a completely different stone which gave it a much darker look. The interior also looked like it had been recently remodeled.
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| Banff Springs Hotel |
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| Lobby of the Banff Springs Hotel |
We had about an hour to separate from the group and walk around. We wandered around the hotel lobby, shops, and grounds.
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| Flowers in the back grounds of the Banff Springs Hotel |
Looking for a snack, we stopped at a little grocery store where I discovered Crush Red Cream Soda! If you recall, I've been obsessed with red cream soda since first tasting it on our trip to Kansas City. Awesome! Not so awesome was the additional environmental charge and bottle deposit. I knew Canada did a bottle deposit but for some reason I thought it was already built into the cost of the pop bottle ($1.99). Oh Canada...
We met up with the group back at the car and drove the 15 minutes to Canmore where our hotel/condo was. We had a two bedroom condo with my parents and sister. Christine was really excited to have television again after a week without it!
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| Christine found the TV right away in the condo |
Later that afternoon, we picked up some picnic supplies at the grocery store and a 12 pack of Crush Red Cream Soda. They also had Lay's Salt & Vinegar chips which was very exciting as well. Usually the only salt & vinegar kind I can find in the U.S. is kettle chips and I hate those.
The other group decided to stay in Canmore for the evening, so mom, dad, Stine, Adam and I headed back to the town of Banff. There we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Banff Ave. Brewing Company. The guys especially enjoyed the in-house brewed beer. I enjoyed my poutine. Yum. It was
much better than at A&W!
After dinner, we headed up Sulphur Mountain to ride the Banff Gondola. The view from the top of the valley was amazing.
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| Riding up the gondola |
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| Looking down towards Banff |
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| The valley behind the visitor's center at the top |
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Looking down at the valley below
Photo by Adam |
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Zoomed in on the Banff Springs Hotel and Bow Falls behind it
Photo by Adam |
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The center at the top of the gondola
Photo by Adam |
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| Adam at the top viewing platform |
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| The gondolas |
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| Our ride for the trip or "whip" as Adam would say |
Once it closed at 9, we headed over to the Banff Upper Hot Springs for a nice hour long soak. It was a restored 1930s bathhouse consisting of a big hot outdoor pool
with naturally occurring hot spring water kept at 100
°F.
The sun was setting while we were out there and the view of Mount Rundle across the way was gorgeous. It was so relaxing. Whenever you got too hot, you just got out and sat on the ledge to cool off in the mountain air before getting back in. I could have stayed there much longer. It was like a hot tub without all the bubbles and chlorine that makes my eyes burn.
It was the perfect way to end our first day in Banff.
