The town of Banff is freaking awesome. Located within Banff National Park, the town of Banff which is part of the national park is a separate municipality. Confused? Me too 🙂 It is pretty much like one of the villages within Yellowstone, but on a bigger scale. An outdoors enthusiast’s playground. Lots of bars, restaurants, shops, breweries, markets, bakeries, etc, all nestled within the Canadian Rockies in the Bow River Valley. When we first drove through town, it was a bit overwhelming and felt really crowded. But we quickly acclimated and figured out the best parts of town to park to enjoy the town with minimal traffic headaches. Pro tip – park on Bow River Rd — there is a 3 block stretch of free parking that is only 2 blocks away from the heart of downtown.

Our first stop in Banff was…what else…a brewery. We do have priorities 🙂 Banff Ave Brewery to be specific. They have great brews and food. We had the fish n chips — maybe the best I have ever had. They must use some special oil, maybe peanut, for frying because the fish was so crisp yet not oily at all and the simple homestyle frozen fries almost tasted like they were made from fresh potatoes. Or maybe I was just really hungry 🙂

The next day we went to the Cave and Basin Historic Site. All I knew was it used to be the site of a hot spring pool and had some rare, protected snails that live in hot spring water. What I didn’t know what was the hot spring inside the cave was the first site the Canadian government felt the need to protect and preserve and from that legislation the Canadian National Parks system was established and Banff National Park was born. Definitely alot of interesting history originated from this one place.

The Cave and Basin area no longer has a hot spring pool where you can swim and/or soak. But just a few miles away up the hillside of Sulphur Mountain is the Banff Upper Hot Springs. A nice soaking pool of hot mineral water with spectacular views of Bow Valley. I really like hot springs — helps soothes the aches and pains after a long hike or bike ride 🙂

We rode the Banff Legacy Trail to the town of Canmore. So cool to ride from one town to the next all on a bike path. Great views of the mountain ranges. Even spotted a black bear on the ride back — luckily it was on the other side of the fence that keeps it from wandering onto the highway. We really enjoyed Canmore — it is just as scenic as Banff with just as many cool shops, galleries, restaurants, bars, etc. But way less crowds. Shhh, keep it a secret, Canmore is better than Banff 🙂

We kayaked Vermilion Lakes. Another morning kayak where we had the lake to ourselves. There are 3 lakes joined by a small channel. The first lake flows into Echo Creek which then flows into the Bow River. The lake is surrounded by tall grasses which provides habitat for alot of birds but the grasses made it difficult to find the Echo Creek channel. We circled the whole lake and never found it. Oh well, it was still a nice paddle.

My next solo bike ride was along the Bow Valley Parkway. A 75 mile route from our campground to Lake Louise and back. My longest ride of the year. It was expected to hit 93 degrees in Banff so I decided to get up at 4:30 am to complete the ride before the scorching temps. Early mornings are really cold here so I froze my butt off, or more accurately my fingers and toes for the first two hours before it started to warm up. Spotted a coyote at Vermilion Lakes. I reached Lake Louise at 9 AM — perfect time for a 2nd breakfast which turns out to be the time everyone staying in Lake Louise is up and out for breakfast 🙂 So I had to wait in a fairly long line at Laggan’s Bakery but the line moved quickly and I had my breakfast roll and apple fritter. The ride back to Banff was very pleasant and rolled into camp around noon. Loved this route.

Our next hike we received more adventure than we bargained for. We hiked the Cascade Trail near Lake Minnewanka. The Lake Minnewanka area is known for being home to alot of bears and it did not disappoint. It was a cool morning with light showers. 0.75 miles into the trail we neared a bend and just around the bend was a big ‘ol adult grizzly. Right on the trail, staring straight at us. It was about 50 feet away. I stopped and waited to see what it would do. It definitely did not fear us for it resumed strolling down the trail towards us. I grabbed the air horn and blasted it. The ear-piercing sound stopped the bear in its tracks and it quickly ran off into the woods. Our hearts were pounding. Enough adventure for one day. We turned around and went back to the car and back to camp. Emi was glad I grabbed the air horn instead of my phone to snap a group photo with the bear 🙂

We had enough wildlife for awhile so our next hike was a bit more urban, starting in downtown Banff and hiking along the Bow River to Bow Falls and the Banff Springs Fairmont resort. All of the Fairmont resorts are incredible, but the Banff Springs may be the most awe-inspiring with its rough stone exterior yet elegant interior. We enjoyed an espresso and muffin before heading back.

I named my next solo ride the Tour de Banff. The route hit up all the most scenic spots the Banff area has to offer. I started with a climb up to the Mt Norquay ski area. Climbed Sulphur Mountain to the Upper Banff Hot Springs. Looped around the Banff Springs Golf Course. And finally, the Lake Minnewanka scenic drive loop. A good amount of elevation on this one so I was tired out by the time I returned to camp. The weather was great which added to the fun.

We returned to Canmore for a day trip. We hiked the Three Sisters Creek Trail hoping to get some nice views of the three stunning mountain peaks that comprise the Three Sisters. The hike was OK with a cool bridge over the creek, but the views of the mountains are better from the town. What made this hike extra special was the large elk herd that meandered through the woods around us, nearly surrounding us. But we made sure to keep our distance because amongst this herd was a big bull elk with a rack of antlers that probably measured 5 feet across. One of the largest elk I have ever seen. Since we are nearing fall and the rut which is mating season for elk, this bull elk was doing all of the signature rut maneuvers including pawing the dirt, rubbing his antlers against trees and making the signature bugle calls. Very cool to see but definitely on edge from our last bear encounter as well as knowing these are signs that can lead to aggressive behavior.

The following day we took a road trip to Calgary. We rode 30 miles around the city including Nose Hill Park, a large park of rolling prairie land and groves of aspen trees. The route circled around the north half of the city and finished along the Bow River which cuts the city in half. It reminds me of a larger version of Portland with all of the unique bridges crossing the river — some pedestrian only. Along the Bow River near the downtown area is Prince’s Island Park — beautifully landscaped with plants, flowers, and trees, a very nice urban park. The city of Calgary has invested alot into cycling infrastructure, not only do they have big greenway loops that go around the outer edge of the city with a couple of crossing greenways, they have so many little connector bike paths. You can literally navigate the entire city by bike and rarely have to get on roads with cars. Amazing and hopefully will become a guiding beacon for other city planners. We ended our day in Calgary with a walk down 17th Ave, one of the main drags in the downtown area and an early dinner at Trolley 5 Brewpub. Emi found an art store that sold her favorite color pencils so she replenished her stock 🙂 We miss city life so it is nice to get a little taste when we have the opportunity.

We visited the Johnston Canyon area along the Bow Valley Parkway. The hike up Johnston Canyon has several sections of trail that are floating walkways anchored into the walls of the canyon. Feels kind of freaky at times but a very cool way to experience the canyon. We had to turn back after the Lower Falls because a rock slide took out one of the walkways up to the Upper Falls. Since our hike was cut short we decided to do Moose Meadows Trail to Ink Pots. It was over 8 miles — a bit over our comfort zone but reaching the Ink Pots was worth it. They are streams that bubble up from sandy ground making for wavy effects in the stirred up sand bottom. The mineral content of the water creates a range of colors including orange, green, and various shades of blue. Just as stunning is the views of one of Banff’s many mountain ranges — this one a younger range evidenced by the jagged, sheer walls of granite that have not yet had the extra 1-2 million years of erosion. The Ink Pots reflect this mountain range which like I mentioned made the hike so satisfying,

Our next adventure was a paddle up the Bow River from downtown Banff including a side trip up Echo Creek. We saw some nesting osprey. The paddle up Echo Creek went under a small railroad trestle that was only a few feet above our heads. A big train did not come but a maintenance truck with rail wheels on it carrying a few rail cars of maintenance gear did go over the trestle. The leak in the bottom chamber of our inflatable kayak is getting worse — able to hold air for 20 minutes before it is nearly empty. We decided this will be our last kayak voyage until we get back to Washington. Our little kayak is dead — RIP 🙁 At least we were able to get alot of great paddles in some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers in both the US and Canada.

We can’t get enough of Canmore — back for another day trip. It rained pretty much all day so we just did a little 2 mile hike along the Three Sisters Trail — just enough to enjoy the outdoors but before the steady rain started to soak through our outer shells. After the hike we stopped in at Grizzly Paw Brewing Company — a very big, impressive building housing a tap room, restaurant, and the brewing operation. The building is constructed with lots of wood and glass so patrons can enjoy all the great views Canmore has to offer. The beer and the food was spectacular. We had the mushroom pizza loaded up with several varieties of mushrooms and cheeses — excellent. The food was a little pricey but well worth it.

On our last full day in Banff, we decided to do the Farewall Bike Ride. The route included the best of Banff — the golf course loop, Legacy Path, and the Bow River Parkway. A bit chilly at the start but quickly turned into a beautiful day. We even stopped for a picture at the very popular life-sized letters spelling out B-A-N-F-F. Along the Bow River Parkway, we made Backswamp our turnaround point. Not a pretty name, but don’t be fooled for it is a super scenic overlook — perfect Banff send-off.

The Banff area is special. I hope we return some time in the future. Next up…Kootenay National Park…stay tuned.