After our three days in Calgary, we swapped the city bustle for some mountain views up in Banff National Park.If you’ve ever seen Alberta travel pictures on Instagram or Pinterest, I’m certain most of those lakes and mountains are in Banff National Park. The pristinely clear lakes look a tad different in the winter months but the views are still spectacular! We decided we’d spend some time in the town of Banff as well as a bit of time driving around the national park for some hiking and scenic lookouts. BANFF: We left Calgary Monday morning and made the two hour drive northwest to Banff National Park. Alberta does this weird thing where they put gravel on the roads in order for vehicles to get traction. All the northerners reading this are probably saying, “What? Why not use salt?”. We asked the same thing. Apparently, Alberta uses a mixture of mostly pea gravel (97%) and a bit of salt (only 3%) because research showed that the salt tears up the roads and large amounts of salt entering the environment can harm plants and animals. Windshields on the other hand... Anyway, our drive there was smooth and clear but the next few days in Banff brought fresh snow for us to battle while we were visiting. We made it to Banff a bit after noon and found some street parking in the town. After lunch, we had planned to head up to Sulphur Mountain for some views but the incoming low, dark clouds were quickly surrounding the area and we decided to wait and see if the next couple days would work out better. With a freed up afternoon, we thought we’d visit the upper hot springs for a relaxing soak. The views were incredible and the hot spring water was perfect after a day of snowboarding. The following picture is from our GoPro. We’re sharing it so you can see the frost forming in our hair! It was maybe 20 degrees out and the spring water was around 105! After our soak, we went back into town for some dinner and then headed to our Airbnb in Canmore. The housing options were cheaper (and far more adorable) in Canmore so we decided driving 8 miles outside of Banff was worth it. Because we had a national park pass (our rental car came with it), staying one exit outside of the national park wasn’t a problem. Just be aware that if you want to stay outside of the park, you’ll have to pay the entrance fee every time you go back into Banff. Mountain views outside of our cabin were phenomenal!! I wish we would have had more time in Canmore to just enjoy this place. Tuesday morning was looking a lot clearer so we headed back into the national park to see if the Sulphur Mountain gondala would be open. It was and the receptionist said, “GO!” So we bought our tickets and headed to the top floor for lookout views before it got crowded. It was breathtaking. I hope these photos can showcase a tiny bit of how incredibly beautiful it was up there. We explored the whole lookout platform and then headed inside to the Sky Bistro. Because we got there when it opened, we were dining alone for a good 20 minutes. We ordered some cappuccinos and sipped our coffee while taking in the views. The food there was good, not great, but reasonably priced considering the atmosphere. After lunch, we left Banff to do some hiking in Johnston Canyon. More on that later, along with our stay at Lake Louise! Banff, you were beautiful!
Until Next Time, C+D
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6/30/2023 11:31:10 am
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