Banff
We traveled from Lake Louise to Banff via FlixBus, and learned that one reason for their low fares is that they don’t have any signage to mark their stops. But we made it to Banff without mishap. The town sits entirely within Banff National Park. It was very pretty, with mountains on all sides. It was also busy - the sidewalks were filled, even on a weekday.
Our hotel, Moxy Banff, was a fun place! It was family-run and family-focused, with games in the lobby and extra bunk beds in our room. We received poker chips at check-in, and traded them in for free cocktails at the bar. Our king-sized bed was right in front of a huge window with a view of the mountains.
We found a cafe for a quick and tasty lunch and then continued walking, through the center of town, to the Bow Falls Trail. The trail was shady and well-maintained, and followed the Bow River. The River was fed by Victoria Glacier and Lake Louise, and had a similar milky turquoise color. Alongside the trail was a charming “Art in Nature” exhibit, showcasing works by local artists. A few pieces were by Jason Carter, a First Nations sculptor and painter whose work we had noticed (and loved) in a magazine on the Rocky Mountaineer. On the mountainside above the trail was the historic (Fairmont) Banff Springs Hotel. The trail ended at the bottom of Bow Falls, which were really a cascading series of short but powerful waterfalls.
On our way back to town, we stopped at the Banff Park Museum, which was a historic building containing an impressively large collection of taxidermy. There were thousands of specimens of animals, plants and rocks found in Banff National Park. It was nice to be able to take a longer/closer look at the wildlife we had spotted during our train journey.
Back at the hotel, we did a load of laundry and relaxed with (free) cocktails in the hotel lobby. I loved the special drink with elderflower and Saskatoon berries. Then we had an excellent dinner at Fat Ox, where the highlights were bison bolognese and olive oil cake. As we walked home at around 9:00pm, the skies were still bright, though the mountains were in shadow.
I was glad we had seen this very different side of Banff National Park. In the morning, we would be leaving the mountains for an entirely different Canadian experience.
