Jenny and I, until quite recently, lived in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, a very pretty part of the world indeed. What our trip to the Canadian Rockies has brought home to us is that in Australia we don’t really know what a mountain is! Australia is an ancient and very weathered continent, and no longer subject to the seismic forces which have created such spectacular geographical features as found in our Pacific Rim neighbours like New Zealand, the USA, Chile and Canada.
Our stays in Banff, and later in Lake Louise, have brought home this fact, and have been dominated by spectacular views of, and from, very high mountains, and we have enjoyed every second of our stays here.
To make this point, the highest point in the Blue Mountains, where we once lived, is 1189 metres. Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko in the Snowy Mountains, is 2228 metres. In Banff we took the gondola up to the top of Mt Sulphur, which has a 2451 metre elevation, and looked across to neighbouring mountains including Mt Rundle (2948m), Castle Mountain (2766m) and in the distance, Mt Robson (3954m). On the drive to Lake Louise we had more impressive views of Castle Mountain, while at Lake Louise itself we gazed up at the impressive Mt Whyte (2983m), Mt Niblock (2976m) and the extraordinary Mt Temple (3544m). Each of these, and their deeply snow-covered slopes even in early summer here, are indeed sights to behold. Welcome to the Canadian Rockies and in particular, the Banff National Park, where we saw some wonderful sights and took some amazing photos.
We arrived in Banff off the Rocky Mountaineer (see previous post) and were taken by bus to the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. This is an extraordinary hotel dating back to 1888 and built by the visionary Canadian William Cornelius Van Horne, the General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway, in an effort to encourage international tourists to visit and appreciate the natural beauty of Canada (and, of course, to do so using his railway). Looking something like a castle, and built from dour, grey stone, it stands as a sentinel on the edge of the Banff township. It has 764 guest rooms and suites, and provides 14 restaurants and many shops within its huge expanse. When you see the photograph it is instantly recognisable. Thank you, ATP, for housing us there on our tour!
Banff itself is an impressive town of 11,000 people, full of visitors and buzzing with activity. It was explained to us that because it is located within a national park, development is highly regulated in Banff and it is difficult to even buy a house in the town unless you have good reason to do so – and even then, there may not be a house available! We spent a lovely time walking along Banff Avenue, popping into the occasional store and getting a bite to eat.
In the afternoon of our first day in Banff we went white water rafting on the glacier-fed Bow River!! Well, green water rafting really – the white cascading and dangerously-tumbling water charging down Bow Falls was 50 metres above where our raft launched, and the green water, while swiftly moving and a little turbulent, was not dangerous and it was a very enjoyable 8km ride down the river on a float raft. Our guide was a powerfully-built self-professed ‘river man’ who did all the steering with two large oars, straining at times to cross or regain the current, all the while avoiding the fallen trees and snags and manoeuvring us into the safe channels. While enjoying the quietness of the river and the scenery (including the aptly named Hoodoos, (huge, sculpture-like rock formations on the river’s banks), we also had the opportunity to listen to our guide’s stories of sailing rivers the world over. Having disembarked from the raft, on our way back to the hotel, we spotted several elk resting under trees in the adjoining woods. A wonderful day!
On our second and final day in Banff we took the opportunity to take the famous Banff Gondola up to the summit of Mt Sulphur. This took a lot of commitment from Jenny, who has a fear of heights and who did not really want to go, but who nonetheless resolved that she would! She was so pleased she did. The views from the summit of Mt Sulphur are amazing, taking in two vast valleys, each situated between soaring mountain ranges. One of these contained the little town of Banff, with the amazing Bow River winding its way south-east into the distance towards Calgary and eventually, after several mergers with larger rivers, into Hudson Bay to the east. The photos we took of these views, some of which we have included here, do not really do justice to the spectacle that was laid out before us. It was simply breathtaking!
We also saw a little of the local wildlife on this excursion, including several small, friendly and very jittery chipmunks which frequented the station on top of the mountain. Most special however was what we spotted on the gondola ride to the top of the mountain – two wild grizzly bears directly beneath our gondola. Jenny spotted them first, and one of our two other companions in the gondola was quick enough to take some video on his phone. We have included it here for your enjoyment. These bears were apparently untagged, and close to a walking trail, and when staff at the top of the mountain saw this video they quickly swung into action and contacted the rangers. Grizzlies can be unpredictable and very dangerous.
Lake Louise is a beautiful turquoise lake which hosts another iconic hotel where we are staying as we write this, the Chateau Lake Louise, which is huge and beautifully situated. Lake Louise is a place that Jenny saw in photos and read about as a teenager, and one she has always longed to visit, so this ticked off an item on her bucket list. She was not disappointed, as the scenery is simply stunning, and she enjoyed walking around the lake and taking in, first hand, the majestic views she had only seen before in pictures.
The lake sits at the foot of huge mountains through which the Victoria Glacier winds and hangs magnificently above the lake. The hotel has been built to capture these astonishing views, and people come from the world over to hike, canoe, and just relax and enjoy this beautiful scenery. Since we arrived the weather has turned, and the previous day’s top of 22 degrees at Banff became just 12 degrees at Lake Louisewith a powerful and cold wind, rain and “haily, sleety stuff” (the words of one young man from Brisbane we met working in a store here) dominating the day. Our tour group visited nearby Moraine Lake for a short time (where it apparently snowed), but Steve had become sick with the turn in the weather and rest and relaxation was the order of the day.
Tomorrow we move on again, the next stop being Jasper in the Jasper National Park, where we will go onto one of the many spectacular glaciers found in the Canadian Rockies. Our next post will probably be in about a week’s time, when we have completed our tour of western Canada which also includes Sun Peaks, Whistler and Victoria. See you then!
Adventures for Two 