Day 11 – Banff, Alberta

Sleeping last night was much more comfortable – the addition of the new polar fleece blanket and some extra PJ’s for Lilo seemed to improve the situation. At this site, our tent is not in the shade, which actually seems to help raise the temperature in the early morning.

We did suffer a bit of a set back last night however, when we woke to find ourselves sleeping uncomfortably on the ground, instead of comfortably a few inches above the ground on a mattress filled with air. It seems we’d sprung a leak, and thus we trekked back into town to purchase a new air mattress – for the ‘bargain’ price of $58.

We also made quick stops at a couple of local attractions, that turned out to be big disappointments. First up, the Banff Hot Springs were just an ordinary looking hotel-style pool, which was filled with the mineral rich and naturally heated water of the nearby Sulphide springs. It was warm, 40C, and while the mineral-rich waters are supposed to be soothing or some shit, we had no interest in paying $7.50 and wasting an afternoon wading with hordes of other tourists in a pool that possessed all the natural beauty of an un-renovated Holiday Inn. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t even fake it – why not landscape the area to look like a natural stone-line spring-fed pond?

Two minutes further down the road, the Banff Gondola to the top of Sulphide Mountain was also a must-miss attraction. They wanted $25 per person for the 10 minute ride to the top, so it was back in Canyonero as quickly as we got out.. While we’re not living in poverty on this trip, such a long adventure requires a strict daily budget to keep the entire thing from becoming a massively expensive trip. Needless to say, $50 for the family to take a 15 minute ride to the top of a big hill was not in today’s budget.

Instead, we decided for the much more attractive (and free!) hike along the Hoodoo Trail beside the Bow River.


The trail followed the top of the Bow River canyon and offered amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the river which was over 1000’ below.


Again, not a very strenuous hike, but good enough for us. Lest I have fooled anyone with stories of our camping and hiking, Vone and I have not “gone granola,” and therefore a few kilometers and just a little bit of sweat is good enough for us. I guess these are more like long walks, but I feel much cooler calling them hikes. Though they dp seem to tire Lilo out.

After the hike, we headed back to Johnson Lake (site of yesterday’s hike) for a swim. The water was quite chilly, to be expected when your lake is fed from massive frozen chunks of ice sitting high atop nearby peaks. Lilo quite enjoyed the whole experience, and tired us out as she ran madly up and down the beach and into the water (with our balancing assistance, of course.

Tonight is another very pleasant night weather wise, and we realize that we’ve been very fortunate thus far. With the exception of an intense but thankfully brief storm in the Okanagan, we’ve avoided all rain and have been blessed with very pleasant temperatures. This will be our last night in Banff, and we plan to enjoy more star-watching and beer drinking beside the campfire – this time perhaps with some marshmallow toasting.