Three Days in Banff

Between Arseny’s final IB exams and the Graduation itself, we had a few free days. Mostly thanks to Memorial Day.
The decision on how to spend these days was left to Arseny. He, out of habit, once again suggested Banff, and we just grabbed onto the idea. Why not? The season of crazy tourist crowds hadn’t started yet, the lakes had already thawed, and it’s relatively close. Besides, we had recently returned from a trip to the Florida Keys, and after beautiful Florida, one always desperately wants something as cool as possible.

I’ll clarify right away: in our family, the code word “Banff” refers to various parks in the Canadian Rockies, not the town itself, and not only Banff National Park. For example, on this visit, Banff itself was just a short stop.

We traveled in different ways — Roroсhka was a bit too heavy for the airplane cabin, and Arseny needed to return a day earlier, so Ilyusha and Arseny flew, while my mom and I took Aurorochka by car.

So, what took the boys just over an hour became a two-day road trip for us, with one overnight stay in the middle.
The drive to Calgary through Idaho was scenic, empty, and the border crossing even emptier (both ways we were alone at the border).

We got there without any adventures, looked at the mountains, at the largest truck in the world,

walked with Rorochka, and did exercises at every rest area.

The boys arrived in Calgary around noon; we met them at the airport and immediately drove to the town of Canmore, where we stayed for all three nights.
Last time we stayed in Banff, but we liked Canmore even more. Such a charming town!

Even before walking around the town and checking into the house, we went to Grassi Lakes. A short but extremely scenic trail to small emerald-colored lakes.

An amazing color, and a clarity that creates a lens effect. All the underwater rocks, trees, and grasses appear sharper and more convex than in reality. Beautiful.

It’s best to do it as a loop so you don’t repeat yourself. That’s what we did, returning to the parking lot via the interpretive trail.

After the walk, we had lunch at a restaurant. By the way, all the restaurants, bakeries, pizzerias, and ice-cream cafes in Canmore that we came across were excellent — I highly recommend them! (Especially Le Fournil Bakery — it’s amazing, we shopped there every day and tried everything, all of it fantastic!)

We checked into our house in the center and went for a walk along Policeman Creek.
This evening, like all the others, we spent in a wonderful warm outdoor pool.

The next day we started with a walk along Johnston Canyon. It impressed us more in winter, but even in summer it’s a place you can’t ignore!

We walked the trail to the end and then headed north to catch a bit of Yoho National Park. We explored Natural Bridge — there’s no official trail there, but you can climb on the rocks and walk along the shore for a long time.

We drove to Emerald Lake. I planned to walk around it, but the boys wanted to go boating. Unfortunately, dogs aren’t allowed on the boats. A shame — Rorik really loves boat rides and behaves well on the water. So we split up: we walked around the lake, and the boys went boating. Everyone was very happy. A wonderful place.

It was fascinating to watch how, with the slightest movement of the clouds and a change in viewing angle, the color of the lake shifted from dark leaden to light turquoise. One could never get enough of it.

Returning, we walked around town again and swam in the pool.

The next day we headed north again, this time along the Icefields Parkway

to Bow Lake. We probably walked around there for about an hour and a half. Incredible atmosphere.

After the lake, we went to Peyto Lake. A short trail to the viewpoint was covered with slippery snow; everyone was slipping, and there were already quite a few people. But the views, of course, were amazing.

Actually, in summer the water of the lake is more like emerald with a milky aquamarine tint, but the thin layer of ice still covering the lake made it dazzlingly blue.

The next stop was Mistaya Canyon — also a short walk to a place where you can roam for a long time without marked trails. Just along the rocks by the banks.

We returned and again walked and swam. Rested and relaxed.

On the last day before leaving, we went to Banff itself and hiked Tunnel Mountain.

A gorgeous, easy trail with views in all directions.

We had lunch in Banff and then drove to Calgary.
In the evening, we walked in a local park overlooking downtown.