This is the view from our hotel
room. We stayed at the Banff High
Country Inn. (http://www.banffhighcountryinn.com/) The accommodations were
just fine and, by Banff standards, the price was reasonable. An Aussie was manning the desk when we
checked in… The town was loaded with Australians working in various service
jobs!
This is a typical street scene in
downtown Banff…although when this photo was taken, foot traffic was
minimal. At other times there were so
many people on the street that it was like being downtown in a big city! As you can see, whatever direction you look,
you can see the mountains…
As you can see by the number of
photographers taking pictures…Laurie included…this clever bit of mobile advertising
parked on one of Banff’s downtown side streets got a lot of attention.
This is the AAA 4-diamond Fairmont Banff
Springs Hotel. It was a bit out of our
price range but we had to check it out.
Besides, it was on one of the few roads in the area that we could
explore!
The Banff Springs Hotel is a luxury hotel
that was built during the 19th century as one of Canada's grand railway hotels. It was constructed in the Scottish Baronial
style and it’s actually located in Banff National Park. The initial wooden structure was opened to
the public on June 1, 1888. In 1911,
that building was replaced with this concrete structure that is faced with
stone.
Here is the website for the hotel: http://www.fairmont.com/banff-springs/. The rates are a bit lower during this ‘shoulder
season’. During the first week in
November…Monday thru Thursday…you can book a room for only $270.00 a
night.
Trying to capture a photo that does
justice to the beauty of the hotel and its setting was challenging and it was
complicated by cloudy and rainy weather.
So…I copied a postcard that captured the scene!
The town of Banff is located within Banff
National Park in Alberta, Canada. It’s
in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, roughly 78 miles west of
Calgary. At an elevation of 4,600 ft. to
5,350 ft., Banff’s elevation is the second highest for any town in Alberta.
Banff is a destination for outdoor sports
and features extensive hiking, biking, scrambling and skiing in the area.
Sunshine Village, Ski Norquay and Lake
Louise Mountain Resort are the three nearby ski resorts located within the
national park.
The setting for the Fairmont Banff
Springs Golf Course is spectacular! We
drove along the gravel road that parallels a portion of the course. Stanley Thompson, who was Canada's master
golf course architect, used his extensive talents when he designed the original
18 holes in 1928. The course winds along
the Bow River under the snow-capped peaks of Sulphur Mountain and Mount Rundle.
In 1989, the course was further improved
and expanded with the construction of an adjoining 9 holes course.
This is Bow Falls on the Bow River. Banff is located just above Bow Falls near
the confluence of the Bow and Spray Rivers.
In June 2013, southern Alberta experienced heavy rainfall that triggered
terrible flooding throughout much of the southern half of the province along
the Bow, Elbow, Highwood and Oldman rivers and their tributaries. Calgary and Canmore were among the many towns
and cities that suffered heavy damage.
The waters of the Bow merge with other rivers and eventually they flow
northeast into Hudson Bay.
This is the bridge across the Bow River
that leads into Banff from the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel… Mountain scenery
is everywhere!!
Banff was first settled in the 1880s,
after the transcontinental railway was built through the Bow Valley. In 1883, 3 Canadian Pacific Railway workers
stumbled upon a series of natural hot springs on the side of Sulphur Mountain. In 1885, Canada established a federal reserve
of about 10 sq. miles around the Cave and Basin hot springs. As a means to support the railway, the area
was promoted as an international resort and spa. In 1887, the reserve area was increased to 260
sq. miles and it was named "Rocky Mountain Park." This was the
beginning of Canada's National Park system.
The area was named Banff in 1884 by
George Stephen, then the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was named after his birthplace in
Banffshire, Scotland, now simply Banff. The Canadian Pacific built a series of grand
hotels along the rail line and advertised the Banff Springs Hotel as an
international tourist resort.
This is one of the Vermillion Lakes along
the Bow River just east of Banff and along the Trans Canadian Highway. One of these lakes has a hot spring. Activities on and around the lakes include
canoeing, wildlife watching, hiking. Note: Another activity…at least during our
visit…was running from the voracious mosquitos that apparently breed in these
still waters! This was about the only
time we had a ‘bug problem’ during our trip… Beautiful views though…
Just one more view of the Vermillion
Lakes and the surrounding mountains…
Evening…and back in Banff…and the traffic
from the long August Canadian holiday weekend.
The road is wet and the skies are clearing. One of our waitresses described the weather
in the Canadian Rockies as being “Bi-Polar”…you never know what to expect and
the forecasters just don’t have a clue! “Changeable”
would be the best and most accurate forecast!
Just click on any of the photos to
enlarge them…
Thanks for stopping by to catch up on our
summer trip to Canada!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Gorgeous area
ReplyDeleteWe just came back home from a month away but we did not see big mountains as you saw in Canada. I have always wished to go to Banff and also to go on the train across Canada. I enjoyed reading your past posts. I have many pictures to download and need to start posting about our latest trip – although I never finished posts about our trip to San Francisco! We went to some restaurants during this last trip and I took pictures of the food, thinking about you. Thanks for coming to my pre-programmed posts. I did not take my computer with me but my daughter published all the comments. I just went back to real all yours.
ReplyDeleteDear Dave, Canada looks very beautiful. The scenery is just magnificent. Blessings, Catherine
ReplyDelete