Banff TR (NSR)

[The AD]

My wife and I drove up to Banff last Wednesday and returned yesterday. It was raining when we left Seattle and more or less rained the entire drive, and pretty much the whole time we were there!

It's about a 600 mile drive from Seattle and it took us just under 12 hours including about an hour stop for lunch in Kamloops. I'd say in ideal conditions with only short stops for gas the drive could be made in under eleven hours, maybe even ten if you haul ass. It's a haul, though. We drove the Trans-Canada highway from Abbotsford, BC to Hope, then the Coquihalla Hwy to Kamloops and the Trans-Canada from there to Banff. I suggest stopping at Earl's in Kamloops. The waitresses are hot (is this wrong for me to say considering the trip was to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary? )

Anyway, as you can see from some of these photos, the weather sucked. So we got to pay high-season prices for low-season weather. We stayed at the Ptarmigan Inn which is a decent hotel, but not cheap. It's kinda midrange for Banff. Staying in Banff in the summer is not a cheap proposition if you stay in a hotel.

Here's a shot looking down Banff Avenue
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson...anff_ave00.jpg

This is a shot looking down at Banff from Mt. Norquay. That's Mt. Rundle on the left, which looks so spectacular in the winter shots you see taken from approx. this location.
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson/images/norquay.jpg

We went up to Lake Louise on Friday and hiked to Lake Agnes. This is a good hike if you have kids or a non-hiking person in your group. For anyone who hikes at all it would be considered very easy, for people who don't it's doable. They might complain some, but they'll make it! I think it's around 4 km each way with a 400 m elevation gain.

Here's a shot of the mountains from the trail during a rare sunbreak!
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson...lake_trail.jpg

When you get to the end of the hike there's a very cool waterfall and a teahouse that serves tea (duh) and various light snacks.

Here's the teahouse:
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson...e_teahouse.jpg

I just noticed you can see a camp robber jay in the tree in front of the teahouse. I'm sure these are a familiar (and possibly annoying) sight for anyone who skis in the PNW at least.

Of course Lake Louise itself is an amazing sight. Here's a photo of me looking damn stupid, but you can see the color of the lake:
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson...ake_louise.jpg

Another example of area pricing: you can rent a canoe for a paddle on Lake Louise for a mere $32/hour. Of course it is Canadian dollars, right?

We also went to Moraine Lake which is also a spectacularly turquoise mountain lake ringed with mountains. Too bad it was raining

The Cascade Gardens in Banff are worth a stroll. They're just on the other side of the river from downtown.
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson..._gardens00.jpg

Finally, here's a shot of the Bow River with mountains in the distance
http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson.../bow_river.jpg

Both the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise are worth walking through. Both are very impressive, but I like the Chateau better. Has a much lighter, upbeat character compared to the stuffy, castlelike Banff Springs.

If you go to Banff and want lots of dining, shopping and drinking options stay in Banff proper. If you want more seclusion and nature stay at Lake Louise (somewhere other than the Chateau), or there appear to be some cool cabins, etc. along the Bow River Parkway that parallels the Trans-Canada between Banff and LL.

I'm still primarily a film man, so I expect to have much better photos when I get the film developed, but I like to bring the digital along for some quick shots that I can post immediately. It really is an amazing area up there. You could spend a long time exploring the area. If the weather was good it would really be spectacular. We were a little disappointed we didn't see much wildlife. We did see a group of Bighorn sheep at the top of the Sulphur Mountain gondola, but that was it for large mammals.

Sorry we didn't meet any local maggots. Given the context of the trip my wife didn't seem real interested in meeting any "weird internet people!" I'll shape her up, though, for next time!

[JR]

Uuumm. You don't need to travel to Kamloops to get to Banff. You could probably cut off two hours by taking a more southerly route.

[The AD]

I know you don't need to go through Kamloops, but a few people suggested that was the quickest route. What way do you think would be faster?

[Eldo]

Excellent photos! Too bad about the weather. It has truly been a sucky summer up here. But it sounds like you guys got out and did a lot of stuff anyways, in spite of the rain.

In a way you were actually better off than most people who visited Banff last year. With all the forest fires during the summer you couldn't see a thing! Not even halfway up most of the peaks when it was at its worst. And the air was foul to breath.

Now imagine all those peaks covered in snow.

[L7]

Originally posted by The AD
Given the context of the trip my wife didn't seem real interested in meeting any "weird internet people!" I'll shape her up, though, for next time!

Clearly she was referring to powslut and mtnlion here. I, on the other hand am merely annoying.

Too bad about the weather, it's been crap the last little bit. Good that you got out any ways because sometimes the best views come in 'those little sun breaks'

September is a good month, generally good (cool) weather and fewer people.
Deer Lodge is a nice pick up by Lake Louise, it's the last one before the chateau. Castle mtn village and Baker Creek bungalows are two picks along the 1A highway. I hope you made the drive up towards Jasper. Another good stop is Takkakaw falls down in Yoho Park.

Other ways to get here could be through or past Spokane and head north towards Revelstoke or stay in the states if roads are good and come west to 95. Checking out Glacier Park (adjacent to Waterton in Canada) would also be a nice side trip in similar time and length.

[The AD]

Originally posted by L7
I hope you made the drive up towards Jasper.

No, not this time. I've heard it's great, though. If we had a little more time we definitely would have done that.

[powslut]

Originally posted by L7
Clearly she was referring to powslut and mtnlion here.

No argument coming from this side...

It's really wierd seeing a trip report with pics of the things that i see and do on a daily basis. guess i'm pretty lucky.

[dipstik]

Most beautiful place in the world as far as I'm concerned. Great pics.

[Ski Beaver]

Banff - Main Street January 2004;

http://www.biglines.com/photos/blpic19461.jpg

Banff - Main Street - August 2004;

http://home.comcast.net/~seussnelson...anff_ave00.jpg

[The AD]

Originally posted by Ski Beaver
Banff - Main Street January 2004

Where's all the snow?

[Ski Beaver]

Exactly what I was thinking - it turned up around the 20th of January - in a pretty big way too.

[mntlion]

Originally posted by L7
I, on the other hand am merely annoying.

Hey, you said it!

thanks for picking up the jeep parts for me

[JR]

Originally posted by The AD
I know you don't need to go through Kamloops, but a few people suggested that was the quickest route. What way do you think would be faster?

Across Washington to Spokane, into Idaho and north to the Eastgate border crossing and then north through Cranbrook to Banff.

[The AD]

Originally posted by JR
Across Washington to Spokane, into Idaho and north to the Eastgate border crossing and then north through Cranbrook to Banff.

Well, I guess we'll have to try that route next time. Although I'm thinking a better route would be fly Seatac to Calgary then drive from Calgary! A 600 mile drive didn't seem like a big deal when I was younger, but now it pretty much sucks.

The more southerly route would probably be better in the winter, too.

[Woodsy]

wish I had pics from my Banff trip
the Backside of Lake Louise,
the hockey fans,
partying/working MTS
shots with powslut,
the grey room ( do they let you have cameras in there?)