Irwins Mountain Inn Banff

... the field and be blown away.<br>After awhile in Banff I got a bit slack on looking for a job and started just going ice skating all the time and going on hikes.<br>Since none of the mountains are open yet and therefor no jobs are going I decided to take a trip down to Seattle and Portland to pick up my boards, Chris decided that he wanted to take me surfing at Westport so early on Saturday morning we where on our way out to ...

... much discussion we decided to hike out along Tumbling Creek which would take us back to the Paint Pots where our hike had begun. With mixed feelings, we set off.<br><br> <br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br ><br> <br> <br>There was a fair amount of ...

I was finally fortunate enough to have a nice day on one of my days off, clear blue skies, warm breezes.. fantastic day really. So I decided to get outside and went for a 12km return hike, (with a bruised toe and sore knee I might mention).<br><br>I went through a place called the Johnston Canyon, which has waterfall after waterfall ...

... t wander in the lanes... much. We arrived around 7pm in Banff, checked into the B&amp;B, very nice place with king sized bed and a spa (that we just found out doesn't work!) and headed out to get anything to eat.. we hadn't had food since b'fast in San Francisco, so we headed to a bar, that was quiet, however served food. We grabbed some dinner, the burger was tasty, the beer cold and refreshing, and the waitress was ...

... put it: "it gives me a great sense of accomplishment to get to the top"). Despite the snowy trail, it took us only 1.5 hours up (resulting in lots of sweat and the need to dry our stuff with the hand dryer in the washroom...). But the view was just INCREDIBLE!!! Again, we wrapped up the day with some great food (Japanese) before heading to the bus stop via the Irish Pub ... We did manage to convince Greyhound to let us use our ticket one day in advance to go to Lake ...

... to see. Lake Louise was not as busy as we had expected which made it easy for us to grab a good seat inside Chateau Lake Louise for lunch. Right outside our window we could see the competitors creating ice sculptures with chainsaws and small tools. I don't know how they do it. Working in -22 degree temperatures with ice no less. We saw several dogs walking around with winter coats on and boots, I can see why.

... the top of Mount Sulphur instead. From the top, you have a 360 degree view of the Rockies. It was awesome! A great end to our last day (and another very full day) at Banff. We ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory again, as their food and view are great and so are the prices as compared to the other hoity-toity restaurants in the area. Well, we're getting up early for some last-minute sight-seeing tomorrow, so it's time for bed. Good night!

The day dawned just as windy as the night before ended. Closing down the trailer was a cold adventure. Soon we were on the way to Canada. Crossing the border was fast and easy. However, the clear skies we had in Shelby soon turned dark and rainy. As we drove north we were periodically doused with rain and the prospects of doing any sightseeing appeared slim. The drive to Banff was ...

... but seeing as it was snowing outside we couldn't really have it out there. So, we bought a hot drink from the deli and proceeded to make and eat our bagels inside the Chateau - I really am surprise that we didn't get kicked out as it is more of a upmarket type hotel....needless to say we found that pretty funny. We tried our best to fit on with being prim and proper and trying to speak proper english (well ok, maybe we were just taking the ****...) The ...

... close. We walked from one end of the Lake to the other, about 2km. There are all sorts of hikes available to do around Lake Louise. But its really for the experienced and well equipped hiker. So we, in our jeans and woolly hats turned around and went back. Smart move I think. The next day we, sadly, had to leave Banff. We got quite accustomed to being surrounded by the Rockies day in day out. We really enjoyed our time here, and definitely plan to return. Maybe get some skiing in next time.