Fairmont Banff Springs

Rushed to the window when I woke up and was disappointed to see the clouds battling to cover the mountains. As we walked around town, we realized the cold weather from the night before, had no intention of leaving right away, so we appreciated the thick layers we were already wearing. After a huge and filling breakfast, we were off to explore Banff by day. We walked along the ice cold river. The path led us up to a view point from where we could see the impressive Banff Springs Hotel. The sun...

Day 1 We hike up to Lake Louise, about 7K, what a beautiful sight the lake is a real strange color due to the glacier behind it. Day 2 We drive up to Lake Louise and hike up to the Tea House. It's a difficult hike but the hot tea,hot chocolate with biscuits and honey make it all worth while. We pick up the trailer with the new tires put on Day 3 Drove to the city of Banff. We check out the Banff Springs Hotel, $800 per night, we decide not to spend a night there. We hike a bit after dinner an...

We caught a bus at 8AM to Lake Louise. Along the way we made a stop at Athabasca River Falls and then another stop st the Columbiia Ice Fields located at the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. That ice field covered an area of 325 square kilometers and was formed by snow that fell over 400 years ago. There were 8 glaciers on the field and we walked on one of them. At 4PM we arrived at Chateau Lake Louise and took a walk around the lake. On July 10th we boarded the train to Banff and...

I lucked out with a job in the jewellery stores of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, selling diamonds pearls and ammolite! Great fun! Unfortunately during summer (aka Bear Season) there's not much to do in Banff so I quickly got itchy feet. I met Helena during a day trip up to the Athabasca Icefield and offered her my couch (sleeping outdoors in Banff doesn't exactly come highly recommended, what with all the bears and rapists wondering around...quaint little mountain town? Think again!) In r...

Ha ha, finally some snow! We had rather an uncomfortable overnight train journey to get here (took about 16 hours from Vancouver to Jasper!)but when we arrived there was some snow, not a lot but enough! Apparently Canada is having a really mild winter this year which mean there's not much snow about but that is probably best for uas as it means it's not too cold! The only hostel that was open was about an hours walk from town so thought best to get a taxi there, rather than walk! When we got ...

Entry containing 4 photos titled: Cigar smoking, Enjoying the banff springs hotel, Fione, Suzzie and myself, Jamie and Myself with the cigars

Entry containing 1 photo titled: The Castle

Today we're in Banff. Bit bigger than Jasper and a bit busier. We decided to stop being tight and shell out for some camping at Tunnel Mountain RV Park. Enjoyed a proper shower and the use of the toaster, before heading off on a hike into town. We followed the Hoodoos trail, which took us along the Bow River to Bow Falls and the impressive and historic Banff Springs Hotel.

John and Helen's Diary We had an early start by eating breakfast in our room. We returned South on Highway 93 and saw several elk along the highway. We stopped at Athabasca Falls, beautiful, then continued South into Banff and stayed at the Elkhorn Lodge which was half way between downtown and the Banff Springs Hotel. We had a very long walk where we checked out Bow Falls, then downtown for dinner. Bob's Diary August 29/98 1,036 Km Route: Hwy #17E Destination: Ottawa Bob was up early as the e...