We arrive at Banff National Park
Trip Start
May 29, 2009
1
25
114
Trip End
Oct 03, 2009
Banff,
Alberta,
Canada
Friday, June 26, 2009
After lunch, we went into the town of Banff. It is a tourist town with shopping of all kinds, restaurants, and gift shops. The traffic is awful – it reminds us of Gatlinburg, TN. After stopping at the information center to get maps and brochures, we visited a few sites that are around town. We saw Bow Falls. a pretty little falls on the Bow River, which runs right through town. As with all the falls we have seen, it was flowing very heavily from spring rain and snowmelt. Up the hill from the falls, we made our second stop at the Banff Springs Fairmont Hotel, a National Historic Site. An old railroad hotel, it was built as a stop on the cross country train route in order to get tourists to the area
Jane at Bow River Falls
. (The railroads in the USA did the same thing. Hence, the beautiful old lodges at Yellowstone, Brice Canyon, Glacier, etc.) It is a huge complex built of stone, and elegant inside and out. The last stop of the day was the Cascades of Time Garden surrounding the park administration building. The garden is terraced with a stone path up and around the hillside. It was fully planted, but too early to be in full bloom. The pansies, geraniums, and begonias provided a beautiful array of color.As we headed back to our campsite, we discovered a view point on the opposite shore of the Bow River. We had a totally different, but great, view of the falls and the hotel. Then, it was back "home" for dinner and a relaxing evening.
