Monday 22nd May
It was a good day to be leaving Jasper as the clouds and rain had arrived. We’d been very lucky with the weather thus far, a bit too lucky with the heat in some places, so we can’t complain at all but just hoping there wasn’t going to be too much rain for our long drive today along the picturesque Icefields Parkway down to Banff.
We got away from Jasper at 8 am with one last stop at Andromeda for Mark to get a coffee. The weather wasn’t fully on our side today for the scenic drive as there was a fair bit of mist and some rain along the way which hampered visibility. We were lucky that the first main shower of rain held off until the end of our skywalk though. This was the main stop on our journey as we had booked a 10.30 am time slot to experience the Columbia Skywalk: a glass bottom walkway that extends out at an elevation of 280 meters above the valley floor. The main mountain peak here is also the location of the world’s one and only Triple Continental Divide: meaning a mountain where the water runs off into three different oceans. In this case, the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans. It was bit spooky walking out across the glass floor but worth it for the views.
The scenery along the way was still spectacular, despite the weather, and perhaps even a bit more dramatic with the misty cloud. There are many un-captioned photos below because the whole trip is essentially one big picture-postcard opportunity and so we just kept snapping. The melting snow made for some rather impressive waterfalls and rapids and there were magnificent mountain vistas and numerous lakes along the way. We were lucky that the rain seemed to hold 0ff for us at all of our numerous photo stops. The highlights for our us were Peyto Lake, for its spectacular blue color, and Bow Lake which was still partly frozen.
It was around 4.30 pm by the time we arrived into Banff and we immediately got positive vibes from the place; Mark finally got his Alpine Village fix! We found our accommodation easily and were very pleased with the spacious, clean and most comfortable lodging. This is a place I would highly recommend.
It was almost 6 pm before we wandered out for the 10 minute stroll into town and on to Banff Avenue, their version of a High Street, and where part of the road is closed off for pedestrians only. There was a lovely, almost festive, atmosphere here with people of all ages out enjoying the town and quaint Alpine Village-style shops, cafes and restaurants. I even found the Lululemon store so my ‘hypothesis (see previous post on Jasper) is holding as valid for now. I wonder if Booking.com, VRBO and AirBnB might consider adding a Lululemon metric into their filters?
Our first stop along our stroll was to Earls to reserve a table for the following night and, then, no surprises where our second stop was? To a brewery. The Three Bears Brewing Company had a great vibe and we had only intended to stay for one drink but ended up staying for dinner. They even had cloth napkins which I thought was pretty good for a brewery! We’ve found in our travels that there seem to be more Australian in Canada than Canadians and the brewing company was no different. There were several Australians working there and the guy that served Mark his beer was a Collingwood supporter from Melbourne! Rain was forecast for later in the evening so we headed home after dinner for an early night. It had been a long and full day and we have an early start with a tour tomorrow morning at 8 am.
With our lovely apartment and having such a beautiful town on our doorstep I kind of wished we had longer here than just our three nights.
