Banff.... Finally

Tuesday, 7/11/17 -

Overview of Banff

Our Banff curse is finally busted!  We rolled into Banff National Park Sunday without any mishaps.  The campground is again quite big, with over 500 spots in our area and over 600 in Village 1, but they are well set up and easy to get in and out of.  The space assigned is big enough for a much larger RV and a tow car.   Unlike Jasper, we do see and hear all of our neighbors.  The campground is basically rows of streets and RV's are parked on both sides.  All the sites have electricity and over half have sewer and water as well.

Monday, we woke up to rain but by mid-morning the sun was out.  Although the forecast called for more rain, it looked like we had a window for hiking.  Tunnel Mountain trailhead was within walking distance from the campsite so that became our choice.  The climb up the mountain was rated "easy" (not so sure about that) and the views were spectacular.  High above Banff you could see the town, river, ski runs, golf courses and all that the Banff area had to offer.  We lunched in a small cafe on the road before returning to the RV.   A herd of elk on the highway had the traffic almost to a halt. Just after returning to the RV a very strong thunderstom hit - rain, thunder, lightning and hail.  We were happy to be back in the RV before all of that hit.

The hotel at Lake Louise

Ted spent time inside the RV and under the awning getting ready for his upcoming ride.  The bike needed to be reassembled and all the equipment remounted.  Paniers needed to be packed for travel.

Today, we again woke up to rain but it cleared off by the time we drove to Lake Louise.  A hike out and around the lake and up to teahouse ended at a snow covered trail, so we returned to the Lake and hotel.  After again eating lunch out, we returned to the town of Banff to get the Bear Spray, (given the number of sightings, it seemed a wise choice and added minimal weight to his already loaded bike) and a few groceries.

Sign warning of trail closures due to high animal activity.
Note the bears on the left.

Returning to the RV, Ted now needed to pack the tandem and bike rack into the RV, thus shortening the tow length and making one less thing for Beth to worry about as she and Nick start the drive to MO.   The afternoon clouded up and a few drops of rain hit but nothing like the storm yesterday.

Banff is a very popular destination (like Yellowstone) and crowded with people and buses.  If we would do this again, our choice would be to spend more time in Jasper and some of the surrounding national parks and make Banff the shorter stop.

Tomorrow Ted heads out into the boonies on the Great Divide Bike Route.  The sign above is posted at the start of the trailhead.  The closure zone may impact his ride on the 2nd day, but there is an alternate route if needed.  58 days, 2250 miles and 150,000 feet of climbing to get back to Cuba, NM.