Day trip to Banff .....

Banff National Park ... Canada's first

Today, I took advantage of the stunning (but cold) weather to take a day trip to Banff National Park, which is Canada's first national park and the third to be established in the world.  As I climbed in the car at an early hour, with the thermometer reading 5 degrees below, I did have second thoughts but these were quickly squashed as I settled into the drive with the Rocky Mountains tempting me in the distance.  Nearly 2 hours later, I arrived with the sun shining and the thermometer now reading 2 below.

Banff Avenue

Bow River (Surprise Point trail)

My main priority in Banff was to spend some time soaking up the fresh air on a few of the numerous hiking trails, but many of them were closed due to a large fall of snow several days ago.  So, I stuck to the smaller trails near the township, with the LP's warning of crowded trails in my mind.  However, as I plodded through the snow (wearing highly inappropriate shoes), I barely saw another soul but did manage to see some stunning landscape and some wildlife (several deer and a greedy little squirrel).  The landscape is simply stunning and photos just don't show the beauty of the area or the stillness that you could feel in the middle of the forest.  The colour of the water is indescribable, it almost looks fake, so beautiful.

Spot the hotel ... not a bad spot, hey?! (Surprise Point trail)

Bubbling sulphur springs (Sundance trail)

Following a morning of walking, I headed to another of Banff's attractions - the hot springs.  At a warming 39 degrees, the water soothed my body as I admired the mountains, along with many others in the hot spring pool on top of Sulphur Mountain.

Bow River (Sundance trail)

Bow River (Sundance trail)

The township of Banff was fun to explore and I managed to do some shopping while I was there.  The discovery of a Body Shop was a highlight where I stocked up on moisturiser since the cold and dry air has turned me into a lizard since I arrived.  The second great discovery was a tea shop where I was taken back to China with the huge array of teas on offer.  I left with no less than 4 varieties - green tea with lychee, jasmine tea, creme caramel rooibos tea and a chaomile mix - and a gorgeous bright red tea pot.  When a girl is living in the middle of nowhere, she must take advantage of shopping when it becomes available!

Bow River (Sundance trail)

Bow River (Sundance trail)

The more I get out and about in the community, the more I notice the many Canadian quirks on display.  My top three observations for today are:

1.  Canadians like to speed.  Speed cameras are not a common sight and everyone has said to me "It's okay to go 10 km/hr over the limit".  So, as I was travelling along at a slow 120km/hr (hands gripping the steering wheel, mind you!), I was being overtaken and really did feel like the slow nanna.

2.  There are a great number of hugely obese people here and they are not afraid to show their bodies.  My experience at the hot springs has made me want to watch what I eat carefully and run more!

3.  It is hard to find a decent cafe here (or maybe just in these country places).  This afternoon, all I wanted was a decent bowl of soup for lunch but only seemed to find typical 'all American' places serving burgers, pizzas and pasta.  The bowl of soup I eventually found claimed to be 'baked potato soup' but came out as a creamy substance with no hint of potato and topped with flurescent orange cheese. Hmmm.

(All of the above are generalisations .... no nasty comments from Canadians please Melinda!)

Sundance trail

Upper Banff hot springs

Banff is definitely a place that I will be visiting again in the summer time.  The trails were beautiful, the people were super friendly and it is close by.  Now, it's time to think about work!

Deer in the driveway of Rocky Mountain Ranch (home)