Beautiful Banff

On the last morning of my extended weekend I woke up in beautiful Banff, Alberta, the epicenter of the Canadian Rockies. I'd wanted to visit Banff ever since the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988. The weather this last morning was appropriately cold and overcast with skies threatening snow.

The town of Banff lies cradled between Rundle Mountain (see above) and Cascade Mountain. With fragmented shear cliffs on one side and a consistent slope on the other, Rundle Mountain appears as if the flat earth was stepped on by God causing the land to be tilted upward into its unique form. It looks like it would make the perfect sledding hill. Maybe I'll try it one day.

Banff itself contains the usual ski resort town collage of eclectic boutiques, expensive restaurants, sporting goods stores, and night clubs. What made it so interesting was the distinctly Canadian ambiance (and of course the incredible scenery as seen above looking across the Bow River bridge down Banff Ave. towards the pedestrian friendly downtown and Cascade Mountain beyond).

Then there was the famous Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel (see above) perched above the thunderous Bow River Falls. Once again, the rooms were a little out of my price range, but it was fun to get a sense of old fashioned luxury.

After exploring the town and doing a little souvenir shopping, it was time to head back to the USA. With clouds lowering and snow becoming more imminent, I took one last drive around the wetland protected Vermilion Lakes and looked back at my favorite peak, Rundle Mountain (see above).

Then I drove back through south eastern British Columbia and into Northern Idaho where the tamarack trees were at the peak of their color (see above). The smell of moisture in the air combined with colorful foliage put me in a good autumnal spirit (OTR, Innocence Mission, and Sigur Ros also helped).

Thus concluded another great road trip. I can't help but think how nice it has been to be in the Northwest where so many wonderful places are just an extended weekend trip away. I think I need to spend some more time back in the Midwest so I can recall some of the advantages of living there.