Beautiful Banff National Park

Getting There

Our latest adventure saw us winging away to Calgary, Alberta to visit nearby Banff National Park, the original national park in Canada.  Coincidentally, Tim’s visit to Alberta means that he has now caught up to me in having visited all of the Canadian Provinces (barring Territories for now).  The trip was for the most part uneventful with flights on time or early.  I was impressed, and yet slightly horrified for my hip, to discover just how ENORMOUS Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP) actually is, which also made me appreciate the convenient lay-out of Hartsfield-Atlanta.  We completely lucked in on the upgrades from MSP to Calgary in that we maintained position 1 and 2 for the five seats going, with 16 souls waiting, 11 of them unsatisfied I fear.  And my karma caught up to me with children being passengers in First Class from Atlanta to MSP and then immediately behind me on the flight to Calgary.  They weren’t the worst terrors in the world, but I still am firmly in favor of Malaysia Airlines decision to BAN children from First and Business Classes on their aircraft!  I know, someone will get me for that one (vis-à-vis the Maude sitcom of the 1970s).

Arrival in Calgary Airport will be notable for two things: the gigantic Royal Airforce jet parked at the terminal (I assume British but I suppose it might be Canadian) and for the retiree age greeters who have donned bright red 10 gallon hats who roam through the airport giving advice and guidance to those who even slow down and look perplexed, much less those who pause.  Calgary is proud of its cowboy heritage as celebrated in the annual Stampede, although I am pretty certain that the real wealth comes from the north and the oil sands (tar sands depending on whom you consult).  Once we found the rather elusive car rental location and boarded our rather sweet Volvo wagon, we were off on Calgary’s excellent ring road freeway, past very new and very nice new developments testifying to the new wealth and on to Banff due west.

Banff Town

The road trip to Banff Town is pretty easy, freeway all the way, and only about 1.5 hours away.  Banff town is a mixed bag in that the setting is without doubt gorgeous but the town could also easily, and probably does in the summer, have a serious traffic issue.  I confess that tour buses sour me on a place and given the number we saw in off season, I must shudder as to how many there are in peak.  And I tried to temper my disdain of the tour bus set with the knowledge that in mere months I will be the trapped tourist aboard such in China.  The gift shops were the worst I have ever seen for tacky and pointless.  Why buy a ceramic penguin in Banff when penguins are an entire hemisphere away?  You might as well buy a moose in Chile.  Foul  t-shirts and senseless tat was the order of the day.  Perhaps not surprisingly, I failed to purchase anything beyond a map of Canada for my own entertainment.

Eating in Banff

Food was something that had to be purchased however and our first night we went with a Lonely Planet recommendation and chose Eddie’s Burgers and Bar.  The burgers were eclectic if you so choose or standard, but suffice it say that peanut butter and jelly were topping you could choose along with less foul options such as goat cheeses and other foo-foo concepts.  We went pretty standard but splurged on chili cheese fries only to discover that cheese mean curds and chili, Eddie’s version at least, included carrots.  However, despite the burger looking small and the fries, well, odd, it all really tasted good and was very filling.  It wasn’t cheap in terms of food, but the selections around town looked plentiful with lots of multi-ethnic options available as well.

I have to jump ahead here on the food topic and comment on our final meal in Banff which was at Bumpers Steak House.  If in Banff, do yourself a favor and stay far, far away.  The sign says that if you haven’t been to Bumpers you haven’t been to Banff, well risk it, and stay away anyway.  The service was abysmal, and surprisingly the food was worse.  The cow that donated my rib eye steak had may have been Alberta beef, but it had to be an old worn out dairy cow to account for the toughness that I could barely chew through.  The salad bar was essentially lettuce and carrot sticks while the baked potato was about the size and consistency of a golf ball.  Maybe not the worst food I have ever eaten, but I am puzzled as to where it was worse.  With all the choices on in Banff, we really should have chosen elsewhere as should you.

Would You Like Sushi With That?

It became obvious pretty quickly that Banff is on the well-traveled Japanese tourist circuit since many stores and restaurants were dual signed in English and Japanese, instead of the more expected dual English and French in Canada.  And of course one could gather from all the Japanese tourists at every sight aboard their buses that this is a popular nature spot for the adventurous Japanese traveler.

Lodging in Banff

Our lodging was the Delta Royal Banff Lodge, Delta being a Canadian hotel brand having nothing to do with our signature airline.  The property was lovely and our room was fine, even if the closet in the bathroom was a bit, well, odd.  There was construction occurring at the time, which was very audible from our room, but this issue was acknowledged in advance and we were offered comparable accommodation at a sister property a few doors away if we so chose.  However, the construction was only on between 10am and 6pm and we figured that we wouldn’t be sleeping during those hours anyhow, so we opted to stay and it was never a problem or a consideration.  If in Banff, you could do a lot worse than choosing to stay with Delta.

One of the things I did note as odd in Banff town was the presence of lots of Australian service staff.  We had two waitresses as well as the hotel concierge turn out to be Aussies which seemed odd to me since most all of the other service persons were Filipino or Canadian.  And given the relatively massive unemployment in Eastern Canada it surprised me that immigrant, much less Aussie, labor was being employed.  Ultimately I asked what the reason was and it turns out that Aussies and Kiwis (from New Zealand that is) are eligible for two-year “holiday work” visas.  These are reportedly very popular with Canada’s southern cousins who like to ski (in Australia, where would you even learn?) so there tend to be lots of them in Banff and nearby ski-nirvana, Whistler, British Columbia.  I have since learned, humbling me, that one CAN ski in Australia, in several different locations in fact, during winter of course, which means June-August in the Southern Hemisphere.

Mountain Majesty

But of course the point of coming to Banff National Park, and the adjacent to the north, Jasper National Park, is for the park scenery and activities.  And those are without question spectacular.  The scenery even from the roads is stunning with loads of ice fields, truly rocky mountains, and lush forest.  Glacial lakes of such clarity and blue that everything is reflected back in their surfaces.  Bow Lake for reflectivity and Peyto Lake for blue you can’t beat.  You are not likely to have the major sites to yourself but it is all worth it.  And the parks really excel and come alive for sturdy hikers.  The Lonely Planet book about the area lists 68 different possibilities and more probably exist.  It is a richly beautiful part of the planet and well worth your time.  In fact, I would go way out on a limb and say that if you could only visit ONE place in Canada, which would be a tragic restriction, but still, if that was your situation, I would say that Banff should be it.  And having travelled pretty extensively through the Rocky Mountains and environs in the United States, I would say that Banff has our version beat by a kilometer.  Banff is a quick study of the effects of glaciation that compete with Yosemite but the ice is still visible, and traversable by glacier buggy on Athabasca Glacier, provided you have a stomach for crowds and deep pockets.  Really, it is that wonderful and I will allow Tim’s magnificent photos to tell the scenic tale from here.

Returning Home and Final Thoughts

We drove out on Friday evening, having seen what we came to see but knowing that much more existed for those more suited to hiking and severe exertion that we were, satisfied and awed.  Due to a very early flight out of Calgary we opted to stay in Calgary the night prior, and we opted for the airport-adjacent listed, although in reality about 6 kilometers way, Sheraton Four Points.  It was a lovely property, very modern and light with very high ceilings (and yet another Aussie bartender).  We rounded out our adventure with a meal at the WORST Indian restaurant ever in the history of creation, really, don’t go to Zaika Biryani Restaurant in Calgary, followed by easing anticipation of the new iPhone 5 that awaited each of us on return by visiting a local Best Buy to shop for new covers.  Mine is spiffy blue of course.

Overall, the trip was a huge success with Banff pleasing just as much or more on the second visit, for me, as on the first so many years ago when it was practically an accidental discovery.  If you have the chance, and the inclination, I can’t recommend Banff, and larger Canada in fact, highly enough.  I think there is something there for everyone and that everyone with a pulse couldn’t help but be moved by the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies best exemplified in Banff and Jasper National Parks.