Now “stuff” is getting real!
The history of this area as a travel destination is fascinating. My kids will tell you I never miss an opportunity to learn about the history of places we travel. (“Historical Monument ahead!! Pull over!”) Now you are compelled to suffer the same fate…
When the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railroad was finished in 1885, CPR wanted to develop share the stunning landscapes now accessible by train. Banff was among the first locales chosen after hot springs were discovered near the railroad line. “Taking the waters” was very popular among the wealthy class as a healing and rejuvenating regime. Advertising went out to extoll the area. This shot was the iconic advertising illustration.
World-class hotels were built, including Banff Springs and Lake Louise, to entice visitors. As more folks poured into the area by train, it was clear that even more would be arriving by automobile eventually.
The government moved early on to protect these pristine areas, and took the USA’s “Best Idea” to establish the National Park Service. This was generously funded and had strong leadership. This is their headquarters, founded in the 1920’s and is still functioning today.
Lecture over…
Driving towards Banff it’s impossible to miss the vast swaths of burnt forests. 2003 was the worst fire year in history. The understanding now is, just like California, a century of fire suppression has hurt our forests, not helped.
Arrived in Banff, and after setting up the campsite, went into town and planted ourselves at a restaurant with wifi. It’s embarrassing to admit how we are so dependent on this, but we mostly wanted to post some stories about our trip so far. That devolved into an argument discussion about the website and how we wanted to share our story. Had dinner, and a “few” cocktails while we tried to download photos and text.
Next day, Andy’s birthday! Still rainy, but not to be deterred we took a hike to see the HooDoos, then went into the town of Banff. It’s essentially 4 square blocks of tourist enticements, but is very contained. Walked about, went to the Surprise Corner – a place where the river bends suddenly as the Bow River joins the Spray River, resulting in a waterfall. You can see the Banff Springs Hotel in the distance where it has stood for 100 years. Then back to camp for birthday dinner.
Tuesday the plan was to visit Lake Louise and Minnewanka Lake. Shoutout now to an amazing product Andy brought along. It’s an app called GyPSy Tours, a play on GPS. You plug in your route, and a narration begins. The GPS driven tour guide describes the history of the places you are looking at, specific traffic directions, lots of local color, and guidelines. And it’s all in real time as you drive along. We feel like we have our own private tour guide…
Lake Louise was, duh, gorgeous. We walked around the lake, listening to a multitude of languages from other folks on the path. The water is famously turquoise, as it is fed by a glacier. The “rock flour” that is in the water reflects the light at the blue end of the spectrum. It was a cloudy day, and the lake was still mostly frozen, so we didn’t get the whole experience, but no complaints.
We scored parking at Moraine Lake, not an easy task, so were able to spend some time there as well. Climbed the Rockpile to get the perfect view. This lake was also frozen, and hardy folks were walking out on the ice.
We also made our first official wildlife sightings, and updated our map to include British Columbia and Alberta.
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