Smokin' Banff

Our time is growing short in Banff Provincial Park, so naturally we needed to visit the town of Banff!

Of course, the landmark attraction in the hamlet of Banff is the Hotel. The name is capitalized because in this area, there is only one Hotel! We wandered through town and arrived at the Hotel grounds.

Of course, smoke continues to billow over the mountains from fires in BC that we now know are only about 95 miles west of Banff. The Hotel is now named the Banff Springs Hotel, and was opened for business on June 1, 1888. Built as a grand resort hotel at the instigation of the owner of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, one William Cornelius van Horne. The Hotel is located above the falls of the Bow River and near hot springs. It looks east up a valley toward Mt Rundle; a fantastic vista from what we saw of photographs but completely obscured by smoke today. The Hotel has gone through a number of renovations and re-do's over the years, and has evolved into a complete resort experience, something that the first European settler in the area, William Davidson, could not have imagined when he named the area after a town in his native Scotland. Banff has indeed changed!

A photo of the grand entrance is impossible for the casual tourist, but several of the wings are impressive! We took one pic looking up the valley from the grand patio.

Of course there is a shopping concourse with all the high dollar stores one would expect in a hotel where the rooms start at $472 USD! This gift shop had a gorgeous pair of eagles carved from Moose horns. Wish we had the room to display them!

The grounds are impeccably landscaped and maintained. One flower bed caught our eye with it's vibrant colors.

Leaving the Hotel, we drove to the Falls of the Bow River. This is one of the reasons that the hotel was constructed here, and carriage tours were conducted from the Hotel to the Falls in the early 20th century.

A kind asian couple took our picture (had to prove we were here!).

Banff is only 14 km from our "home", so after navigating the main street of Banff, an area where there are more human bodies per square foot than in any area we've yet seen in Canada, we decided to pass on eating lunch there, and drove home to sample the menu at Patrino's Italian Restaurant. Returning home to Sasha, we went on a long walk with her into downtown Canmore, along the Bow River, and back, a distance of some three miles. This was the highlight of our day!