eenusa

Greetings. My husband I will be in the Banff area for 6 days in mid-July, excluding day of arrival and departure. We will be based at a hotel in Banff for the duration. The postings I have read so far seem to be for people who are staying at different places during their trip. I will continue to peruse the postings for ideas, but since we will be returning to Banff at the end of each day, I was wondering if the experts here can help me put together a list of the not-to-be-missed sights/activities we should plan on covering with suggestions on how best to group them together. We do not mind driving relatively long distances if necessary (when we lived in Seattle, for example, we drove to Vancouver just for the day – but that was when we were much younger -- LOL).

We enjoy places of beauty and historic interest; we’re not into shopping, but hubby does enjoy quaint, local markets. We love to photograph the sights and the wildlife. We’re early risers and enjoy being on the go, but do like to stop frequently to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature around us. Although we are not into highly strenuous hikes, we do enjoy long walks (have done as much as 10 miles) and don’t mind walking to get to a point of interest.

Dining – we’ll probably eat in restaurants as well, but we much prefer packing a picnic and eating an al fresco meal where we can enjoy the sights around us. Any suggestions on where we can get a nice sandwich or two would also be appreciated.

We won’t have much time to spend in Calgary this time – we’re driving to Banff after we clear customs. We have a late afternoon (4:00p) flight on our departure and were thinking of leaving Banff early to do some sightseeing in Calgary or on our way there. Suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions.

ShelliDawn

If you're in Lake Louise (and I suspect you will be at least one day) there's a small strip mall in the village. In the mall there's Laggan's Bakery. They're only open for breakfast and lunch but have some of the best sandwiches, baked goods etc. It's a mandatory stop for us whenever we're in the area.

eenusa

Thanks, ShelliDawn. We will definitely be in Lake Louise for at least one day and we will plan on stopping by Laggan's Bakery.

mtjt

I'm sure you probably already know about the Icefields Parkway, which joins Banff to Jasper. Drive at least as far as the Columbia Icefields.

There are some unusual attractions not far across the BC border from Banff, in Yoho National Park. Takakkaw Falls, accessed via a fairly short hiking trail, is the second highest waterfall in Canada. The nearby Burgess Shale is a famous very ancient geological-fossil site - which can be accessed via guided hikes only - see www.burgess-shale.bc.ca/hikes.php
I understand this hike is "fairly" strenuous, but I'll bet they say this to discourage people not used to long walks - I would think if you do up to 10 miles regularly, it probably would not be a problem. An interesting stop on the highway in the same area are the spiral railway tunnels through a mountain (Kicking Horse Pass). Another famously scenic spot in Yoho is Lake O'Hara - accessed by a 6.5 mile hike, or by bus (reserve bus ahead as numbers of spots are restricted).

Judy_in_Calgary

>>>>>>I understand this hike is "fairly" strenuous, but I'll bet they say this to discourage people not used to long walks - I would think if you do up to 10 miles regularly, it probably would not be a problem.<<<<<<

My understanding is that the hike to the Burgess Shale <b>is</b> strenuous.

A friend of mine, who is supremely fit, did the hike a couple of years ago. He said that a member of their hiking party was geologist in late middle age who was less fit than he was. She desperately wanted to see the Burgess Shale and figured that, from that point onwards, her level of fitness probably would only decline. She regarded it as her last chance, so to speak, so she registered for the hike regardless. My friend said that he and another strong hiker in the party ended up kind of carrying this woman on the return hike.

I presently am participating in daily fitness classes at a gym because I want to do this and other hikes in the Rockies, but presently do not feel up to them.

Judy_in_Calgary

Eenusa, sorry, I somehow managed to miss this thread. If you're still following it, here are a couple of suggestions:

My website describes a few days' worth of activities for someone who is based in Lake Louise. However, the same plan easily could be adapted to someone who was based in Banff townsite:

http://tinyurl.com/fapqr

Another thing you could do, either from your Banff base or on the day that you drive from Banff to Calgary Airport, is a visit to beautiful Kananaskis Country, which is to the southeast of Banff. This page of my website provides directions from Banff, through Kananaskis Country, to Calgary:

http://tinyurl.com/nmxoe

Hope that helps.

Judy_in_Calgary

By the way, returning to the Burgess Shale hike for a second, my friend tells me that the hikes get booked up. Apparently people book them 4 - 5 months in advance.

bob_brown

The hikes book up because the party size is small.

The hike IS strenuous. If anything, the description to the Walcott Quarry is is understated. The elevation gain is nearly 3,000 feet and it goes up at better than 1000 feet per mile in sections.

The Mt. Stephen Fossils bed hike gains about 1,700 feet in elevation.

If you have never taken a 3,000 foot steep climb, I don't think you know what exertion is.

When the guidelines say rain protection, warm clothes, and water x 2, they mean it!

eenusa

Thank you all for your comments; I am making notes fast and furious and doing additional research as well.

Judy - I found your website link from a previous post you made and have been reading it --- certainly helps point me in the right direction.

Bob - we're going to skip that particular hike. While we've done relatively strenuous hikes, this sounds like it might be more than we'd enjoy.

bob_brown

I might add that at the quarry, you see rocks because the fossils are usually in the rock matrix. Taking them out is a very ticklish job because the limestone is very, very hard.

At one time there was an embryonic Burgess Shale learning center in Field. It was housed in the old school building across the railroad tracks from the visitor center.

I do not know if anything ever got off the ground or if there is anything of a learning center effort ongoing.

We stayed in one of the apartments one year (perhaps 5 years ago) and the woman who was in charge of the apartment also worked for the learning center. We got to do down there and see some of the uncleaned fossils. I even got to hold one in my hands. All I could see was a faint white outline in the limestone which was dark in color.

I think if you made the effort to get up there, you might be seeing the site of the fossils rather than the fossils themselves. The mountain side is not exactly the best place to do the delicate work of cleaning precious fossils.

A lot of the final work is done with a fine tipped awl and an air scribe that gradually cleans away the outer rock matrix. Final cleaning is often done with a brush.

I frankly have been content to see what was in the learning center, the Yoho visitor center, and the display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Most of the fossils unearthed by Walcott are elsewhere, like Yale.

eenusa

Thanks for the details Bob_Brown. I think we're going to skip the Burgess Shale hike - we've seen fossils on visits to other destinations - and focus our efforts on the other hikes in the area.

eenusa

Does anyone have info on the trains that run through Spiral Tunnel? We're planning to stop at the overlook and would like to time our stop with a train going through the tunnel if at all possible. Thanks.