Banff & Lake Louise, Alberta

If you’re thinking about heading to Canada this summer, learn your ABC’s … Alberta, Banff and Calgary.  It was July and I was searching for my cowboy boots, which hadn’t been on my feet since that wild Halloween night when I dressed up like a cowboy. But this time it wasn’t dress-up. This time I was headed to a rodeo in Canada’s Wild West, my first Calgary Stampede, and I was trying to dress the part.  Little did I know that I’d be returning to a little Rocky Mountain town a short drive away which would take me back to my youth.

While it’s true that most folks have heard about Calgary thanks to its hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, Banff on the other hand is often unknown to anyone south of the Canadian border and east of Milwaukee.  This was my second trip there, the first a teen tour I took over 30 years ago when I was thirteen.  This time I wanted to see if Banff lived up to my memory, you know that things are always bigger when you’re small.  Of what I remembered, the majestic mountains, the quaint village and the friendly people, were only the beginning of what I found on my return.

If you’re driving to Banff from Calgary, highly suggested you as you should try to spend a weekend there, pick-up a vehicle at one of the downtown rental offices for the fairly direct 80 mile trip.  After about thirty minutes getting out of town and the suburbs, the road narrows and rambles through some scenic wide open spaces, then in roughly another half-hour along the Trans-Canada Highway deposits you right into Banff National Park.  But it’s still about 30 minutes more before you’re driving down the main street of Banff which is within the park itself, a UNESCO World Heritage site with a rugged and unspoiled landscape. My last time here I actually got to camp as the teen tour offered half hotel and half camping accommodations and the setting lent itself to being in the outdoors.  But this time I got my hotel stay!

Once off the highway you’ll be driving along Banff Avenue which meanders straight through the middle of the picturesque Alpine village, a picture post card sight of mountain culture, with a plethora of shops and hotels on both sides of the street.  Looming above and behind the low structures all around is a majestic snow-capped peak that hints at the awesome spectacle of Alberta’s Rockies. It’s so imposing you’ll have a tough time watching the road which eventually forks outside of town and winds its way toward the legendary Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, a magnet for tourists.  I admit it was an eyeful, but we were happy to be in simpler lodgings, The Banff Aspen Lodge, a boutique property with just two wings surrounding an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi.  Our simply furnished suite came with a coffee maker, just what we needed, but more importantly we had an expansive deck with spectacular views of the mountains from two comfy chairs.  We were especially happy with that view, as it was an inspiring way to begin each of the two full days here.

Banff encourages you to make the most of the outdoors and if you’re there in summer, biking and hiking are a given.  On the morning of our first day we decided on a hike with White Mountain Adventures at Sunshine Meadows, one of Banff’s ski resorts.  At an altitude of 7,300 feet, the Meadows straddle the Continental Divide between Alberta and British Columbia with unforgettable vistas on all sides, endless birds and squirrels enjoying their freedom, and curious traces of the Rocky Mountain’s famous bears.  This was a three hour hike that put us in touch with nature.  We followed the Rock Isle Trail that took us through fields of wildflowers and alongside three lakes, again with stunning 360 views.

We decided on a bicycle outing in the afternoon to see more of the park.  We were given a color-coded map indicating the difficulty level of the various trails and chose to head up to Lake Minnewanka which we estimated would be about a three hour ride up and down. The route through the heart of town and into the surrounding park was easy enough at first but once we passed the Cascade Ponds and peaceful Johnson Lake, where picnickers lolled everywhere, we were faced with a challenging path mostly on the upgrade.  We decided to push toward Two Jack Lake, the second of the three lakes, with Minnewanka the crown jewel at the top but after thirty minutes of solid huffing and puffing and fierce peddling we threw in the towel and headed back down.  Mind you the scenery was awesome and the bikes were made for speed but the three hour morning hike had done us in.  We did manage to get our heart rates up and felt like we did some semi-strenuous exercise which is always exhilarating out in the middle of nature.  And when you’re lost in nature’s grip it’s not hard to push yourself past your comfort zone.  Even though I wasn’t exactly in shape for that ride, I was glad I gave it my best and slept like a bear when I got back to the hotel.

Having three full days in Banff allowed us to try three great restaurants for dinner.  The first, The Bison Restaurant and Terrace, was a self-proclaimed mountain bistro with a contemporary dining room and astounding views of the Rockies. The upscale Canadian cuisine, with ingredients sourced from Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, definitely brings a new recognition of game meats to the hordes of tourists that make their way here. The seasonal menu is adventurous and perfect for carnivores on a wild game spree with regional Canadian dishes like a starter of local meats and cheeses or Buffalo in a Blanket with a Saskatoon berry ketchup.  True to its namesake there were some wonderful Bison choices, like a Bison Burger and Bison Short Ribs, and also fish from British Columbia if you decided to chicken out on the real deal here.  We sipped a lovely merlot from one of the Okanagan Wineries in British Columbia and watched the “almost” 11^th hour sun go down behind the mountains, then revived ourselves with a cup of Kicking Horse coffee. It was a perfect night for a twilight stroll down Banff Avenue.

The second evening brought us a true taste of Alpine cuisine, Swiss style, at The Grizzly House, which bills itself as a “Fondue House for Lovers and Hedonists” and open since 1967!  Trust me, it lives up to its tagline and I may have been too young to get it on my first time around. Stepping inside you’re swept away to a modern-day Swiss chalet where the name of the game is fondue with the accent on romance in the dimly lit space. You’ll notice as you take your seat that every table has a telephone and your placemat has the extension numbers of the other tables laid out in a clever diagram. Forget about the internet, you can make new friends quicker this way. It felt like something out of the Kit Kat Club in Cabaret and I was waiting for Liza Minnelli to drop in any minute. Or perhaps I was drinking too much of their sinful Sin Zin wine from California’s Alexander Valley, one of their featured wines, aptly classified on the menu with the sentence … “Temptation leads to Sin and Sin to Redemption. It’s one of three offered on their list along with Temptation Zinfandel and Redemption Zinfandel, all very revealing choices.

Our fabulous server Suzanne Roy urged us to go for the complete fondue dinner, no ordinary fondue mind you, but three courses of it.  The choices were endless but Suzanne asked us a few questions then pointed us in the direction of The Hunter, a combo of exotic game meats and a little Alberta beef cooked on hot rocks. The simple bread and cheese appetizer, here with Neuchatel cheese, got us in the mood. We watched couples holding hands as they took turns dipping meats, chicken or seafood into the bubbling hot oil. A chocolate fondue with melted Toblerone chocolate and fresh fruit ended the trio for dessert and was really on the … “money, money, money.”  The Grizzly House is a 60’s experience that has to be a Banff must!  We loved the Austin Powers retro groove and channeled our own inner hippies with music tracks from Heart and Neil Young while enjoying the loads of playful decoration throughout the dining room, like maple leaf cutouts and giant moose heads over some of the tables.

The third evening’s meal was interesting in a different way but more on that in a bit.  I think it’s time to reveal that the last time I was in Banff, all of my meals were eaten at the Banff Buffeteria.  This was an institution where we teens ate for under $5.00.  Alas, now it’s only a memory as it’s gone and no one remembers it. Not that I would have wanted to go back but it would have been fun to see it if only for the nostalgia.

You can’t visit Banff without making an excursion to Lake Louise, our plan on the third day.  Morning coffee with a sunrise view of the mountains from our deck and the Banff Aspen Lodge’s hearty breakfast got us back in the car for more adventures in the park. The short, scenic drive along the Bow Valley Parkway was an eyeful in the morning light and we decided on a single stop at Johnston Canyon where we followed a trail that led to a meadow above the canyon.  The trail, a constructed walkway with safety rails and bridges, followed a series of cascading waterfalls within the dense forest where you could view the famous Ink Pots, six blue-green spring fed pools.  We could have spent an entire day here but hustled back down to get to Lake Louise, a true destination in the park.

Arriving at Lake Louise, nestled under the Victoria Glacier and surrounded by snow frosted peaks even in summer, you get the sense of a real tourist attraction with tour buses everywhere. The storybook Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise presides over the sparkling turquoise waters and offers a postcard view of it.  We strolled the 5 kilometer path to the end of the lake then got into a canoe to paddle amid nature’s wonder as far as the view allowed.  The water had a milky blue quality and was freezing as it’s melted glacier water.  After our surreal paddling experience, we had lunch in the hotel’s glorious Gothic lobby restaurant and sat in front of French doors that let us ponder that breathtaking view.  The view, exactly the same as I remembered it years ago, was well worth the second visit and we had a tough time prying ourselves out of those seats and back into the car.

Back in the Banff on the last night, we took a seat near the rooftop patio overlooking the mountains at the Elk & Oarsman, a casual pub on Banff Avenue perched on the second floor above a ski shop. This was our last dinner in Banff and a sports bar was giving us a chance to try … what else? Some elk, of course, which tastes just like you’d expect – wild!  Along with some baby back ribs and a drunk roast chicken, it was all great washed down with one of the incredible Canadian draft beers. That night was a festive scene with a local band playing raucous music and people dancing. How many sports bars do you know have live music?  We spoke for a bit with Dave the owner, who said that most nights there’s a band playing and everyone is there to have a good time. And so were we. It was a fun way to end our stay in Banff.

Banff certainly wasn’t what I remembered from my teen tour, a simple place where dinner cost $5.00. With age comes sophistication, and that goes for me, too.  The mountains and the nature seemed to have aged with time, like wine, and for me were bigger, bolder and better, even if I was a little older.