Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Thursday, July 15th: Banff

We took the Bow Valley Parkway towards Banff town. This is the scenic highway from the national park towards Banff. The road can be full of wildlife in the early or late hours of the day. We undertook a good hike (12KM) from Johnston falls area to the Ink pots through the Johnston canyon. Again, the start of the hike was touristy but we soon lost most of them after the first waterfall. The initial ascent provided many scenic views of the impressing waterfalls. The hike was very scenic and the elevation gain was only moderate. We arrived at the Ink pots - a serious of pools of various colors from Turquoise to clear green, surrounded by snow covered peaks. The varying colors was due to the different flow rates of underground water into the pools. The area reminded us of some place that you would find in the Alps..surrounded by peaks, beautiful!

We headed along route 1A, another scenic highway, where we spotted some elk on the roadside. We arrived in Banff around 3:45 and headed directly for COWS, an amazing Inc-cream shop in Banff..Given that it was so hot and touristy it was the perfect stop! We headed back slowly from Banff to the campground and prepared to say goodbye to Canada tomorrow. Banff is an amazing park!