Banff

Fri.-Sun. 8-10 July:  Banff

I like Banff!

Not a very profound statement, but it’s a simple fact.  The more I visit the town-site and the National Park, the more I appreciate all they have to offer.  This weekend, I saw a few new sides to Banff that I had not seen before over the thirty years I have been coming here.  Some of these new angles on an old theme included finding a peaceful corner of Banff’s largest campsite, discovering the Banff Centre, and exploring the path of the Bow River as it runs below Tunnel Mountain.  Then there was the grizzly and her cubs up the Sunshine ski road, and the stupendous cliffs of Saddle Mountain, rising straight up from Paradise Valley.  It seems that each time I come to Banff, its magic seems to grow a little stronger.

The day started early, as by 4.30 am I had staked my place along the route of the Stampede Parade in downtown Calgary.  L surprised me by saying this was her first Stampede Parade.   By noon the parade was over, and I returned home to hook up M’s Boler.  I was soon heading west along a busy Trans-Canada Highway.

My plan was to set up base at Tunnel Mountain campsite in Banff.  I had reserved a site on-line, since this was the height of the summer camping season.  This is a huge campsite, with numerous loops spread out in the trees above the town.  Loop “J” was far back in the woods, and apart from a strong wind on the first day, was as peaceful as you could imagine – and a lot more peaceful than you should expect.  No loud partygoers ruining it for everyone else.  No screaming kids running through your campsite.  Not at all what one might expect in one of Canada’s busiest vacation areas in the middle of summer.  The line-up of vehicles at the front gate did grow during the early evening, but I had set up camp by then.

That afternoon I biked down through the campsite and explored some of the biking trails on the hillsides above the Bow River.  Later I drove out onto the Trans-Canada Highway and up the Sunshine ski road, to see if the gondola was operating in the summer.  It was not, but on the way back down the road, I joined a couple of other vehicles which had stopped to admire a large grizzly and her three cubs, grazing by the side of the road.  The bear seemed oblivious to our presence, but then this was no random animal, it was grizzly bear # 11, according to the yellow tag in her ear.  The cubs would peep up out of the grass now and then, but they too were not concerned by this human invasion.

M’s Boler makes a perfect, and amazingly spacious, home for the passionate camper.

Making an early start the next morning, I traveled west along the main highway to Lake Louise.  The final bridge along the new section of road west of Castle Junction had been completed, and so one can now travel from Calgary to Lake Louise on a good divided highway.  I drove up the steep hill to the empty upper parking lot for Lake Louise.  My hike started right here.  The trail up to Saddleback is one of the most popular in the National Parks, and for a good reason, I soon discovered.  It’s steep, as it climbs the forested mountainsides above Lake Louise, up onto the saddle between Mt. Fairview on my right and Saddle Peak on my left.  I had to negotiate a few snowy sections as the trail zig-zagged up onto the saddle.  Now ahead of me was a breathtaking array of mountain peaks.  Directly in front of me were Sheol Mountain (9,114 ft.) and Haddo Peak (10,073 ft.), while just behind and to the left was the spectacular North face of Mt. Temple (11, 624 ft), with the summit hidden in the clouds.  On the top of this flat saddle, the wildflowers were starting to appear.  I had climbed up through large snow patches, and it was cold enough up here that some light snowflakes were drifting down.  This is the alpine zone.

Mt. Fairview’s bare, rocky slopes towered above me to the right.  I had climbed that peak way back in 1982, so today I settled for the easier ascent to the summit of Saddle Peak.  It was a pleasant scramble up through the rocks.  A trail of sorts has been forged up this slope, by the thousands of people who have clambered over the rocks during the last century or so.  It was worth the effort.  The summit of Saddle Peak is a grand ridge, perhaps a hundred metres along the highest part, with spectacular cliffs falling away to Paradise Valley below.  I would not have wanted to stand there in any sort of gale, as it was very exposed.  Northwards I looked down into the wide Bow Valley, with Lake Louise village and the Chateau clearly visible.  To the south, across Paradise Valley, was Temple, and below its wall, a tiny slip of duck-egg blue water, surrounded by snow, marked Lake Annette.  It was much colder up here on this high ridge, just short of 8,000 ft., and the clouds were starting to appear below me in the valley.  I returned down to the saddle, snapping away with the camera at this classic Canadian Rockies scenery.

As I made my way back down to Lake Louise, it was not too long before I met my first hiker.  By the end of the trail I had passed thirty people and two dogs.  This included one noisy group of eleven Japanese hikers wearing all the latest gear.

By now the Lake Louise car park was filling up, and it was time to escape this busiest of tourist spots.  Making a slow return to Banff along the quiet Highway 1A, I arrived back at the campsite where I relaxed for a while.

That evening L and I visited the Banff Centre for a concert featuring three local bands, including M’s band.  We were early for the show, and so after a meal in town, we enjoyed an hour relaxing in the bistro at the Banff Centre, with large windows which faced the mountains to the west.  The show was in “The Club”, an intimate cabaret-style venue.  We enjoyed being a part of this local celebration. 

The next morning I headed out on my bike to explore the section of Bow River as it cut its way between Mt. Rundle and Tunnel Mountain.  This was a much more rugged trail than I had expected.  There were a couple of steep sections at the narrowest part of the gap, and the surface was in places rough and rocky.  But the mix of river and mountainsides was magical.  Some deer ran away through the trees.  Nobody else was on the trail at this early hour.  Suddenly I found myself back in civilization at a car park right across the river from the Banff Springs Hotel.  Here the river drops down the Bow Falls.  Over all the years I have been visiting Banff I had never discovered this part of Banff.  Today I biked along one side of the river, on the cliffs above the falls, then beside the river.  I then crossed over the bridge and biked back along the other side of the river, before walking a short way to the falls.  They were spectacular today.  It was not their height, it was the sheer volume of water which suddenly drops perhaps thirty feet and then swings to the left around Tunnel Mountain.  They have made a beautiful pathway with wooden railings alongside the river here.  It is a perfect tourist spot.  Soon it would be a crowded viewpoint, but right now I was almost alone here.

Packing up the campsite I reluctantly turned east for the journey home.  I like Banff – and each time I discover something new about this so popular corner of the Canadian Rockies, I like it even more!

Statistics
Saddle Mountain
Sat. 9 July
Total Dist.	9.4 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,215 ft.
Max. Elev.	7,993 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 28 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       7.15 am Saddleback:    8.41 am Summit:          9.05 am Ret. to car:    10.43 am	Mostly cloudy, spits of snow at top.  Much warmer below.