Alberta 2022 - Banff

Well folks, we finally jumped back on the horse and returned to international travel.  In early August we flew to Calgary, Canada for a trip to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper in Alberta Canada.  We were joined by our son and his wife (Brian and Kristin) who made the arrangements and drove us old folks around the parks.  Travel, with Covid still active, is interesting.  Although not required to test we were subject to random testing in Calgary if selected.  If we had been selected and tested positive, we would have been forced to quarantine for 10 days in Canada - that would have been a fun trip!  Fortunately, none of us were selected to test so we were good to go.  Everyone did fine but me.  I tested positive for Covid two days after we returned.  I quarantined at home for 10 days and am now back to normal.  The Dr. gave me Paxlovid and as a result, my symptoms were mild (coughing and lack of energy).  Kathy managed to avoid getting infected which is a blessing.

The first part of our journey was in Banff national park.  We stayed at the Fairmont in Banff, the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at.  Costs to travel at this point are astronomical, both air and hotels, plus the food is high as well.  If you haven't traveled lately, you're in for a shock.  

We spent four nights in Banff and started our vacation with a gondola ride to the top of  Sulfur Mountain.  The views of Banff and the surrounding area are spectacular.  As an alternative to the Gondola ride, you can hike up and back or one way if you so choose.  

The Sulfur Mountain Gondola

Banff, Alberta Canada

Kathy and I got photo-bombed by Kristin!

We spent a day driving over to Yoho National Park in British Columbia.  On the way, we stopped at the overlook for the "spiral tunnels".  This is an engineering marvel that converted a dangerous 4.5 % grade in Kicking Horse pass to a 2.2% grade via the use of two spiral tunnels.  If you are interested, here is a link to more information on the tunnels: Spiral Tunnels - Canada.  You can also Google spiral tunnels in Canada for more pictures and sites.

Spiral Tunnels graphic

In Yoho National Park we hiked to Takkakaw Falls, an easy hike with some incredible views.  

Takkakaw Falls

From our hotel in Banff, we took a nice hike down to the Bow Falls on the Bow River.  

The Bow River

The Bow River falls

Banff was fun. We had a great room at the Fairmont with nice views of the mountains and the Bow River.  We had some great meals, including a Swiss dinner (including fondue) at the Waldhaus restaurant which is associated with the Fairmont hotel.

Swiss dining at the Waldhaus

I have set up a photo album on Google Photos at this link: Alberta - Banff.  The album contains about 30 images, including photos of the hotel and the views from our room - you don't want to miss them.

The above link takes you to the album.  Click on the first image which will enlarge on your screen.  There are forward and backward arrows to navigate through the album.  If you wish to see information about the image, click on the "I" circle at the top right and the info. bar will open on the right next to each image.  If you want to remove the info bar, click the x at the top left of the bar.  

I'm working on two more blogs for this trip.  One about Lake Louise and another about Jasper National Park.  They should be out in the next couple of weeks.