After having a couple days in Vernon with my uncle and aunt (who I'd hadn't seen since I was about 12!), I headed further into the mountains and have made it as far as Banff. It's a funny little mountain town. Much like Rotorua in New Zealand, Banff was founded as a tourist destination, primarily to encourage wealthy Victorians to travel the new railroad. As such, it has no really industry of it's own. It is a destination solely for it's placement among incredible mountains, eerily turquoise lakes and wild forests. So I don't feel too conspicuous as a tourist here seeing as most are. That said, I've been asked for directions four times now so I must look a bit like a local.
The highway alone to get here was just amazing. What a complete feat of engineering, cliche as that sounds. The highways wind around, through and beside incredible cliff faces, running next to rivers and lakes a lot of the time. Truly just incredible. The photo in this post is a bridge that was part of the old highway, now replaced with four lanes of smooth, sweeping road.
I've done a couple good hikes, one amazing one along the ridge of Tunnel Mountain, as well as had two good nights relaxing at my campsite. But this afternoon it's raining, so I'm camped out in a Starbucks (no, no horrid coffee for me; just a nice safe Tazo tea), scamming WiFi and electricity.
Banff is the base for my long-anticipated horseback camping trip. From the little I've been able to see from my less than ambitious hikes, I'm keen to utilise the more robust legs of a good horse to get a bit further into the wilderness around here.
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