Finding America

Before breakfast we took advantage of the fitness room facilities. We lifted weights, swam and used the eucalyptus steam room – boy was that room hot. The cold shower afterwards was invigorating and left us feeling bright eyed and ready to take on the day.

We had breakfast with a beautiful view of the lake. The meal was delicious, standard US breakfast fare but with a bit more panache. We even got my OJ on the house, I guess it pays to be nice. Since we had packed before breakfast we just walked out to the Fox and got on the road again.

The drive south to Banff was breathtaking beyond belief. There was no development of consequence between the two towns and its like the mountains have surrounded this little haven to protect it from the outside world.

Entering town we found a place to park Kodi so that we could get the scoop on the best place to camp over the next few days. Banff is a much more substantial town than Lake Louise and the multitude of shops and restaurants made us feel like our stay here wouldn’t be without the comforts of home. Yet the town obviously runs under developmental restriction as there are no drive through fast food joints and even the Starbucks has nondescript signage.

The tourist center pointed us to a RV park run by the state about 2 miles from downtown and the ranger on duty gave us a full 2 days worth of potential hiking in and around Banff. Everything green in town was vibrant with the first blush of spring descending. Our campsite turned out to be a gem. Virtually unoccupied and with recent deer droppings at our Trailer doorstep we could tell this was going to be a magical stay.

After Kodi was parked we drove the Fox a bit outside of town to Lake Minnewanka. Wow-woa-woo-wee was this place amazing. I’ll have to let the video and pictures paint the picture because my meager words would do it little justice.

Following our hike at Minnewanka we drove back toward our campsite and did a second, more vertical, hike to the top of Tunnel Mountain. The crest of the mountain offered outstanding views of the surrounding mountains and a birds-eye view of Banff. With the clouds gathering and the temperature dropping we decided to call it a day and began our hike back down the mountain. We drove the truck down to Vermillion Lake to see if we could spot some wildlife as dusk descended. The drive was nice and gave our legs a chance to rest. Check out the pictures from Tunnel Mountain and Lake Vermillion below.

Tuckered out after our foray at the Lake and the climb up Tunnel, we drove back to downtown in our hiking gear and looked for a place to grab some dinner. We stumbled upon St. James Gate Irish Pub and with our stomachs rumbling for something warm and hearty we figured the pub would fit the bill.

It was great returning to Kodi knowing that we wouldn’t have an internet connection and therefore I could relax without the compulsion to update the site. An inquisitive deer came sniffing by our window and I caught him on video. We did a bit of reading and then it was lights out. After our hikes today it wasn’t long before we were both asleep and without the noise of campers or the city to disturb us we really zonked out.