Our hotel (Castle Mountain Chalets) in the Banff area was actually located about 20 miles out of town. It was between Lake Louise and Banff so it was a nice location that made access to both areas very easy. We took the Bow Valley Parkway (1A) towards Banff stopping first at the Johnston Canyon for a fairly short but great hike through the canyon. The trail was built along the canyon wall and the mist from the waterfalls was both cool and refreshing.
https://www.banfflakelouise.com/
Our first stop in the city of Banff was the visitors center where a nice young lady was very helpful in making a couple of suggestions based on our interest in walking. After a picnic along the Bow River we were off on the first of the two hikes she suggested. The first one was fairly short and basic following the river to Bow Falls which is located close to the very impressive (and expensive) Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.
The second hike she suggested was longer (around 6 miles) roundtrip again following along the river but taking us out of town to the Hoodoo's. The Hoodoo's are rock formations created by a whole bunch of time and weather. It sounded like a nice hike and that the Hoodoo's were worth seeing. We asked the very friendly, helpful, 20 something if the trail had much elevation. She smiled and cheerfully said no, just a little bit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)
It was a great hike and the Hoodoo's were worth seeing but we did realize about half way out that elevation change means something very different to a 20 year old than it does to us. We were happy to have completed it especially after we took a different trail back that took us a little off course. Fortunately the diversion ran right by an ice cream store!
As we headed back towards the hotel at the end of a long fun day we made one more stop at Marble Canyon. This was a short hike to a deep narrow canyon with walls that looked like marble. Even though we were pretty pooped by the time we got there it was well worth the effort. We also accomplished two other things by making this side trip. First, we visited our fifth Canadian National Park, Kootenay National Park and second, we crossed the Continental Divide!
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| Johnston Canyon Trail |
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| Johnston Canyon |
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| Elk along the Bow Falls Trail |
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| Bow Falls |
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| Banff Springs Hotel |
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| We walked right up on this guy before we saw him |
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| A well deserved rest near the turnaround point on the Hoodoo Trail |
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| The Hoodoo's! |
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| Marble Canyon |
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| Splitting the Continental Divide! Left side flows to the Pacific, right side to the Atlantic |
