Banff, Canada "Vacation", June 22 to 26, 2009

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Downtown Banff
Banff is located in the Canadian Rockies a two hour drive west of Calgary.  The population of Banff is around 8,000 and the elivation is 4,500 feet above sea level.  		  Bow River Trail
From the time you start your vacation in Banff the views are overwhelming beautiful.  This trail goes for miles right next to the river. This time of year you may walk the entire trail and see very few people.
Lower Bow River Falls walking trail
This river runs thru one end of Banff, you can see downtown Banff in the background. 		  Lower Bow River Falls stairs
The trail is only a mile long from town. You go upstairs and downstairs to get to the falls.  You can see the river turns into white water rapids as it gets closer to the falls.
Randy and Betty at the Falls
The falls are not that big, but the surrounding area is beautiful. 		  Bow River Falls basin
There is rafting, horseback riding and hiking in this area.  There are walking trails that start at this basin that go into the beautiful Banff National Forest.
Horseback Riding 
The trail riders cross the rivers several times and go through the national forest for miles.  There is more to do in the summer in Banff than in the winter.  The temperatures while we were in Banff were in the 60s during the day and in the 30s at night.  It was wonderful for hiking. Back home in Round Top, Texas the temp was 105 degrees. 		  Randy wishing he had his sticks
This is the 15 tee box for the Banff Springs Golf Course.  It is next to the Bow River Falls basin.
Every view is beautiful
On our walk along the Lower Bow River Falls Trail we came across the old pro shop of the Golf course which is now a restaurant that overlooks the 15th fairway. 		  View of hotel from the river
We kept walking along the river that runs off the Bow river for another mile and came across this bridge.  Wow!  We found this view of our hotel and the national forest around it.  We hiked five to seven miles a day in Banff.
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel 
This is the hotel we stayed in.  This is a beautiful hotel, built in 1888 by the Canadian National Railroad.  In the bottom left of the picture is the hotel golf course; bottom right is the Bow River.  I used priceline dot com to reserve our room at a very good rate. (If you click this picture it will show you many more pictures of the hotel)  		  The hotel has beautiful architecture
This picture shows where the hotel lobby used to be until 2001.  Now it is  as a bar and restaurant overlooking the Bow Valley.  They call it the "million dollar view".
View of old lobby
This part of the hotel was built in 1890 and was used until the new lobby was built in 2001.  All the fixtures and furniture are antiques.  		  New lobby
This is about 80 yards long with check-in on one end and the other end has the concierge staff desks.
Room View
This is the view from our hotel room.  It is not on the "million dollar view" side of the hotel, but there ARE no bad views since mountains are all around. 		  Our room location
I even figured out where our room was located, from the outside of the hotel, and it was not easy. We were on the seventh floor in room 782.
Banff Gondola
If you ever go to Banff we highly recommend the gondola ride.  I took this picture while we were ascending to the top of Sulfur Mountain.  You can see our hotel, the Bow River and the town of Banff. 		  Top of the Gondola Ride
At the top there is an observation building and half a mile walkway to a stunning 360 degree view of the mountains.
Trails down from the Gondola
Betty and I are on a trail that goes 8.3 miles to the bottom of the mountain.  We didn't take it because we rode the gondola back down.  We were overwhelmed by the spectacular view of the national forest and the mountains. 		 

Moraine Lake
We took a tour and one of the stops was Moraine Lake.  The remote location and it's natural beautiy really caught our attention.  It was our favorite place, and if we ever return to Banff this is one of the places we would stay.
Moraine Lake Lodge and Restaurant
This is adjacent to the lake with cabins overlooking it.  The lake, mountains and glacier are spectacular. 		  Lake Louise
This is the view of the lake from the Fairmont Lake Louise Hotel.
Banff National Gardens
We found this flower garden at the edge of Banff at the national parks administration building.  If you have seen our home site you know we love flowers. 		  Banff National Gardens
All the flowers are indigenous to Canada.  Some are blooming as you see here and some have just been planted. There were no names so we did not know what each was. 
Banff National Garden
The garden is open to the public and is tiered in a step down design.  There are stone walkways that wander all throughout the garden.  		  Banff National Garden
This bridge is made from trees from the Banff National Forest.  Some of the trees in the forest have briar wood "humps".  As you can see. once they are stripped of their bark, stained and varnished, they make a beautiful bridge.
Because I love Golf
I put this picture on the site because I wanted to show the views the course had.  I didn't have time to play while we were there but I had to go to the club house and took this picture of the 18th hole view. 		  Tour of the Hotel
Here we are on the tour of the hotel in one of the ball rooms.  The history of the hotel goes back over a hundred years and the tour is quite interesting.  Even if you don't stay in the hotel tours are offered to anyone that sign up.
Million Dollar View
This view of the Bow Valley Basin was named the "million dollar view" by the chairman of the national railroad in 1885.  We ate dinner overlooking it, and then Betty posed for this picture (it does not get dark until 10:30 p.m.).  The next day it was time to head home to Texas and the 105 degree temps.  Oh well. the great temps have to be left in Banff. 		 

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Banff Vacation



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