Canada – Banff National Park
We leave the city of Calgary and take over our pre-booked Dodge, an off-road vehicle with typical North American dimensions. We have driven through the city of Calgary in two hours and realize that it is not worth seeing for us. So we make our way to Banff National Park. We plan to stay in Banff for a week and explore the national park from here. Via the Trans-Canada Highway we drive into the heart of the Rockies. The familiar country tones from the on-board loudspeaker accompany us on our journey. On the outskirts of the city, we pass the Canada Olympic Park with its 90-meter-high ski jump. Now the highway opens up to a four-lane highway. The area around Calgary is located in a flat landscape. In the distance, however, the first foothills of the Rockies can already be guessed. The gently hilly terrain now slowly climbs and you can already see the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, which are covered in snow. The settlement decreases and we pass a wide, undulating farmland, where the Indians hunted the buffalo in primeval times. The farms are so huge that the ranchers can only monitor them by helicopter. Alberta invests part of its vast oil wealth in the country’s infrastructure and nature reserves. In recent years, many cycling and hiking trails as well as golf courses have been built. Banff National Park has a size of 6,600 km² and was founded in 1885. The park is located about two hours from Calgary.
While it was almost spring-like warm in Calgary due to the Chinook, a downwind (Föhn), it is now getting much cooler here in the Rockies. The thermometer drops 20 degrees within 20 hours of driving. We drive past huge rock formations that tower vertically into the air. The mountain ranges were formed 75 million years ago by earth folds. The highway winds through the magnificent high mountain landscape. Shortly before Banff, a wide valley opens up, through which the Bow River flows. Banff National Park is the oldest of the 37 parks in Canada. Shortly after the welcome sign of Banff National Park we are already warned of the bears by a huge sign. However, we hope that they are now hibernating.
But we are spoiled with the sight of other wild animals already on our arrival. Two adult Waipiti deer troll each other on a frozen lake. In the coming days, we should have plenty of opportunity to experience Canada’s large game population. Our destination is the Banff Springs Hotel, which resembles a medieval castle. The hotel in its Victorian Gothic Revival is perched on a mountainside on the outskirts of Banff. It was opened by the Canadian Pacific in 1888. The room rate at that time was 3.50 dollars. It hasn’t remained the same, but the unobstructed view of the Bow Valley and the Bow River as well as the adjacent peaks of the Rockies. Traffic is not particularly heavy on Banff Avenue during the winter months. This will certainly be different in the summer months. So far, there has been very little snow in the lower regions. The temperature is -15° Celsius. However, a cold snap is expected in the next few days with up to -25°.
The next morning therefore brings no surprise, as we check the thermometer and find that it now reads -28 ° Celsius. Nevertheless, we want to make a first exploration tour to Moraine Lake. In the city we equip ourselves with face masks against the extreme cold, then we start. Even the short journey to the lake gives a first impression of the magnificent natural scene. To acclimatize, we chose a route around the lake. At the entrance to the hiking trail, we are again asked by warning signs to watch out for bears. The hiking trail is a narrow path that leads largely within sight of the lake through the wildly rugged mountain landscape. We didn’t see a soul on the way there. For this reason, you should always check out at your accommodation before each tour and leave which route you are going and when you intend to be back. In any case, no snowfall is to be expected in the freezing cold and so we start the tour calmly. After the first few kilometers, however, we notice the enormous effort, as breathing is very difficult at the low temperatures. It is always an impressive experience to move in this still largely untouched nature. On the way we observe mountain sheep and several Waipiti deer running across the frozen lake.
After five hours we are back at our starting point. This was a wonderful tour that we will remember for a long time. For the next day we have decided to choose a slightly further route in the immediate vicinity of the lake, which we want to complete with cross-country skis. We report on the other tours on our next pages.
