As much as Canada had been top of my list of countries to visit, Banff was top of my list of places to visit in Canada. It has been for as long as I’ve wanted to go to Canada and it did not disappoint. It’s a quintessential alpine town, with wooden buildings and mountains on all sides. There are cafés, restaurants and bars along every street, and no shortage of shops to have a browse in. Every time I went in a shop I had to put blinkers on myself and keep my hands in my pockets otherwise I would’ve bought half the shop. I was lucky enough to be there when the snow started coming down, making the town feel even more magical.
Banff is beautiful, but I think it was the people I met there that made the experience so amazing. I was in a dorm of 6 girls (although only 5 of us were there for the whole week) – Amber and Brooke from the U.K., and Mackenzie and Amelia from Australia. We had a lot of fun exploring Banff. But before I get to that…
On my first full day in Banff, I arranged to meet up with my friend Bryony who I had worked with on my second ski season. She moved out to Canada about 6 years ago and never left. She took me on a hike to Boom Lake, and if it wasn’t on your list beforehand, it should definitely be added now. The whole hike was like walking through a postcard (which is probably going to be my most overused phrase on this blog). We walked along the most picturesque snowy trail, with gorgeous snow-capped pines on both sides (and yes we had bear spray with us, lesson learned). I’m not a natural hiker and it was 5.5km each way but the view of Boom Lake was a hundred percent worth it when we got there. Canada’s landscape just continues to take my breath away.
Amelia and I went for a hike to Bow Falls a couple of days later which was great fun. It’s a short and sweet walk along the Bow river. After some poor direction giving on my part, we found the start of the hike and off we went. Whilst we were on the pavement (I’m not at the point of saying sidewalk yet) it was absolutely fine. But once we reached the trail itself it got pretty icy underfoot and we began a very poor rendition of Bambi on Ice as we walked along. We were able to keep our footing using a variety of interesting techniques, my favourite of which was Amelia sloth-hugging a hand rail as she tried to navigate going down a set of steps. This technique was actually pretty successful and by the time we got to the falls we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves and took to watching other people attempting to climb down the steps. One guy had made it to the last 5 steps when ice got the better of him. However, and I still don’t understand how this was possible, he somehow managed to lift himself onto the handrail, one leg hooked over it, at the same time the other leg slipped from under him. All three of us, and his partner walking behind him, stood in stunned silence for a few seconds, trying to get our heads around how he wasn’t lying on his back on the floor. To the guy on the steps, bravo sir, you have a career as a gymnast ahead of you should you so wish it.
That evening, we figured we had earned ourselves a pint and some live music so Amelia, Mackenzie and I went in search of a watering hole. Lo and behold, we find ourselves in front of an Irish Bar (St James Gate) offering discounted Irish drinks and some acoustic music courtesy of a musician called Brent Lee (check him out on Spotify). What started out as a quiet drink, turned into me doing some kind of ballroom dance with a man I’d never met, which turned into a full on party on the dance floor.
Friday was an admin day for me, I had an errand to run at the bank and a few other bits I needed to sort (I was also a little tired from the dancing the night before). In the evening, we decided to do a “Dorm Dinner” and it was a masterpiece. Mackenzie made us a delicious mushroom and spinach gnocchi and Amelia and I cremated some cheesy garlic bread. I may have got distracted by Brooke pouring a massive mug of wine for me (because the we’re classy girls and the hostel didn’t have any wine glasses, or any glasses for that matter).
Oh! And I almost forgot to mention. I climbed my first mountain on Saturday! It was only a baby mountain (2.4km to the summit) but a mountain none the less. Tunnel Mountain in Banff is a gorgeous hike. Amber, Mackenzie and I hiked up it in the morning. It was a beautiful day and the trail took us along switchback after switchback of picturesque woodland all the way up. The views from the top were breath-taking. I could see the whole valley and the River Bow winding its way between mountains in both directions. We thought we found a bear print in the snow near the top but the most wildlife we saw was a couple of hyperactive squirrels. Having taken about a million photos we headed back into town where we found a street party complete with maple taffy, firepits and a stage to celebrate turning on the Christmas lights in the town.
Sunday was designated a lazy day and we really didn’t get up to much at all. All of us went out for a roast dinner at the Irish pub in the afternoon and were treated to seeing a deer casually crossing the road in the middle of town. The Irish pub did a pretty decent attempt at a British roast dinner, albeit mash instead of roasties but I’m willing to let that slide as the mash was yummy.
I had an absolutely fantastic time in Banff and I’m really appreciating that it’s definitely the people that make a place. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world as long as you are surrounded by people who make you laugh and appreciate the little things in life. I love how many weird and wonderful people I am meeting along this journey. You are all fantastic and are making this experience all the more magical for me.
To those of you reading this at home, you are absolutely as much a part of this experience for me as those I meet along the way. If there is anyone other than my parents reading this, please let me know if you’re enjoying hearing about my journey – feel free to ‘like’ your favourite posts, add a comment below or send me a message to let me know what you think!
Ro Wells Travel 
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