Banff National Park

Just before 6, we were ready in front of the hotel and waiting for our Uber, which was supposed to take us to the rental car station at the airport. Our driver appeared right on time. Traveling in the car with four people wouldn’t have been a problem, had our driver not been lying down in the car 😅 It was a bit cramped, and the blood circulation in my legs was somewhat restricted 😅
Upon arriving at the airport, Uber was gone, and there was no Sixt at the rental car station 😳
Then I found an email from yesterday, Sixt has a special arrangement and is located a bit outside the airport. But there’s a free hotline and they send a shuttle. So, all good. After about 10 minutes, the shuttle arrived.
Once we arrived at the station, everything went smoothly. We briefly went over the contract conditions again, clarified the driver and co-driver, received the keys, and off we went with our Kia Seltos. We had booked the car through ADAC from Germany. The price-performance ratio was really good, and most importantly, everything was secured through Germany. That’s always my preference.
Our first stop was Save-on-Foods. We picked up drinks and some snacks for the drive/day.
Then we headed towards Banff National Park 🥰 Even the drive towards the Rocky Mountains was simply wonderful. We started in sunny weather, but dark clouds hung over the Rockies; however, who cares. Anyone can enjoy nice weather.
As we did last time, we made a brief stop at Lac des Arts. This was the first time we truly enjoyed the view and the mountains. The lake was mostly still frozen, and a coyote just casually strolled over it.
Our first real stop was in Canmore at the Canmore Engine Bridge. From last time we knew we couldn’t go directly there, so we parked and walked along the Bow River to the bridge. It was more of a slippery slide considering how frozen the path was, but everyone made it safely there and back to the car.
I’ll skip the info about the bridge, just read the blog from the last trip, everything’s in there 😉 What was cool was that we parked, and a coyote/wolf just casually walked by less than 10 meters from us. A wolf would have been cool, but let’s be honest, it was just 'only' a coyote 😅 Nevertheless, it was an experience. Last time there were a herd of moose cows at the bridge; today, a free-roaming coyote.
The view at the bridge again was amazing. We walked over it once, and then our journey continued towards Banff to the Bow Falls. We initially exited on the wrong side, but that wasn’t a problem. We couldn’t see the falls from there, but there was a viewing platform. We would have reached the waterfalls via the trail, but it was so slippery, no thanks. So we got back in the car, drove to the other side of the river, and there they were. Again, for info... 😉 As with last time, there was a warning on the stairs that it was slippery, and yet I had to go up there today because the view from above could be much better than from below. Can't miss out 😅 This time, however, it was a bit more challenging. Where last time there was 'only' snow, everything was now frozen. I sustained a small injury on my hand when a stupid screw was sticking out from the railing, but otherwise, I made it back down in one piece.
We left Banff behind us and headed to Johnston Canyon. A beautiful route here. We parked the Kia and directly walked the 1.2 km to the Lower Falls. It felt a bit longer than expected. This might also be because it was painfully slippery in places. From the Lower Falls, we then climbed about 1.3 km up to the Upper Falls, which we had skipped last time. Today we thought, if we’re doing it, let’s do it right. The Upper Falls are about 30 meters high and were completely frozen. The ascent was definitely worth it. In some places, the ice glowed an unnatural blue. It was something. We could have climbed another 3 km up to the Ink Pots, but we’ll surely come back, and always writing, info in the blog of the last NHL trip gets boring 😉😂 What was funny was starting completely bundled up, hat, scarf, and with every altitude gain, the clothing became less. If we had gone ice swimming, we would have turned the pots into whirlpools.
Back at the car, we took a small break.
On a deserted, icy road, we then continued to Lake Louise. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any more animals. There was a moose viewpoint, but getting there from the car, through ice and snow, to maybe see moose wasn’t necessary.
There was, however, one more stop. Almost forgot 😅 At Morants Curve. Just google it, and you’ll find amazing pictures of a railway curve with the Rocky Mountains in the background. And I got lucky 🤩 The train tracks run parallel to Highway 1A, which we were driving on, and there was a train beside us the whole time. It was clear I needed to be ahead of the curve. Made it. Parked the Kia, jumped out of the car, and caught the train. Unfortunately, the Rockies were shrouded in fog, but hey, who can say they managed to photograph the Morants Curve with a train? Andi, one of our tour guides, said he stood there for ages last time and no train came. After my success, we went straight to the lake without any more detours or stops.
This time we even made it without a police check 💪🏼 I was the one driving 😂 We stopped at every stop sign as required.
The frozen lake wow 🤩 The ice castle and the ice bar were even still there, but had been somewhat damaged by the thaw. Instead of $66 for mulled wine, today we only had a regular hot chocolate. Rather lukewarm, but good.
Walked a few steps on the lake, chatted with a few others from the tour group who were there, then back to the car and back to Banff. Here we ate at the PARK Distillery Restaurant + Bar. We got the tip from our all-knowing document from our tour guide, which is given at the beginning of each trip.
Hey, really good. Cool location, very friendly and attentive staff, and the food 🤤 I’d say we’ve never eaten so well on trips. Highly recommended. If you come to Banff, eat here. If not, you’re missing out.
After dinner, we set off on our way home. Or rather, the next station Walmart Supercentre in Calgary. I love Walmart. It’s always a great feeling to stroll around and shop there.
But Mücke was not having it at all. After a long day, he didn’t want to deal with people anymore. He grabbed a pack of water and headed to the checkout. What a barbarian. If only he knew what a shopping experience he was missing out on here.
From Walmart, we went to the hotel. Jörg, Mücke, and all the purchases were 'thrown out,' and Andi and I continued to Scotman’s Hill. Briefly taking in Calgary’s skyline at night (always beautiful) and off to Sixt. We returned our Kia and took an Uber back to the hotel. A long but beautiful day came to an end.

Oh, and dadadadadadadadaaaa dadadadadadadaaaa is back. So much so that Mücke unconsciously whistled it to himself. What would our trips be without tequila?