Banff to British Columbia: Rain, Rain Go Away

We drove from Glacier to Banff. For some reason, I thought the border opened at 7. Nope it was 8. So, we drove all the way past the goats and bison to a closed gate. Marty turned around and we went back to Glacier Park and had breakfast with our waitress Eloina from Georgia. It was nice. The weather looked clearer than it had been so we drove up the Going To The Sun Road as far as we could,  took a little walk around, then started our drive to Banff. We got back on the road just in time for the road race part of the Warrior Games. Both lanes of traffic were held up. We finally got past the goat farm and bison ranch to the border. We got the tip about going online first, which made it a breeze.

Sort of sunny start to our last morning at Glacier National Park

A glacier fed lake in Glacier National Park

We switched drivers so I got to drive through rain and fog. It was like driving through a snowstorm. We drove through cattle country and ranches. Rain. We drove though forest. More Rain. I got to the Banff National Park and all I could see were trees and clouds that shrouded the mountains. Co-pilot Marty assured me here are mountains there, but the clouds kept them from sight. We had a camping reservation at Johnston Canyon campground but needed to purchase a park entry pass. The website had been confusing on what to purchase but the park ranger was very helpful and got us situated in no time. Senior discount and Canadian exchange made it a cheap entry. The campsite was fantastic, though we had to douse ourselves in Deep Woods Off due to the mosquitoes. Lots of trees, and not too close to other sites. We couldn't have a fire. Too wet. We made dinner in the rain and went to bed early. 

Soggy campground at Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park, Alberta

The next morning was cold and wet. We went in search of breakfast. We drove to Lake Louise, a town just below a glacier fed lake. Chaos is the best description. The place was mobbed. The main parking area had a small shopping center, but the coffee shops were all too crowded. Luckily, there was a Canadian hostel just up the road with a cafe that had a decent breakfast and wifi.

After breakfast, we drove up to the area of the lake, about two miles up the mountain, but we were flagged on back down to the village because there was no place to park. We went to the Visitor Center. All the tour buses were booked for the day. The nice lady at the visitor center gave us some suggestions of places to visit. We took our maps and headed out in the rain. 

It turns out that Banff is probably the most popular western national park in Canada. If you go to the main towns, Banff and Lake Louise, it's a madhouse. Wall to wall people. More crowds than we experienced in Yellowstone. If you want to get close to a glacier, you have to hike in, usually several miles. There are excursions with special vehicles that will take you right onto a glacier, but you have to book those well in advance. Lucky for us, the National Park is huge, it's adjacent to two other National Parks, and the Parks people at the Visitor Centers are very helpful in pointing you to less visited, but gorgeous places.

We decided to do a couple of hikes in Kootenay National Park, adjacent to Banff and just inside British Columbia. Each hike would be short, due to the dicey and changeable weather. We first went to Marble Canyon. Formed by a split in an uplifted area, the canyon is extremely narrow with a fast-flowing stream at the bottom. There is a falls about a half mile up the stream from the start of the hike. Just like Niagara Falls, it's been moving back about an inch a year for several thousand years, leaving an amazing canyon, much narrower than the Niagara gorge, in its wake. Again, though this was a relatively out-of-the-way hike, the place was more crowded than many of the spots we visited in Yellowstone.

Marble Canyon, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia

Next, we went on a hike to some paint pots. These are places where the local stream leaves deposits of red ochre clay that the Indians used to color pots, artwork, and to paint themselves. Due to the heavy spring rains we'd been experiencing the tail end of, the path was very wet and we didn't go very far. But we did see a lot of ochre!

A good place to scoop up some ochre

Along the way, we met up with an old couple from Calgary. Both were in their early 80s and had been teachers in Calgary. The man told Marty that when he was younger he would come up to Banff and hike all over the mountains. They used to take the train up to Banff all the time as a day trip. Now, they avoid it. Paraphrasing Yogi Berra, he gave the locals' wisdom: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." That was definitely our experience. 

After these walks, we stopped at Storm Mountain Lodge, just back inside Alberta, for a late lunch. The restaurant itself looked like the perfect place for a fireside dinner in an old mountain lodge. But, of course, dinner was booked until past 8 PM. But there was take-out! The girl who took our order was a seasonal worker from China with the barest of English. Again: people from all over the world come to work in the American and Canadian West during the summer. We had a nice late afternoon meal at picnic tables next to the cabin area of the lodge. 

The Multiple Divide: Continental Divide, Alberta-British Columbia Border, and Banff-Kootenay Park Border

At the end of our picnic lunch, the sun finally came out to stay. To finish off our sight-seeing in Banff, we decided to walk up Johnston Canyon, about a quarter-mile from our campground. We had no idea when we booked the camp site how popular the nearby hike was. Hundreds of people, walking a half-mile up a very well developed trail (mostly macadam, with steel and concrete bridges) to the site of some roaring falls.

Johnston Canyon Lower Falls

To sum up: The Canadian Rockies are beautiful. In many ways, more stunning than our own. The entire province of British Columbia outside of Vancouver Island and the mainland city of the same name is made up of mountains almost wholly unpenetrated by roads. If you're a real outdoorsman, there are tens of thousands of square miles where you can go and essentially get lost. But if you go to the popular, accessible places like Banff, you'll be dealing with crowds. More so than in many American parks. You can get stunning views of gorgeous mountains wherever you go, but if you want to get up close and personal with glaciers, just like in the American park, you'll have to hike a ways, or take an excursion (something available in the Canadian parks). The best strategy is to go in the off-season, just before school ends or just after it starts. That season is very short because winter comes early and ends late up north. If you can't swing the off-season visit, book everything early: accommodations, hikes, bus excursions, parking, everything early!