Canadian Tour 2017: Day 4 – Banff

With just 3 days complete of our 14 day Canadian tour it’s already felt like we have been here for weeks! We’ve crammed a lot of hiking and sightseeing into our first 3 days here and our fourth day has proved to be no different, clocking up over 20k steps and burning over 2000 calories – assuming the accuracy of Fitbit is to be trusted!

We kicked off day 4 with a drive along the Bow Valley Parkway towards Lake Louise and made a stop at what looked like a picturesque site on the left about 15km outside of Banff. We couldn’t see any wildlife here unfortunately however the information boards said it was frequented by Elk and bears – the trees had scratch marks on them so the evidence was definitely there!

The view from the vista point was as per every site in Banff, spectacular.

From here we then continued along the Bow Valley Parkway to our intended destination for the morning, Johnston Canyon which sits around 25km outside of Banff.

We couldn’t get parked in the main parking areas and so the staff advised we just bump the car up on the side of the road which we did. Once we got to the trailhead it informed us the there was a 1.5 mile route to the upper falls and a 0.5 mile route to the lower falls.

We headed to the trail at around 11am and at that time it was really busy. There was a constant flow of people walking the route but not so many to make it unenjoyable.

The trail itself was actually quite challenging in the heat (30deg C today) despite the majority of the footpath being concreted as it was a pretty steep ascent at times. The views that the trail offered were great however.

With Johnston Canyon nailed we grabbed some lunch at the trailhead cafe and then headed back into Banff where we made our way to Banff Canoe Club on the riverside.

Our afternoon activity then of course involved kayaking down the river! Kitted up we successfully got in the kayak without falling in and made our way upstream which against the current was exhausting!

I was really hoping to see some beavers or wildlife but unfortunately the only thing we came across was a single goose and a duck!

The kayaking took around an hour and a half and was great fun, definitely something I would recommend doing if you’re planning a trip to Banff.

Back on dry land we then made our way along the Bow River Trail.

This led us to Bow Falls and the fairytale inspired hotel opposite!

Finally we made our way back to the hotel wheee we went for dinner at Chili’s restaurant at the Fox hotel where we have been staying.

Today was absolutely exhausting. The morning was spent on a lower body workout and the afternoon on a full on upper body workout followed by another hike to the falls and back to the hotel! A really enjoyable day but glad to see the back of it!

Day 4 over, the hunt for the elusive Canadian bear continues…

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