Tunnel Mountain Village I Campground - Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

First off, Banff National Park is huge. It includes Lake Louise and good portion of the Icefield Parkway that we visited previously. But today, we arrive in Banff proper to stay at the Tunnel Mountain Village Campground.

We spend the first day doing some chores, but the next day we explored the quaint town of Banff. Although I say "quaint," let me clarify. It has the appearance of a nordic village, and thereby is quaint. However, it is also a tourist mecca and therefore is PACKED with people.

After dragging Tom into almost every shop on the main strip, we stop for an interesting dinner at Grizzly House restaurant.

They have the option of a hot rock grill or fondue. We stick to the timid American choice of beef fondue. Other options for the more daring are the Hunter Fondue of Buffalo, Wild Boar and Venison or the Exotic Fondue of Shark, Alligator, Rattlesnake, Ostrich, Frogs Legs, Buffalo and Venison.

Dinner does take awhile and we are a little concerned about catching the last bus home, but not so worried that we couldn't stop for dessert of BeaverTail and caramel corn. BeaverTail is an oval shaped fried bread (similar to bannok, if you've read our prior post about Merritt) that's dusted with cinnamon and sugar then topped with various toppings. I had the nanimo, which is a chocolate frosting with coconut and a vanilla creme. (And, yes, we did still make it in time to catch the last bus.)

Somewhere on one of our hikes, I've managed to tweak my knee. By the time we reach Banff, it's limiting my hiking to flat surfaces. But we certainly can't have a stay in Banff without some sort of hike, so we set off to see the HooDoos, which are a relatively short hike from our campground.

The HooDoos

You can see the Fairmont Banff Springs in the distance

The smoke in the wild fires creates a haze that hides the otherwise spectacular sights. Coupled with my knee, I'm done with hiking after the HooDoos,

Substitution... narrative author change... Tom in for Wendy...

The next day I (Tom) head off to do some mountain bike riding. I tool around some trails on the Tunnel Mountain campground perimeter before finding a challenging trail called "Giant slalom". Now I say "challenging" because two types of mountain bikers do this trail: 1) Really GOOD mountain bike riders or 2) persons suffering from some mental "challenges"... delusions of adequacy, denial of old fogeyness, steadfast refusal to age gracefully... you know the type. Maybe you can guess which group I fall into (unfortunate - but apt - choice of words given the subject matter).

Most people with any common sense would consider the name of this trail Giant Slalom, briefly consider their level of skill and fitness and after some brief introspection opt to go find some nice gentle trail named "Teddy Bears Picnic" (I think there really was one with that name) or "Sugar and Spice"... Sooo Giant Slalom it is... Off I go... YEEHAW!  I get down to the bottom of the trail bruised and a little bloody on only one shin, but all other body parts intact... not bad. I'm feeling pretty exhilarated but thinking back to what my science teacher told me the second or third time thru 4th grade: "What goes down must come up"... or something like that.

Okay, so where does one catch the lift back to the top? Tram? Shuttle bus? Uber maybe? Do these Canadians HAVE to do everything the hard way?! After pushing my bike up the nastiest, steepest section of loose rock and tree roots, I ride slowly back up hill the rest of the way and make it back to camp. Maybe I'll plan an easy day tomorrow.