Banff, Alberta, Canada
February 2023
~ Click any image in the galleries to enlarge and see them at their best ~
We've been to Banff many times, mostly in the winter for some skiing with the family. These photos are all from our latest trip early 2023, though when I dig up some of our older family photos, I may add them as well.
Our condo was located in a hamlet called Dead Man's Flats, just outside the east Banff Gate. The photo shows the gorgeous view from our balcony.
This trip was truly a pleasure, since one of our daughters and hubby, plus their 17-month old grandson, were able to join us. Lots of laugher and smiles all around, good home-cooked food and warm fire after a day on the slopes, and beautiful views everywhere we looked.
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Sunshine Mountain
Sunshine Mountain certainly lived up to its name. Whenever the sun broke through the clouds, the whole mountain would light up, an invitation to conquer the next run. And the views were absolutely stunning in every direction.
It was great how each lift covered a very different terrain, adding lots of variety on the runs. No lift lines, and of course the high speed quad with heated seats and bubble dome was much appreciated!
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Downtown Banff
We walked around downtown Banff, with its restaurants and bars, cute shops, and incredible art galleries that tempted our wallets! Many of the city buses were painted with various wild animals, though I only managed to capture a photo of half a bus since there were always cars in the way! And I love Banff because it is surrounded by mountain peaks in all directions. So beautiful.
We also went to the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel, which is a large chateau-style hotel built between 1911 and 1928. The Bow River shown in the photos below lies on the north side of the hotel, and we walked along the river to the Bow River Falls.
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Lower and Upper Hot Springs
The lower hot springs are now called the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. Here you can enter a cave where you can see an underground hot spring that opens to the surface (photo in upper left). There are also some hikes above and below the cave with more bubbling pools and streams releasing sulphur-scented steam into the air.
The upper hot springs is a swimming pool fed by water that is heated geothermally, bubbling up to the surface from three kilometers (1.8 miles) into the earth's crust. The natural temperature of the water that emerges varies depending on the season, but the pool is kept at 104°F (40°C). A very relaxing soak that helps the sore muscles from our time on the slopes!
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Thanks for visiting!
