A Day in Banff NP

Yesterday, September 12 I accompanied two visitors, Sue and Paul Staley on a photographic tour of Banff National Park. The Staleys are friends of ours from Arizona, on their first visit to the Canadian Rockies. We spent a couple of fine days together, fortunate to enjoy some good weather despite the forecasters’ dire predictions. We managed to cover some of the highlights of Banff NP, from Banff to Lake Louise and several spots in between. Today, I’m going to share some of my pictures from our experience. They’re in no particular order, beginning with this first picture of two of the ten peaks surrounding Moraine Lake, Mount Bowlen and Tonsa.  You can see an ice-filled gully known to mountaineers as the 3-3.5 couloir rising between the two peaks. It once served as a climbing route, but is no longer recommended after some accidents.

One of the early stops on our trip yesterday, is an old favourite of mine, Castle Mountain. This photograph was taken on the bank of the Bow River near Castle Junction.

We were eager to see some wildlife but the animals were not out and about during the our visitors’ stay. I was able to capture this shot of a Whiskey Jack while we were at Moraine Lake. Nice bird but doesn’t have the same level of interest as a bear, elk, moose or bighorn sheep.

We made a stop at the ever popular Johnston Canyon. We walked in to the lower waterfall, where we added to our collections of photographs for the day. Despite the allure of the waterfall, I chose the following picture for today’s post, taken from the catwalk cantilevered from the canyon wall.

No visit to Moraine Lake would be complete without taking this iconic picture of the lake, nestled in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. One of Canada’s best known scenes, it was once featured on the back of the Canadian twenty dollar bill.

Just down the mountain from Moraine Lake is Lake Louise another of Canada’s best known scenes. Whereas it was sunny with some cloud at Moraine Lake, it was clouded over and drizzling at Lake Louise. Even though the light was flat and the Victoria Glacier was obscured by cloud, it was still breathtaking.

The canoe dock at Moraine Lake is always a colourful place to visit and although there were a few canoes still available to rent, many more were out for a serene paddle around the lake. I welcomed the opportunity to snap this photograph.

One of my favourite places to visit in Banff National Park is the Hillsdale Meadow with Mount Ishbel in the background. Autumn colours are beginning to emerge but have not yet reached their peak. As you can see the aspen trees’ leaves have yet to turn brilliant gold. It won’t be long!

Another popular photo location, along the Bow Valley Parkway near Lake Louise is Morant’s Curve. The location was made famous by Nicholas Morant, a staff photographer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He took photographs for the company during the middle of the 20th century. Images of trains traveling through this spot were used for many CPR promotional materials.

 

As we approached the Town of Banff on our return to Canmore, we couldn’t miss the unmistakable presence of Mount Rundle. The light was good and we stopped for our final photographs of the day.  Here’s mine.