Canadian Rockies Trip Day 2 - Exploring Banff (Monday, June 17th, 2019)

Canadian Rockies Trip Day 2 - Exploring Banff (Monday, June 17th, 2019)

We got up early and headed down for breakfast shortly after 6:30 am. Our breakfast buffet is served at the Vermillion Room Restaurant located at the mezzanine level of the hotel. The restaurant is French inspired but with Canadian charm. Some of the unique items include a Honey bar with locally sourced Honey, jam bar, freshly baked bread, and Nutella stuffed beignets. We were catching the 9:00 am Banff Gondola Shuttle so we had plenty of time to enjoy the breakfast.

At the Fairmont Banff Springs Lobby

The Vermillion Room Menu

The hot item station

Steel cut oat meal

Canadian baked beans

Crepes

Petite pancakes

Eggs

Chicken and pork sausages

Tomatoes

GG getting some bacon

Potatoes

Eggs Benedict

Fresh fruits

Honey Bar

Honey Bar Menu

Yogurt station

Cold Cut and cheese station

Omelette station

Pastry station

Jam station

Joanne getting some honey

Bread and jam

MM with full plates

We caught the 9:00 am shuttle to the Banff Gondola from our hotel. The weather was nice and the sky perfectly clear. We plan to visit the Gondola and take the town shuttle from the Gondola back to town. We have a car rental for the day and we plan to drive to Johnston Canyon in the afternoon. 

Waiting for the Gondola Shuttle outside the hotel

Historic information about the hotel

Getting on the shuttle to the Banff Gondola

From the hotel to the Banff Gondola was a short fifteen minute shuttle ride. We arrived at the Gondola and purchased our lift ticket. It wasn't too crowded since we arrived before 10:00 am. The ride would take us from the lower terminal of Sulphur Mountain at 5,194 feet to the upper terminal at 7,486 feet in about 8 minutes. We would ascend 2,292 feet during the 8 minute ride. The summit has a real nice observation museum (upper terminal building) with 360 degree panoramic window.

The Banff Gondola

We are in

Moving up

Bear statue at the upper terminal

View of Banff from the upper terminal

View of Mount Rundle behind us

View of Sundance Range behind MM

At the Sundance Range Observation Point

Great view of Banff from the top with Tunnel Mountain in the middle

After enjoying the 360 degree view of the upper terminal, we hiked to the Sanson's Peak. We took some more photos on the way there and back. By then, we were a bit tired. We got our free cookies from the restaurant inside the upper terminal and headed back down the mountain. 

MM sitting on the signature Canadian National Park Red Chair

View of Sanson's Peak in sight

MM celebrating reaching to top of Sanson's Peak

Sanson's Peak

Walk back to the Upper Terminal from Sanson's Peak with Sundance Range in view

Upper Terminal in view

Getting the free Cookies 

Saying goodbye to Sanson's peak

Heading back down

We took the shuttle to the town of Banff to grab some lunch and pick up our rental car. The shuttle dropped us off in the center of the town nearby our car rental (Avis). There's a supermarket next to the mall where our car rental is located. We grabbed a few items from the supermarket and picnicked by the bus stop. 

MM sitting on a large chair in Banff by the supermarket with Tunnel Mountain and Mount Rundle in view

Local flavor at the supermarket

Lunch salad

Curry and Rice

Pizza

Caught sight of a local bird specie - Black-billed Magpie 

After lunch, the kids got drinks at Starbucks in town. We picked up our rental car at the "Cascade Shops" Mall and were on our way to Johnston Canyon. Johnston Canyon is a popular trail just out side of Banff. It is one of the many trails that we planned to hike. The drive to the trail is pleasant. The trail is located at the basin of Castle Mountain, one of the landmark mountains in Banff National Park. The trail is well maintained and built along a river with two cascading water falls (upper and lower fall). It's a gentle 3 mile out and back to the upper water fall. We took our time to enjoy the hike and soaked in the fresh air of Banff National Park. 

Getting Starbucks in town

MM at the small restaurant by the Johnston Canyon trail head

Johnston Canyon Trail head

GG along the "Catwalk" of the trail

Johnston Canyon

Snow capped mountain peaking through the trees

Passing through the cascading water falls

MM playing with stream of run off on the side of the trail

Reached the Upper fall, still partly frozen in June

Family selfie at the Upper Fall, shot on the DJI Osmo Pocket

Victory photo - we did it!

At the parking lot with other tourists in view

After the hike we drove back to town to return our car. We picked up some dinner items at the super market and caught the shuttle back to our hotel. The kids got to order room service which was a real treat. We feasted on salad and roasted chicken that we picked up at the supermarket. We called called it a night shortly after dinner since we'll be up for an early morning hike at Tunnel Mountain the next day. 

At the large Banff sign when entering town

Banff, late afternoon

Supermarket dinner!

Room service treat for the kids!

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