Kamloops to Banff

Wednesday, September 16

Kamloops turned out to be a great stop for us - our accommodation was very comfortable and we had great views from our rooms, we had a delicious Chinese meal at the on site restaurant, and to cap it all off Tony picked up some bargain medals from a jewellery exchange shop!

The scenery was fabulous right from the start of our big day of travel, as it is nearly 500km from Kamloops to Banff, and we got a later start than planned with Tony's medal purchases. There was either a river or lake beside the road almost as soon as we left Kamloops city limits, and about an hour out we spotted a mother bear and 2 cubs on the shore of one of the lakes. Unfortunately at 110kph there was no time to take a photo and we weren't in a position to stop! This generated great excitement and gave us hope of seeing more wildlife along the way.

The lake near where we spotted the bears

A view of part of Shuswap Lake

Our first stop after 2 hours of driving and lots of oohing and aahing was at Salmon Arm, one of the beautiful arms of Shuswap Lake. After a lovely coffee we hit the road again, arriving in Revelstoke for late lunch about an hour or so later. Both places were bigger than we thought and in beautiful settings, and everything was neat and clean with lovely flower beds and flower boxes in the streets.

I took over driving duties from Tony and we headed for Banff, which was still about 280km away, and with all the construction works happening ahead of winter we knew we would be slowed down in a few spots. Our GPS was estimating our arrival time as a bit after 7pm which we thought was reasonable. We travelled alongside many different rivers as we drove through the valleys between towering mountains with a fresh sprinkling of snow on top adding to the beauty.

Unfortunately we had to take most of today's photos from the car as we zoomed along, but they still show the magnificent scenery we passed through on this journey. The maps were telling us the Rockies were on one side of us and the Columbian mountains were on the other, with the Columbian River beside us for a lot of the way. The next highlight was going through Rogers Pass - could the scenery get any better?

Driving through Rogers Pass

 

The answer was yes! However there continued to be construction sites along the way which slowed us down, which necessitated going over the speed limit (occasionally) to make up time. About an hour out of Banff we left British Columbia and entered Alberta, but then we came to a complete halt for 20 minutes while rock blasting was cleared before we could proceed! This really delayed us and meant that the 90kph maximum was ignored by us and everyone else, so we made up some time while we admired the fantastic scenery.

Major traffic delay on the road to Banff

Getting closer to Banff

We kept seeing signs about moose, elk and deer along the road so we kept our eyes peeled for these elusive creatures, and were delighted to spot an elk grazing beside the road. However the scenery was definitely the main attraction of the day.

We finally pulled into the driveway of the Red Carpet Inn, only to be told our rooms had been let go in the last 15 minutes because they didn't think we were coming and it was after 8pm! We were not amused as our watches said 7:15pm, however we were unaware that Alberta is an hour ahead of BC!! Traps for young players?!? The hotel had tried to contact us through Booking.com, who emailed us about 90 minutes beforehand but we were on the road and didn't have wifi!! We were not impressed after a big day's drive and looking forward to 3 nights in the one hotel.

After a discussion of our options, which weren't a lot with Banff really full, we managed to get into the sister property next door for the night and then move into our original hotel for the last 2 nights here. We got our cases to our room and then headed out for another enjoyable meal at an Irish pub and then it was bedtime after a very eventful day.

Beautiful scenery coming into Banff

 

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