The main street in Banff
Banff, Alberta
As semi-mature adults we really shouldn’t laugh at its name but Lake Minnewanka – pronounced “as it sounds”, according to the long-suffering concierge at our hotel – really is quite funny. One of the highlights in Banff, we drive there after breakfast, revelling in the glorious sunshine whilst berating the satnav for sending us on a circuitous route that means we miss the first boat ride of the day by a matter of minutes.
Lake Minnewanka shadows
Undeterred, we book the lake cruise for an hour later and fill the time with a short hike to Stewart Canyon, marvelling at the turquoise waters and spectacular scenery all around us. With time ticking away we reach the bridge where Marilyn Monroe filmed a scene for ‘River Of No Return’ and, somewhat less glamorously, Lassie also romped for some long-forgotten B-movie, before returning at double-speed to make our departure to cruise around the lake.
The ebullient Kelsey is our guide on board, alongside the ruggedly handsome captain Dan; a formidable double act giving out information and entertainment in equal measure. We learn about the depth of the lake (150 metres), the height of the mountains (3000 metres), the flooded town beneath us, the glacially carved landscapes around us, how the lake freezes completely for five months of the year and the silt in the water reflects only the blue and green spectrums, hence the dramatic colours.
Walking around Lake Minnewanka
Dan meanwhile encourages a string of children to pilot the boat to the delight of their picture-taking parents and the screams of fellow passengers who get sprayed with water from the slightly erratic movements of four year olds at the wheel. It’s enough to make us buy a fridge magnet from the very well-stocked souvenir shop on our return to dry land.
Back in Banff by lunchtime we circle the town searching for parking, the bank holiday crowds filling every available space. Finally squeezing ourselves into a vacant lot we grab a much-needed coffee at Evelyn’s on the main strip and, passing a display of Mounties, have a bite to eat at Good Earth whilst watching tendrils of smoke from distant wildfires start to cloud the horizon.
Suitably fuelled we decide to climb Tunnel Mountain, which looms over Banff and features a well-trodden trail to its summit. It’s a great walk in roasting sunshine, ascending steep paths amongst rocks and trees with our views slightly fogged by hazy smoke drifting into the valley. According to our valet, visibility was so bad just two days ago that you could barely see across the road so we count our lucky stars that we can see the town beneath us, sitting on the peak and gazing at the mountains in the distance.
Back at the hotel we hit the spa again and suitably refreshed, sit in the gardens in our bathrobes as late afternoon moves into evening, relaxed and zen, appreciating our good fortune. Once dressed we take the bus back down into town, heading for Nourish, the vegetarian restaurant recommended to us by the staff at Good Earth earlier. Thankfully we had booked as the queues are long – its fantastic food proving extremely popular – but despite our reservation we end up sharing a table with a couple of other diners, Maevene and Lorne, who had met each other in a coffee shop earlier that day.
Lake Minnewanka
Maevene is a French-Canadian artist who moved to Banff nineteen years ago and never left. An unabashed hippy, she loves magic mushrooms and avows to have absolutely no interest in politics. Lorne, fifteen years older at least and with somewhat questionable views on Trump and immigration, lives on Vancouver Island and is passing through in his RV. God alone knows what has attracted them to each other’s company today, but as they head into the night together, we have no doubt that the RV is going to be rockin’ later… a one-time affair.
Our appetites sated by lavender gnocchi, vegan tacos and local cider, we potter back to the hotel via an Irish bar where an acoustic troubadour belts out everything apart from ‘Danny Boy’, sending us wearily into the night
