Rocky Mountain Rail - Banff

-
Ice Explorer 

Peyto Lake 

Banff, Alberta


Banff  is the largest town in Banff National Park, in Alberta's Rockies, Canada. It is the first incorporated municipality located within a Canadian national park, and at 1,463 m (4,800 ft), it is the town with the second highest elevation in Canada, the highest being Lake Louise. It is surrounded by mountains, notably Mount Rundle, Sulphur Mountain,Mount Norquay, and Cascade Mountain, and is situated above Bow Falls near the junction of the Bow and Spray Rivers. Banff is located 126 km (78 mi) west of Calgary and 58 km (36 mi) east of Lake Louise, on the T rans-Canada Highway. Banff is a resort town and one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings and hot springs. It is a major destination for outdoor sports and features extensive hiking, biking,  and skiing areas within the region. Two ski resorts are located in close proximity: Sunshine Village and Ski Norquay.

Banff was first settled in the 1880s, after the transcontinental railway was built through the Bow Valley. In 1883, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers stumbled upon a series of natural hot springs on the side of Sulphur Mountain. In 1885, Canada established a federal reserve of 26 km² around the Cave and Basin hot springs, and began promoting the area as an international resort and spa as a way to support the new railway. In 1887, the reserve area was increased to 673 km² and named "Rocky Mountain Park." This was the beginning of Canada's National Park system.
The area was named Banff in 1884 by Lord Steven, a former Canadian Pacific Railway director, recalling the name of his birthplace, Banff in Scotland. Canadian Pacific built a series of grand hotels along the rail line and advertised the Banff Springs Hotel as an international tourist resort.
Banff town site developed near the railway station as a service centre for tourists visiting the park. In 1985, the United Nations declared Banff National Park, as one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a World Heritage Site.

Icefields Parkway
The Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience is located on Canada’s most scenic mountain roadway; The Icefields Parkway. This is the route to over one hundred visible glaciers, turquoise lakes, rushing waterfalls and numerous hiking trails, getting to the Columbia Icefield is a remarkable attraction in itself! Considered one of the most scenic highways in the world, the Icelfields Parkway offers an ever-changing view of waterfalls, emerald lakes, alpine meadows and snow-capped peaks.
The Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience™ reveals the most unique attraction in the Canadian Rockies. Massive Brewster Ice Explorers, specially designed for glacial travel, take passengers on a remarkable excursion onto the surface of the Athabasca Glacier. Each 90 minute journey is lead by an experienced driver-guide, who shares a wealth of fascinating information about glaciers, icefields and their impact on our environment. Mid-point in the tour, passengers can safely step out onto the glacier and stand on this powerful ancient ice.

Athabasca Falls

Athabasca Glacier 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam and Cambodia - Nha Trang

-
Image
Hello, well we managed to escape the rain in Hoi An, this morning was torrential when we are at the airport ... but the plane managed to get up up and away ....and we arrived in Nha Trang. ( is a coastal city and capital of  Khánh Hòa province , on the  South Central Coast  of  Vietnam . It is bounded on the North by  Ninh Hoà  district, on the East by the  South China Sea , on the South by  Cam Ranh  town and on the West by  Diên Khánh  district. The city has about 300,000 inhabitants .  Nha Trang is well known for its pristine beaches and excellent  scuba diving and is fast becoming a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers  as well as more affluent travelers on the  Southeast Asia  circuit. It is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists.  Nha Trang Bay  is widely considered as amongst the world's most beautiful bays. Tourists are welcome to participate in the Sea Festival, held biennially. Historically, the city was known as 
Read more

Best of New Zealand

-
Image
Kia Ora, Hello again, unfortunately now back home in what is a sunny Stafford, the final few days of the New Zealand trip were spent in the beautiful Bay of Islands,from the 19th - 22nd,  although the weather was not the best, torrential rain and gale force winds .... we did manage to enjoy it. After leaving Auckland we crossed the harbour bridge, and made our way to the Kauri Museum, at Matakohe. Here we had time to experience this fantastic museum, and learn all about the Kauri tree and its uses. The afternoon drive was through a native forest, where we stopped to view the oldest largest of the Kauri trees, Tane Mahuta (the big tree), it is said to be over 2,500 years old, and stands tall in the forest (see pics below). Later we travelled through to our destination of Paihia, in the Bay of Islands, when we arrived we met with Lena, our guide from Culture North, she took us on a short orientation tour ending at the Waitangi Treaty Ground, where we had a visit to the Treaty House
Read more

California and the Golden West

-
Image
We are now back in the UK at least the sun is shining, nearly as warm as it was when we left LA. The last day (Wednesday) seen us heading to Hollywood, most of the group went off with Redline Walking Tours for an insight into the Hollywood "life", after lunch we travelled through Sunset Strip and Beverley Hills before arriving at the airport for the flight to London with Virgin. Alas it was time to say our farewells and hopefully take home some great memories of the 2, 493 miles that we travelled since arriving in LA on the 9th June, just a quick recap, San Diego and its old town, Phoenix and its heat, Sedona with its beautiful red stone rock formations, to the Grand Canyon and the memorable flight, to the glitz and glamour that is Las Vegas, through the desert to Calico the old silver mine town, and not forgetting the afternoon stop in Tehachapi, for that wonderful cream pie !!! next it was off to Yosemite to walk among those old sequoia, and marvel at the scenery and of cou
Read more