Wow, what a great time I had in Banff. I hitch-hiked from Edmonton and made it all the way to Banff in a couple of days. My last ride was with a kung-fu instructor named Abdul. He owns a kung-fu school in Victoria, B.C. It was his first time visiting Banff, as it was mine. He just kept saying "I can't believe it" when he looked around at the scenery. I was thinking the same thing. Originally, he wasn't planning to stay overnight---he was just going to drive straight through. But after he saw how beautiful this place is, he decided to stay. Abdul is so funny. He went up to an elk (these animals roam freely in the town) and I told him "you shouldn't approach that elk, it's a wild animal". "It's OK," he said---right before the elk mock-charged him. He was surprised, but I saw it coming.
We went to take a look at the historic Banff Springs Hotel. It's like something out of a fairy tale, and there's a real sense of history when you visit the place. We just pretended we were guests, and walked in. We went up to the top floor and looked out at the mountain views. Then we crashed a BBQ party that was being put on for resort staff. Again, we just acted like we belonged there, and helped ourselves to some food. No one challenged us or our right to be there. Free lunch!
Finally at night, we played pool and drank a couple of beers in a bar. we met some locals---local in the sense that they are seasonal workers at the hotels and other establishments in town. It's a popular place for lots of young people to find temporary, seasonal work. None of them were actually from Banff.
Since I was on a camping trip, I didn't bother with a hotel---I just rolled out my bedroll and sleeping bag in the town's baseball diamonds, near the Bow River. It's against the town by-laws to camp, but as long as you go to sleep late and wake up early, the police won't bother you. I fell asleep under the stars, and woke up to the sounds of elk snorting beside me as they foraged for food---these animals are actually kind of noisy.
The next couple of days, i spent climbing mountains; Tunnel Mountain and Mt. Rundle. The second one is quite a tiring climb. My legs were sore afterwords, but the views are breathtaking. It's like you can see forever, and I found fossilized seashells at the very top of the mountain, proving that this mountaintop was once the ocean floor, perhaps millions of years ago! At nights I relaxed with a beer or two at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall and traded stories and songs with the old guys in there.
Banff is great, but the best things are outside the town itself (which is kind of crowded and too touristy for me). I love this place!
