Bow River and Falls and the "Springs"

Monday, August 31, Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

Slept in a bit today and then had a really nice lunch on the patio of the Rose and Crown pub (left) in Banff town.

Here, we learned from a really nice Saskatchewan couple the proper hat for me to be wearing on my hiking travels - a Tilley hat, so we went in search of this hat. Unfortunately, we learned that my giant freak head doesn't fit any standard size hat that any normal store would stock, so I will need to order my hat on-line.


After lunch we strolled along the Bow River that runs right through Banff toward Bow Falls (right and below). Same turquoise blue water as at Lake Louise. The color is the result of what's called "rock flour" that is rock that is ground bump by glaciers and becomes suspended in glacial ice and melt.

The view down the Bow River into the Bow valley.

Homer Simpson moment - mmmmmm BEER!

This was at the Waldhaus, a german still restaurant that is part of the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel, or what the IN crowd simply calls "the Springs". At this point, we were still interlopers staying at a cheaper place downtown, so we must still call it the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel.

Some of the flowers from the Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel.