Rocky Mountaineer: Rainforest to Gold Rush- Day 9 & 10

Friday, October 2nd, 2026

Today we left on our motorcoach for a tour of downtown Banff. The resort town was in the Banff National Park with a population of 8,000. Banff National Park was Canada’s first national park. It also was part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Bow River’s name originated from the reeds growing along its banks, the First Nations used the reeds to make bows.

We stopped at the Surprise Corner Viewpoint. It was named because as you turned the corner you saw “surprising views”. It was located in Banff National Park. We had views of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and the surrounding Canadian Rockies.

Sir William Cornelius Van Horne was the general manager of Canadian Pacific Railway during the 19th century and is best known for overseeing the major construction of the first Canadian transcontinental Railway. A statue of him was located in the roundabout in front of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

Near Banff was the Bow Falls. It had a 30 feet drop and was 100 feet wide. It was a block-style waterfall which meant it was wider than it was tall and it spilled over the edge as a single sheet.

We did a group photo before we moved on.

We had tickets to ride the Banff Gondola. It took about 8 minutes to reach the summit of Sulphur Mountain.

View from our gondola as we head up the mountainside.

From the summit of Sulphur Mountain we could see six mountain ranges in the Canadian Rockies, Bow Valley, and the town of Banff. Click through the slideshow below to see a sampling of the views!

We saw more waterfalls as we traveled in Banff National Park.

Lake Minneanka was a huge glacial lake in Banff National Park. It was 13 miles long and 466 feet deep. This lake was known to the Stoney Nakoda First Nations people as Minn-waki which meant “Lake of the Spirits”. Artifacts from 14,000 years ago had been found around this lake.

We then continued on to Calgary and no longer had the Canadian Rockies to view. Calgary was the largest city in Alberta. It was located at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers. Calgary was known for its world-famous Calgary Stampede. This rodeo festival was founded in 1912 and held annually since 1923.

When we reached our hotel in Calgary we said goodbye to Richard, our driver and guide!

Saturday, October 3rd, 2026

After breakfast a motorcoach picked us up to drive us to the Calgary airport.

Our flight from Calgary to Denver was close to being on time. We arrived in Columbus late in the evening. Our driver was ready to pick us up and take us home.

We had a fantastic trip but it was always good to get home!

Rocky Mountaineer: Rainforest to Gold Rush- Day 8

Thursday, October 1st, 2026

Today was full-day of sightseeing and we learned about the natural forces that shaped the appearance of lakes and streams found in this area of the Rocky Mountains.

As we traveled on the Trans Canada Highway we saw several of these wildlife overpasses that were built to protect animals wanting to travel from one side of the highway to the other side. These bridges have reduced animal-vehicle collisions by over 80%!

The mountain views were spectacular as we continued on the highway.

Our first stop today was the Spiral Tunnels in Yoho National Park. The park covered 507 square miles in the Rocky Mountains.

The explanation of how the Spiral Tunnels work written here was from the Government of Canada’s website. It explains it so much better! “An eastbound train leaving Field climbs a moderate hill, goes through two short, straight tunnels on Mt. Stephen, under the Trans-Canada Highway, across the Kicking Horse River and into the Lower Spiral Tunnel in Mt. Ogden. It spirals to the left up inside the mountain for 891 metres (0.6 miles) and emerges 15 metres (50 feet) higher. The train then crosses back over the Kicking Horse River, under the highway a second time and into the 991 metre (0.6 mile) tunnel in Cathedral Mountain. The train spirals to the right, emerging 17 metres (56 feet) higher and continues to the top of Kicking Horse Pass.”

The video below showed the train moving from the lower Spiral tunnel to the higher tunnel.

Kicking Horse River was a glacial-fed mountain river.

The Yoho Valley Road led to the Takakkaw Falls. The road was famous for its steep set of tight hairpin switchbacks. Our motorcoach had to do a reverse maneuver to navigate the 180˚ hairpin turns. Richard, our driver, navigated to turns excellently. The photo below was from Google that showed the turns.

Hairpin turns ➡️

Takakkaw Falls was in Yoho National Park. We followed a path from the parking lot to get to the falls. The water plummets at high speeds off the edge of the tall vertical cliff and into the Yoho River below. The waterfall had a height of 1,224 feet and the main drop of the waterfall had a height of 833 feet.

Takakkaw Falls

Another stop in the Yoho National Park was Emerald Lake. It was a turquoise glacial lake. Tom Wilson, s mountain guide, discovered the lake in 1882 while he was rounding up a group of horses that had gone astray.

O-H-I-O on the wooden bridge across Emerald Lake!

From Emerald Lake we visited Natural Bridge.

The rock formation where the Kicking Horse River forced its way through a narrow limestone canyon became the Natural Bridge.

We saw the “Last Man Standing” in Yoho National Park. It was a bronze statue by sculptor John Boxtel was unveiled in 2019 to honor civilian internees held in Yoho National Park’s internment camp during WWI.

On our way to Lake Louise. It was a glacial lake in Banff National Park.

This beautiful lake was named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. The turquoise lake was surrounded by mountain peaks and was set at the base of Victoria Glacier.

Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier in the background

After our visit to Lake Louise we went back to Banff. Of course we saw more of the Rockies!

For dinner some of us visited Park Distillery. It was a restaurant and a working distillery located in downtown Banff. Our meals were very good!

Rocky Mountaineer: Rainforest to Gold Rush- Day 7

Wednesday, September 30th, 2026

This morning we met our motorcoach driver and guide, Richard. He will be with us for the next three days. He was a great driver and we enjoyed his knowledge and humor!

Only traffic light on Jasper. Added a couple of years ago.

We left Jasper and will end the day in Banff with a full day of sightseeing on our way.

We rode along the Icefields Parkway. It was a 144-mile highway. This highway links Jasper with Lake Louise. It was a beautiful drive with stops along the way!

We still saw remnants of the Jasper National Park wildfire from 2024.

Look closely to see quite a few elk along the side of the Parkway.

We followed along the Athabasca River. It was a major mountain river in Jasper National Park that flows over 765 miles.

The Rockies were snow-covered and glistened.

Our first stop was at the Athabasca Falls. It was considered the most powerful waterfall in the Canadian Rockies. It had an 80 foot drop and a width of 60 feet. The falls cascade down a limestone canyon which took thousands of years to carve by the Athabasca river’s powerful force.

The short clip below demonstrated the power of the water at the falls!

The Sunwapta River was a major tributary of the Athabasca River.

We could view the Stutfield Glacier from a lookout point where we stopped.

O-H-I-O in front of the Stutfield Glacier.

Mt. Alberta was 11,873 feet at its peak. It was the 5th highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

Below was another waterfall along the Icefields Parkway!

The Columbia Icefield was our next stop. We visited the Icefield Glacier Discovery Center and had a buffet lunch in the Altitude Restaurant. The restaurant had panoramic views of the Athabasca Glacier. Since Kay had to eat gluten free, the restaurant prepared a plate in the kitchen following protocols so there wasn’t cross contamination. We appreciated the willingness to accommodate.

Athabasca Glacier was a 10,000 year old sheet of ice. Due to our warming climate, the glacier has lost about 16 feet of depth per year and receding rapidly.

After lunch we took the Ice Explorer on the icy slopes of the glacier.

Dave with our driver and the Ice Eplorer

The Ice Explorer slowly took us to the glacier where we were able to walk on it.

After walking on the glacier we visited the Columbia Icefield Skywalk. We could see waterfalls, mountain goats, and the Sunwapta Valley. The walkway had a suspended glass floor that was 918 feet in the air.

The glass floor was on the left in the picture below.

Waterfalls that we saw from the Skywalk.

Mountain goats were eating down below us.

Peyto Lake was a glacier-fed and was a beautiful turquoise color. This beautiful color was the result of glacial rock flour (fine rock dust) that reflected the sunlight.