The extraordinary Canadian Rockies

Getting out of Calgary in a rental car, after a nine-hour flight from London, is no mean feat. Everything is slightly... gonzo. Have we been on this road too long? Was that our turn-off? But eventually we are spewed out onto a quiet highway with rolling countryside on either side, in no way giving a hint as to the drama of the scenery that's to come.

The first time I've seen peanut butter in a little packet 

First stop, because it's only a two-hour drive from the airport, is Banff. People love Banff. Everyone we spoke to there had moved from somewhere else and had come for a week or two and never left. I wish I could have liked it more, but it's mostly a main street lined with hotels and souvenir shops. You can also buy outdoor gear, and there is a movie theater and supermarket, so there are hints of real life going on but, wih its cutsey façades, it looks very much like Disney had a hand in building it.

There are also scads of tourists promenading up and down that main street. A lot of these, I couldn't help noticing, were Asian and, to a man, woman and child, were all wearing box fresh North Face, Superdry and Helly Hansen from head to toe. In fact, there were so many, that they were part of the ambient scene, along with the signs announcing pizza, coffee and ice cream outside the shops.

What's amazing about Banff, though, is that once you're there, you're already in the National Park and it's surrounded by incredibly high mountains you can see from everywhere. You need to buy a pass to drive in and, if you're staying more than a day, it seems you get sold the year-long one (have just remembered we left ours in our rental car - dang...) which costs Canadian $134. It also means wildlife sightings are on the cards and on our very first night we spied three elk grazing outside our bedroom window. So exciting. Thrilling, even, that these wild animals are just roaming around town.


Best things to do in Banff:
1. Take the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. Great views, lovely restaurant and, if you're feeling energetic, you can do the walkway over to the another nearby peak.
2. Eat dinner at the Silver Dragon Chinese restaurant. Best Chinese food I've had since I don't know when.

Looking for the missing canoer

3. Visit Lake Minnewanka. Don't laugh. Yes, I know the name is similar to something naughty, but it turns out 'minne' or sometimes spelled 'minni' is an indigenous people's word for water. Not sure what the wanka part means. Take the boat trip out into the lake. We had a fantastic commentary and learned why we wouldn't be seeing wolves (they're far too fast and clever), why fire can be good for an environment (allowing a more diverse forest to grow where, say, a dense carpet of pine trees was before) and also a sad tale about a young man who'd gone out the week before in a canoe by himself and hadn't been seen since. His canoe was found a few days later.

Enough of Banff for now. Off to Jasper, which means driving the Glacier Parkway. What a treat. So many glaciers, so many beautiful views. We were there in October and it snowed as we drove along, which gives you an idea of how early winter comes here. The images of the intensely wild landscape stay with you for a long time afterwards, as does the solitude as there were few other cars along this stretch.

Elk

Jasper is much more of a true town, with a diner-type restaurant in the center for breakfast, a supermarket, plenty of tat shops, but none of the Disney-fication of Banff. We were very lucky and got to stay at the Fairmont hotel here, a vast complex of cabins, main building, spa and pool, all set around a very pretty lake. Our cabin reminded me of the house in the Dick Van Dyke Show. Sort of retro, lots of wood panelling... Anyway, we looked right out on the lake and could easily have just moved in.

Top things to do in Jasper:
1. Take Estelle's food tour. You'll be taken to four restaurants and eat a dish with a drink (alcoholic unless you ask for otherwise) at each one and you'll also be given a potted history lesson on Jasper, learn about its quirks and come away feeling full, entertained and enlightened. Let her know when you book if you're a vegetarian, coeliac or have an allergy.

 2. Drive out to Maligne Road and just keep going. Crucially, go early in the day and drive slowly. This is where we saw two separate moose families and another animal we haven't been able to identify. It most resembled a fox, but not with the coloring of any fox I've ever seen or can find on the internet. Black tail, reddish body, black and yellow face. Just trotting along beside the road. No picture.
3. Go up the Jasper SkyTram. Amazing views of the mountains stretching off to the horizon, a nice café with a million-dollar vista and a gift shop at the top. Also walking possibilities if you're inclined.

Next stop Lake Louise and the Fairmont hotel there, where we had been happily upgraded to a lake-view room. It's around this point that I stop having enough superlatives to describe how beautiful and astonishing the landscape here is. The color of the water – like a super-blue, which I discovered is the result of glaciers grinding the surrounding rocks and then the rock 'flour' that's produced is washed down by snow and rain and suspended in the water, reflecting the light – is like nothing else I've seen anywhere. The temperature of these lakes is so bitterly cold though, that even in high summer you can't swim in them and very little lives in them.

Lake Louise

Top things to do in Lake Louise
1. Whatever time of year it is, take the gondola at the ski resort up to the top. As well as yet another nice café, there's a funny little stuffed-animal room and more of those incredible mountain views.

Emerald Lake

2. Drive to nearby Emerald Lake and take the 5.3km walk around the perimeter. You'll mostly be on your own, unlike at Lake Louise itself, and every so often there's a little information sign, explaining what you're looking at in the landscape. Reward yourself with hot chocolate at the cafe when you've completed the circuit.
3. Gaze at the lake!


On our way back to Banff and, ultimately, Calgary and our flight back to London, we stopped off at the Glacier Experience by the Athabasca Glacier. We were hoping to get one of the buses that take you right on to the glacier, but they were cancelled due to the high winds. We did do the other part of the 'experience', which is to go on the Sky Walk, a seemingly simple walkway built out over the valley. However, it's an unnerving experience because the floor is glass and it's a loooong way down... Not for the faint-hearted.

Athabasca Glacier