Our first day in Banff was going to be a busy one, we had several things to do, starting the day with a visit to Banff’s Cave and Basin. I cannot stress how this was the part of the trip I was looking the most forward to. The bright blue lakes in all these pictures I’d seen professional photographers take in Banff National Park, I’d get to see them for myself.
Cave and Basin National Park
The first stop was the Cave and Basin. The waters were supposedly a beautiful colour and I would never say no to visiting a cave! (I love caves, something about how they were created ages ago seems to lure me in.)
Sadly, when we got there, we were told the cave itself was closed off due to the current global pandemic. We were disappointed, but the view of the waters at the top and the sulphur smell was enough to satisfy our curious urge for this year.
When Banff was first discovered, people would bathe in the hot springs of the cave and basin for its “beneficial” health properties. (In present times, I got bath salts in Banff that are supposed to be rich in sulphur. I will be trying them and making an article on that for sure!)
Another interesting tidbit about the Cave and Basin were the snails. There is a species of snails that live only in the Cave and Basin of Banff and therefore are very protected. They are also veeeeeeery very tiny, so it’s fun to try and spot them in the waters.
Walk to Old Mining Ruins
We had a little time to kill before supper and I found old mining ruins somewhere in the Banff National Park. We went for a short hike and we ended it when we reached the first cluster of ruins. I’m not sure how much of a reward continuing this hike all the way to the other ruins would be. If someone’s done that hike, I’d love to have feedback. We were exhausted and hungry, so we opted to stop our hike short.
Town of Banff
The town of Banff is quaint. I enjoyed walking around, seeing the backdrop of mountains. There is an array of different restaurants, snack stores, souvenir shops, etc. We also frequented the grocery store regularly for our hiking meals.
Supper At Amu -Ramen Bar-
The ramen I had at amu has got to be one of the best I’ve had in a long time. The ramen bowl I had was creamy and simple, purely delicious. Their vegetarian option was also a hit!
Number of steps taken and km walked: 17 299 steps and therefore 12.4km
Want to see what we were up to the day before? Check out our article about our day in Calgary.
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