Alberta, Canada Road Trip: Day 3 ( Banff Hot Springs and Canmore)

After a very physical morning of hiking Johnston Canyon (previous post), we thought we'd take a lazy afternoon for a change. For that we had the perfect spot in mind to soothe our achy muscles - the Banff Hot Springs.

Upon arrival, the drizzle started. Nevertheless, we stayed under it and ate the snacks because we were famished after the hike. Once inside the building, I wanted to run as fast as I could away from there. The ticketing room was packed, long lines. Everyone in my group, though, was keen on doing this today, because it's difficult to shake the itinerary and we're already here. To ease my nerves, the line went fast and before we know it we were given locker assignments and key to put our clothes. You can also rent swimwear in case you didn't bring any. Towels were also for rent.

And so we spent the next hour or so soaked in thermal bath. It was full, I won't lie, but we had a little niche of the pool so I'm happy. And not able to swim, I stayed on the sides. Nice time was had by all, except that soaking too long in the hot water makes one a bit lightheaded, as one of my friends experienced.

The thermal bath is basically a large pool that was fed with water from the hot springs. I can't remember how hot the water was for sure. The views were fantastic though.

After the bath, we have nothing else on the itinerary for the day. Before going back to the hotel to chill, we stopped at Banff town for a brief moment, then another stop at a specialty store to check out some game meat jerky. It appeared that we were in a shopping mood because after the meat store, we made a grocery run and a wine store run. Back at the hotel, we found that we had ourselves a very good spread of charcuterie. There we were sipping good wine, and munching on yummy varieties of cheese and different meats and fruits. The best part was chatting with "our people" while dining. And I thought this was the end of our day, and finally we can get a good rest for the night.

Banff town.

According to my Canadian friend, this is a very popular flavor. And NO, I didn't buy this. Not curious enough.

This was the favorite among the 4 bottles we had.

Energized by all the good food and buoyed by the wine, we found ourselves getting ready to go out and see about Canmore town where we are staying and especially about The Grizzly Paw Brewing Co that was highly recommended to us by a local. I don't know why none of us thought we don't need to go drink after we just had a wonderful repast. I think we all needed more fresh air and a good walk. From the hotel, it was quite a good walk too. Thankfully, we found that the Grizzly Paw was packed and there was over an hour of wait for a table, whew! What a save. None of us had any more room for a drink or a bite. Thus, we just pounded the pavement and explored this lovely resort town that is flanked by mountains on all sides.

Canmore town.

The middle friend is Ukrainian, so I bought these t-shirts from a Ukraine fundraiser for all of us.

On the walk back to the hotel, we passed a Chinese restaurant. Curious about the menu, we went to check out the menu posted by the door. I don't know what happened, but next think I know, we were asking for a table for 6. And we had Chinese food dinner to complete the day. Honestly, I don't know where we put all these food.

The boys attempted to jump on the tracks on the way back to the hotel.