Today was another free day and I again had signed up for a local tour that would explore some of the highlights in and around Banff. We were picked up at the hotel at the appointed hour and joined 14 other people in a small 20 passenger bus by our driver/guide-Eli.  Our first stop was at the famous(?) Bow Falls which is right here in town. Why is it famous? Because Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum filmed the 1954 movie, River of No Return, here in Banff and Bow Falls played a role in the movie. And, no, they did not let Marilyn go over the falls on a raft; they used a stunt actress.

From there we went to a scenic overlook to see a great view of the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel and the “hoodoos”, local rock formations that were not overwhelming; however, the view was marvelous.

Our tour took out of town to see several lakes and included a stop at Lake Minnewanka, the 2nd largest lake in the Canadian Rockies, measuring 21 km (13miles) long with a depth of 142 meters (466 ft). It is one of the few lakes where motorized boats are allowed.

While on the tour we learned a bit of history, including a drive-by of the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel , built in 1885 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, by William Cornelius Van Horne, an American, who also oversaw the construction of the railway. He is said to have said:  “if we can’t take the scenery to the people, we will bring people to the scenery”.  Unfortunately our tour did not stop to allow us to visit the famous hotel.

Banff is also a town that lies inside the Banff national park and homes are owned but the land on which they sit is leased. It has a permanent (and limited) population of 8,305, which explodes to 30,000 at peak tourist season.

The tour ended after three hours and rather than go back to the hotel we were dropped off in the town where we did a bit of shopping and had lunch before returning to the hotel late in the afternoon to rest after the last few hectic days of touring.

Tomorrow we leave Banff and work our way to our final destination, Calgary.