Banff and first taste of the rockies

The Rockies
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Nothing prepares you for the first time you see the Rockies. Well that's my humble opinion anyway. Driving out of Calgary(thankfully), I first saw them after the crest of a hill on the highway. They were everything and more of what i was expecting and that was from about 30 km away, which means a bit of a fast drive till you get into them. The day had been cloudy which was a bit of a bummer in one way(no clear blue sky to highlight the peaks) but in another way also quite dramatic as clouds hid some of the peaks and rolled through the valleys between others, also on the plus side there was a light fall of snow the night before i got there which capped them off nicely. Once you get up close and personal it takes a lot of self restraint not to pull in to every rest stop by the side of the road to take photos. You would never get anywhere if you did. My first port of call in the mountains was Banff. It is the main town in the national park named after it and is probably a vital stop if you are travelling through the region. I stayed the hostel there that was a bit out of the town, but it was one of the nicest i have stayed in. It helped that it had its own bar and restaurant, which made for a good night without the hassle of having to try to get into town and back out again with the added advantage of cheap beer, free pool and very friendly bar staff. The town itself is a bit touristy but that is too be expected. I did another horse ride one of my days here and while enjoyable, there was one or two things that i didn't like about it. One was they brought you mostly one the same trails that i could have walked, so not much of a challenge, also it was all at a walking pace, which i probably shouldn't blame them for as most of the people on the ride didn't look all that comfortable on a horse, but i think the least the could have done is ask if we were up for a trot. Now that i had my little rant about it, i must also say that the views were amazing and there was the added bonus of crossing a river twice and see a white tailed deer. I also did some walking about but nothing really that could be called a proper hike, mainly some small trails in about the town.