The Cold Plunge: Road Tripping to Banff

It was a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Penticton in British Columbia to Banff in Alberta, but it took us twelve hours because we stopped along the way. Our first stop was for lunch at Kelly O’Bryan’s Neighbourhood Restaurant in Vernon.

Over the next few hours, the sparkling lakes and rolling green hills of the Okanagan region gave way to rugged mountain ranges. We stopped briefly in Revelstoke- or Revy, as it’s affectionately known- outside the Smokey Bear Campground Resort for a photo with Smokey himself.

Tucked between the Monashee and Selkirk Mountain Ranges of southeastern British Columbia, Revelstoke is on the territory of the Sinixt (pronounced sin-eye-ch-kiss-ta) First Nation. The Secwepemc (suh-Wep-muhc), Ktunaxa (Tu-na-cha), and Syilx First Nations also have traditional land use in this region. Revelstoke abounds with natural beauty, and is located in the world’s only inland temperate rainforest.

The mountains were closing in on us, and with the drop in temperature, the atmosphere was becoming cosier. I watched in awe at the majesty of Rogers Pass, a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains.

We were delayed briefly by a routine road closure at Roger’s Pass, a precautionary measure against avalanches. It was an opportunity for us to get out of the car, breathe in the fresh mountain air and have a look around.

We noticed some cars moving through the road closure, and we sprinted back to Janine’s car to join the queue. We did not want to miss the opportunity to get through if it was going to be a small window. We were on our way again much sooner than expected. We stopped for dinner at Rockwater Bar and Grill in the town of Golden, where I tried my first poutine, a traditional Canadian dish originated in Montreal, consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. Not sure how my stomach would respond-or react- to such a heavy meal, I had been planning the timing of my first poutine mindfully. I thoroughly enjoyed it- the portion size was perfect, and the cheese curds added a unique texture and taste to the typical bowl of fries.

Golden is nestled in the Rocky Mountain Trench, built around the meeting point of the Columbia and Kicking Horse rivers, surrounded by three different mountain ranges and five national parks: Yoho National Park, Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Glacier National Park, and Kootenay National Park.

The drive into Banff was stunning. Snowy mountains seemed to scrape the sky. Veins of fresh water had frozen in motion on its way down the mountainside. I held my phone at the ready to take pictures of road signs warning of deer, moose, and of falling ice. We passed frozen lakes, and I watched a Trans-Canadian cargo train snake along the road beside us. We spotted four wolves on the edge of the forest scavenging by the roadside- I would later learn that seeing so many together at once was a rare and special sighting.

We stopped for gas in Lake Louise and arrived in Canmore at 11 pm. Once she had put Maddie to bed, Janine and I sat and chatted over a glass of wine for another hour and a half before retiring to bed. We had a big day of sightseeing ahead of us.