Dusting off my Memories

ridesawayblog
Mar 25
5 min read

“A Father and Daughter Reconnect on a Banff Backcountry Horse Trip!”

Apparently, time travel is possible.

A cowboy sits on a hewn log chair with a guitar cradled in his arms. He strums and sings. His yodelling and sad country ballads are offered out to a starry mountain night. A few guests sitting around the bonfire join in – as do several of the pack mules, hanging their huge heads over the coral rails and braying comically like backup chorus singers.

It is a fitting way to spend our evening after a long day in the saddle. Brion Holland is a horse wrangler and guitar picker working for Banff Trail Riders. He, along with fellow guide Courtney Gardiner, has led our group of twelve riders down the dusty trail to our backcountry sanctuary, Sundance Lodge in Banff National Park. For me it is like a journey back in time.

It was in the spring of 1983 when, with a fresh journalism degree in my back pocket, I hopped on a passenger train heading westward from Ontario to the Rockies and Banff. I felt I had earned a summer break before buckling down. Apparently “getting serious” was not in my immediate future though, as I found comfort and a quirky niche in this mountain town and put down roots for a time, wiling away a decade playing cowboy.

Now, I have decided to test the old adage – can you go back? I have read recently of a new travel trend that was born from our extended Covid shutdown. Not only is travel being concentrated closer to home, but also focused on trips where memories and nostalgia might drive us to return to familiar destinations, perhaps to a place where we travelled as kids with family. For me, Banff was the embodiment of my most idyllic young adult memories, all bundled into one place, a place where I transformed myself from boy to man.

My oldest daughter Kayla, who I have brought with me on this return to Banff adventure, was born 32 years ago while I was in the backcountry guiding a six-day pack trip. It was always to be my final ride, but she entered the world 3 weeks early and I had a busy day; finding out by camp radio that my wife was in labour, and then riding (in a hurry) 24 kilometres to town, arriving just a bit too late to be by my wife's side. Suddenly, “getting serious” had found me.

So, three decades since family obligations had taken me away from this place, I was back. For my horse-crazy daughter, this was her first Banff experience (so to speak). Our group of twelve riders had met in the morning at Warner’s Stables, watched as our duffel was loaded on a string of mules and then hauled off down the trail, and then, we too set off westward alongside the tranquil Bow River. Often people will comment that Banff is just too busy nowadays. Well, as always, when you venture a short distance from the townsite on a hike, bike, or horse, the people disappear and you are left with only quiet and sheer awe-inspiring beauty.

We stop on the bank of the Bow River, unpack Tanya the lunch mule, boil up some cowboy

coffee and grill some steaks over the fire. After lunch, the trail takes us high along the valley wall for splendid views, before dropping back down to Healey Creek. Our sure-footed horses criss-cross the turbulent, bolder-strewn river, before clamouring up the bank to our destination.

Sundance Lodge was built during my watch, a beautiful log lodge constructed in 1991, a 16 km ride southwest of Banff. With ten guest rooms, two bathrooms, living room with fireplace, kitchen with communal dining table, and a large inviting porch, this is backcountry luxury, with handmade furniture, log beds, solar panels and thus, for weary riders, plenty of hot water in the showers. I loved the family-like energy as we sat around a long dinner table enjoying salmon served by camp cook Zachary Blease.

For me it feels different being a guest rather than a guide. Previously I would have unrolled my bedroll in the Bunky/Saddle Shed across the creek, to be lulled to sleep listening to the horses and scurrying mice. I wonder if the guides would mind me knocking on their door tonight, but decide instead to enjoy the lodge’s comfortable bed – I am getting older.

Still, my daughter and I are up early, and across the bridge at the saddle shed to help with

the feeding, brushing and saddling of the horses. My trusty steed is a tall, stout Dun named Trooper (and he would have to be). After breakfast, we set off back down the trail on our return ride to Banff, and, in a nice gesture (or was it a test), the guides let me pack the lunch mule.

Although it is the equine adventure that has called us back to Banff National Park, my daughter and I plan to stay awhile after the ride to enjoy some different mountain experiences. In a pilot project implemented in 2022, Parks Canada is closing the Bow Valley Parkway in spring and fall to vehicle traffic. So, we exchange horses for E-bikes and set off on a 60 km cycle from Banff to Lake Louise. Without the rabble of automobiles, the parkway is very wildlife friendly. We stop to view elk, mule deer, and even a black bear and cubs who play amongst the sun-bleached stumps and logs on an open grassy slope. Sheep gather along the line where vegetation meets rock. A young bull moose with velvet covering his new antlers plods through a marshy section below us. At Lake Louise, we load our bikes on public transport for our return journey.

Banff itself has grown slightly, matured in luxurious ways, and invited in a few more visitors. The reasons the people come, however, has not changed. It’s spectacular setting remains the same. There are also some thoughtful innovations meant to alleviate congestion in the townsite’s bustling core. The downtown blocks are now closed to vehicle traffic, so cafés and patios have spread out into the street. Hybrid busses shuttle guests efficiently to anywhere they want to go, thus encouraging visitors to park their vehicles.

I must admit, I had returned to Banff a bit smug – convincing myself that the town and park would not be the same, not as “cool” or with the same adventurous vibe as the Banff of my youth. It would have grown too big, become too commercial, would not be as wild or carefree. I was wrong. I saw my mistake in the eyes of my daughter, awe-struck seeing Banff for the first time. I realized if she wasn’t married, I might be heading home alone. I know how that works. I saw it in Brion, our horse guide – he was a young me. He asked me, contemplatively, how I knew when it was time to leave and move on with life. “You will know,” I told him. “Don’t be in a hurry.”

The townsite might have matured, but it is that evolution that makes it worth revisiting. Banff still has its magic and allure on full display. I was happy to be back – with my daughter – in the place where it all began.

Rides Away Insider - Banff Then and Now

Then it was Wild Bills, the Silver City Saloon, King Eddy, the Magpie and Stump, Grizzly House, and the Mount Royal Express (where I met my wife).

Now innovative and unique new dining options include Chuck’s Steakhouse (for the best steak I have had and Caesar salad made at your table), Una Pizza and Wine, the Park Restaurant and Distillery, and Three Bears Brewing. We stayed at the Moose Hotel and Suites with its rooftop hot tubs, a great place to comfort our saddle-weary backsides.