You’ve probably heard of Banff before. One of your friends might have been there, or you’ve watched a travel programme talk about this place before. Banff National Park is, I would say, the most well known national park in the Canadian Rockies (others include Jasper National Park, Yoho National Park) and is around an hour’s drive from Calgary. The national park is famous mainly because of its scenery and the many outdoor activities it offers. It is nearly reading week (edit: I wrote this in early November and later discovered it was still in drafts…) in the University of Calgary, and I thought it would be nice to show a couple of photos of my multiple excursions and hikes around the Canadian Rockies. Calgary is a wonderful place for an avid hiker/geology student like me and this is exactly why I chose it as an exchange destination.

View from Prairie Mountain during the Fall

View from Burgess Shale/Mount Stephen in late September

View from Mount Norquay near Banff

October hike into Boom Lake (look at the reflections from the lake!)

Finally, the famous Banff town centre!

The mountains near Calgary are such a wonderful place and I look forward to exploring more of it in the winter semester (hint: microspikes, crampons and snowshoes)!