They live in Chicago but come to the Alberta Rockies whenever they can. “We’ve been here before and we love it,” says Steve, “We were supposed to be last year – we weren’t because of COVID, so we did it this year.” The Fleischmanns say they were counting on good weather and a beautiful summer. What they didn’t expect was the crowd. “Banff is crazy,” Steve said. “We just got back from Lake Louise which was crazy. There are a lot of people on our boat trying to get back on vacation.” It didn’t take long for traffic west of Calgary to slow down Friday as people headed to Banff National Park, causing traffic delays at the park gates. While the long lines may have surprised tourists, park officials expected them. “We’ve certainly seen a lot of people come out to enjoy Banff National Park and we were expecting another busy weekend,” says Daniella Rubeling with Parks Canada, “August is usually our busiest weekend, so we’re expecting nothing less this Weekend”. This means that people who didn’t plan ahead for their trip may be out of luck when it comes to finding a place to stay, a place to sleep, maybe even a place to eat. “We encourage everyone to be sure to make reservations whether it’s camping, dining or other accommodations,” Rubeling said. Jan Fleischmann said it wasn’t pleasant to get to the back country, but once there, the holiday really began, “It’s just beautiful,” she said, “We’re so lucky to get here – the weather and the people are so nice, it’s just been a blast.”
