After a lot of exploring over the first few days of the trip, we had planned for today to be a relaxing day. No visit to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel is complete without a visit to the Willow Stream Spa, and that was the primary activity we had planned!

We took a break from the spa to grab some lunch, and then walked around the hotel grounds. The weather today was much clearer than previous days, and you could actually see some blue sky. There was still some haze, but we at least had a temporary reprieve from the thick smoke. We’ll take what we can get.

The groundskeepers do a great job with the flowers!

Lots of people enjoying the lovely outdoor pool.

Brian and Katherine had gone down to the river to explore, while Nadine and I went on a little drive, up to the hot springs. We then met up and did some evening exploring together.

With the break in the weather, we headed over to the Vermillion Lakes, which are normally a nice spot in the late evening sunlight.

There were lots of birds around, including these ducks right next to the first dock.

I managed to get a nice shot of this very friendly dragonfly mid-flight.

We continued driving up the Vermillion Lakes Road to the end.

After about an hour at the Vermillion Lakes, we headed into town for some ice cream.

Back at the hotel, Nadine and I returned to the Willow Stream Spa for a nice soak in the plunge pools before bed.