Dancing with the cowboys

Banff and the Stampede in Calgary

Despite having a busy schedule, Mona and I have quickly agreed before our trip that there is no way we are going to miss the Stampede. Advertised as the “greatest outdoor show on earth”, the Stampede turns Calgary every year into a haven for cowboys and those who want to be. It features daily rodeo competitions, chuck waggon racing, cow wrestling and evening shows at the Stampede grounds while the remainder of the city is on a ten-day party bender. We cannot wait.

The Stampede marks just over half-time for us on our road trip through the Canadian wilderness. It turns out to be great timing because in addition to us being super-excited about the festival, Mona and I are looking forward to staying in a proper house in the city for a couple of days with my friends Mike and Darren after the recent rainy patch of our road trip.

We’re leaving Jasper via the Icefields Highway. Numerous glaciers are flocking the scenic route and the Icefields Centre offers guided tours. We cut our look around this place short because it’s packed with tourists. And this is only a first glimpse of what is waiting for us in Banff.

Banff is probably known as Canada’s most beautiful national park. Images of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are upon the first to pop up when searching for travel ideas in Canada online and they can be found on pretty much all postcards from Banff. But whilst these places are truly beautiful, the enjoyment of the moment is slightly diminished by the masses of people that wait in line to get their very own picture. And that’s only after enduring a traffic jam coming up to the parking lot. Don’t get me wrong, I would absolutely recommend going there but Mona and I preferred e.g. Joffre Lakes in BC, or Medicine and Maligne Lakes in Jasper, simply because there’s less people.

Banff town is a cute little place with lots of shops and cafes and equally busy. July and August are peak season in Canada and in Banff this is more obvious than anywhere else (aside from Vancouver). So Mona and I head out of town after a quick stop over at our beloved Tim Hortons.

I feel like here I must give a little credit to my favourite fast food restaurant in the world. Tim Hortons is a chain of very low-priced fast food restaurants that only exists in Canada. The coffee is cheap and the doughnuts are sickeningly sweet but we just love to stop there every once in a while to spoil ourselves and enjoy the super-fast free WiFi.

Only a short drive outside of town is the beautiful, basic campsite of Two Jack where we stay for the night. Just as Mona is finishing up cooking, it starts drizzling again. Mona has just made a campfire (also part of Mona’s job while I’m driving and doing the dishes – we have allocated the roles already early on our trip) and we are reluctant to leave the cosy spot, also because some elk have decided to have their dinner in the woodland just in front of us. So we help ourselves with a large piece of bubble wrap that we find in the car which we’re holding over us while we have a couple of beers.

The next day, we are meeting Darren at Boundary Ranch a short drive from Canmore on the way to Calgary. Darren has arranged for us to do some horse riding in the Bow River Valley area and he’ll camp out with us that night before heading to the Stampede. He arrives with all our food and drink already sorted, including a big lumberjack sandwich. Now this is the biggest sandwich I have ever seen, it feeds the three of us just well after our 2-hour ride through the forest with spectacular views of the mountains. From the rain the path has turned into a mud land impossible to hike so I’m glad to sit high up on my beautiful horse Jackson who masters the ride without any issues.

We spend the night at Bow River Valley Campsite. From our spot, we can just walk down to the river with a couple of fishing rods that Darren brought along. And while Darren is looking for some firewood, Mona and I are trying to catch some fish for dinner – sadly without any luck. Fishing in Canada actually requires a license but we make a little exception just to get the real Canadian experience in this case.

By the time we get around to cook dinner, it is almost 10 pm and sure enough, just as Mona lights the campfire, it starts raining again. This time it’s a heavy downpour so even though Darren manages to span the bubble warp above our camping table and bench as a roof, we’re still not getting comfy there so we head over to the neighbours who have generously invited us over underneath their massive tarp. And after some tasty smokeys grilled over their campfire and some s’mores (imagine a piece of chocolate and melted marshmallow sandwiched together by two cookies) it’s a late and fun night for all of us.

Arriving at Mike’s place, it quickly turns out that the movie night we had in mind after the late night before isn’t going to happen. Mike has managed to organise free tickets for all of us for a Stampede Party. So after being equipped with some cowboy hats from Mike’s neighbours, Andrew picks us up for our first ever Stampede-experience. It’s not the first time I realise how hospitable Canadians are. I’ve hardly ever been made to feel as welcome and spoilt as in this country – in Calgary as well as before in Edmonton with Jeremy and in Regina visiting Nathan. I think I can also talk for Mona that we’re looking forward to return the favour back home in Europe 🙂

The party takes place at the Calgary Heritage Park, featuring outdoor stalls with food and drink, fun and games and a chain carousel as well as two large tents. After a stroll around the area to sample some food and drink (of course including some Cesar’s to start the night – see Into the Wild West for further explanation) as well as a ride on the carrousel, we head to the dance floor in the tent where some country music is playing. Not many people are dancing but our little group is just a class of its own dancing some two-step and other moves that cannot be explained which brings us a compliment from Andrew who says he didn’t know German girls could actually dance!

The next day – our scheduled visit to the Stampede grounds including rodeo and shows – is a complete washout. So instead of heading straight to the grounds, we’re spending the afternoon watching the rodeo on TV. Adults and kids alike somehow manage to stay on top of the buckling horse or bull and I sometimes can’t even look especially when a bull steps on a cowboy’s leg just after he came off it. I have also never seen or heard of cow wrestling before. Two cowboys are riding out of the boxes, flanking a small bull left and right which one of them needs to wrestle down while coming off his horse and jumping onto it to then hold it to the ground and tying its feet in the smallest possible amount of time. It looks brutal but thankfully the little bulls seem fine as they get up again – maybe a little surprised as to what just happened – before they casually trot away.

Watch the video on the bottom of the page to check out what the Stampede’s really like!

When the weather finally clears off we head to the Stampede grounds to watch the chuck waggon racing and the Grandstand Show (18 CAD (10 GBP/12 EUR) for a standing ticket). The atmosphere is great as the horses stomp around the grounds, four of them pulling one waggon with a usually screaming cowboy sitting on top of it. Our little group of Stampede visitors each picks a favourite in every race depending on the colours of their shirts which is not that easy to make out anymore by the time the mud-covered cowboys cross the finish line. The following evening show leaves all of us stunned. From singers and dance performances of huge groups, drummers and even a piano flying in from high above, to breath-taking acts balancing sky-high over the stage, we all agree that this deserves to be called the greatest outdoor show on earth. After a spectacular fireworks display, Mona and I agree that we might have to come back for more Stampede next year – then with proper cowboy boots to be able to dance the two-step and do some line dancing in style. Sadly the next day our stay in Calgary has already come to an end and we wave goodbye to Mike and Darren, not able to thank them enough for the amazing time we had.

Watch this video for the official highlights of Stampede – Day 8: