Rockies Trip - Day 7 - July 21st , 2014
Banff, Alberta
It's very revealing how one can pass over a jewel without realizing its value. We've stayed in Banff overnight a couple of times before, but only as a stopover - not really as a destination. Although I was aware of its envious spot in the mountains, I had no idea of just how rich it is in culture, pristine beauty, and attractions other than the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. This was truly remedied today!
We woke up to some very dark clouds, some thunder, and some heavy rain. However, we decided to venture forth and do the 'shopping thing', visiting the variety of stores that are on Banff Avenue, the main street, and its offshoots.
Some of the stores provided an opportunity for the silly side of human nature to reveal itself, as you can see from some of these pics. Mark seems to have taken a shine to large, soft toys! Should I be worried?? LOL
After about 45 minutes, we noticed that the clouds were beginning to clear and the sun was peeping out, so we headed down to the Bow River to walk along the trail leading to the lookout over the Banff Springs Hotel. This is the classical view of the hotel, where it seems to emerge from the trees in the surrounding forest.
The current hotel replaced an earlier version after that had burnt down. Apparently, this was one of the first of the 'Railway Hotels', which were to dot the country from East to West, and it was also instrumental in developing the concept of National Parks.
Wanting to see some wildlife, we headed back to the hotel to pick up the car. Lunch consumed, we headed onto Hwy 1A - more familiarly known as the Bow Valley Parkway. The concierge at the Information Bureau had given us directions and suggested that we should include a visit to Johnston Canyon.
To our surprise, and to my personal delight, a large gray wolf crossed the road about 30 metres ahead of us. It ran up a slope and turned to look at us before attempting to hide in the bush. We stopped the car, and watched him, as he then turned and sauntered a little to the side of where he had stopped. He took one more look at us, and then disappeared. We think he must have been the scout, as there is a family of 7-8 wolves in the area, but it is apparently very rare to see them in the wild. If you click the picture, you'll see him fairly clearly, to the right of centre. This was the hi-light of the day for me, as the wolf is my 'totem' - my very favourite animal.
A close second was the visit to the Canyon, where we followed trails for 1.5 miles beside a river of rapids that boast 7 waterfalls, the last one being quite spectacular. The trails (to the upper and lower falls) were really well maintained and afforded terrific views of both rapids and falls. Of particular interest were the 'catwalks', which left me wondering how on earth they had been constructed.
The uphill trail to the upper falls had us breathing heavily as the climb was consistent in its ascent. The effort was thoroughly worthwhile, though, as we saw some amazing rock transformations, cave-like structures (sculpted by the continued movement of water and rock particles), as well as a natural paradise of conifer trees, the roots of which clung to the rocks for all that they were worth - in spite of the call of gravity. We were so grateful to the concierge, who told us about this treasure.
 |
| We stopped to catch our breath... |
 |
| On the trail |
 |
| Catwalk alongside the river |
 |
| Cave hewn out of the rock by water action centuries ago |
 |
| The cream of the crop! |
We know that we're going to feel it in our thighs and calf muscles tomorrow - but it was well worth the effort to reach the spendour of the falls at the top.
On the return journey to Banff, we were in awe of the absolute majesty of the mountains and meadows that greeted us at every turn.
 |
| The majestic Castle Mountain |
 |
| Mount Rundle |
There is so much for tourists to take in when they visit the town of Banff and the surrounding area.
Tomorrow...... the trip along the Icefields Parkway to Jasper.
No comments :
Post a Comment