Day 13 - 15, June 14 - 16, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada


Took a few days to relax, hike, and bicycle, as well as walk through Downtown Banff.  Wonderful place, great scenery, but I'm afraid the town is too crowded for me.  That's why I moved to the Sierra Foothills!  But, it was a nice experience, all in all.  On arrival day, we decided just to walk the downtown area, which was a lot of fun, except for the crowds.  There truly is no parking available, but we got lucky.  
June 14 we drove to Louise Lake, parked at the local park-n-ride, and took the shuttle up to the lake.  We then took a 5 km round trip hike to the glacial source of the lake.  The glaciers form a glacial flour through the grinding of the rocks, and the melting water carries the glacial flour to the lake.  The four is suspended in the water, and causes the water to absorb all colors but turquoise, which is reflected back.  The photos do not do it justice!
June 15 we took the gondola up Sulphur Mountain.  Great views from the top, which are included in the photos.   
June 16, Father's Day, I did a 29 mile ride around the hills surrounding Banff, to include Lake Minnewanka (I could not find the Willie Wanka!), then the golf course loop.  The golf course is run by the local Fairmont, so it was rather pricey, and I did not indulge.  Saw one bear on the bike ride, so my count is now at five.


No trip is complete without a photo of the entry sign.  Unfortunately, Dianne was not with me, and we could not do our traditional group photo in front of the sign.
Glaciers above Lake Louise.


Another glacier hanging off the mountain.
Top of Sulphur Mountain.


Lake Louise and glacier above.

Fairmont at Lake Louise, from the west end of the lake.

Lake Louise, Dianne, and the Fairmont.
Fairmont from the west end of the lake, and the glacial flour sediment in the foreground.


Who would have thought there would be a "cosmic ray station" at the top of Mount Sulphur?

View up the Bow Valley, looking northeast, from Mount Sulphur.  Highway 1 is in the middle left, Bow River is on the right.

Town of Banff from the top of Mount Sulphur.

Tunnel Mountain on the left, and the Fairmont Golf Course to the right of the Bow River.   Our campsite is on the escarpment above the Bow River, left middle.

View downriver from the top of Mount Sulphur.

A little critter looking for a handout.

Bigger critters looking for handouts, top of Mount Sulphur.

Ten o'clock at night, view from our campground at sunset. 

Another view at sunset, ten o'clock p.m.
A view on my bike ride, July 16 looking downstream on the Bow river.

Banff Falls, on the Bow River, looking upstream from the same position as above, while on my bicycle ride. 
I kept looking for  Willie, but couldn't find him!










Comments

  1. jroagerJune 17, 2019 at 2:24 AM

    What was the elevation at the highest point you were at?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ed CJune 19, 2019 at 7:11 PM

      Sorry, Jason, but I wasn't keeping track. We came across a couple passes in Idaho that I think were the highest, when we crossed the Continental Divide. But then we climbed up some other hills towards glaciers. Not sure how many meters we were at!

      Delete

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