We saw the mothers and babies in the forest right along the road on more than one occasion.
We didn't realize that an elk baby has spots similar to a fawn.
We were up early, as we started our day with a hike in Johnston Canyon.
This is on every list of must-see sights near Banff. But it also makes it incredibly crowded. We tried to stop here when we had guests, but the parking lot was full and cars were parked along the road for almost a mile in both directions. But early our first morning we scored a parking lot space and started the walk into the canyon.
Smooth walking trails make this family friendly and good for all hiking abilities. It's a pretty place to see with tall canyon walls and a stream that carved those walls. To add interest, there are also stops at some of the waterfalls.
We could view the lower falls from the bridge,
or we could get in line to go through the tunnel to get up close and personal to the lower falls. You are certain to get you and your camera wet to get the close-up picture of the roaring falls. You can ask us how we know!
Because we were there early, we had a pretty easy walk and could even get the occasional picture with few people in it.
We made our way to the end of the hike, for views of the much taller upper falls.
The hike continues to "the ink pots," but we were saving our legs for another big hike this evening. So we turned around to make our way back down that cat walk to the car. Now it is later in the day and the masses have arrived. No pictures on the walk back because we were dodging people the entire time. The lines at the tunnel were long, and it just isn't fun walking in long lines of slow walkers. We were glad to check Johnston Canyon off our list as we saw the road was now lined with a mile of cars again.
The predicted rain started falling, and our sight seeing plans also changed. We made the drive to see the Vermillion Lakes. But we won't be putting the kayak on them to paddle up Echo Creek to see wildlife because of the rain.
At the viewpoint for the lakes, we found a colony of Colombian ground squirrels playing in the grass.
We also won't be making that hike that we were saving our legs for. It was just raining too hard to take a miserable walk up a muddy mountain. So we will be spending more time at our favorite Canadian bakery--Tim Horton's. We have a frequent visitor card here because their bakery items are good, and they have the best wifi in town.
The good news about the rain is that people have shortened their stop at our campground, and we scored a third night's stay. So we relocated to a new camp site (and luckily got the electricity to work inside the motor home after some more work), and we had a third day in Banff. That allowed us to go on a rainy walk at the national park's largest lake--Lake Minnewanka.
A low-lying band of clouds is making a stripe across the mountain behind the lake this morning. Normally this place would be swarming with tourists, but we have the place virtually to ourselves this morning. With rain showers and temperatures in the 40's, it is nippy here today. Denisa has on a blouse, a hooded sweat shirt, and a jacket. That's not your usual July dress code!
We would have hiked further at the lake, but the trail was wet and slippery as it rained more. This bridge made a nice place to turn around, since the sign on the trail going further says all hikers must have bear spray and hike in groups of four or more. We would have some trouble finding two more people to hike further down that trail.
We are guessing that Lake Minnewanka is a beautiful place to be on a sunny day. But on a dreary day, we thought these cheerfully colored boats made for the brightest picture we could find.
After showers much of the day, the forecast says that it should clear off this evening and we have a special hike planned to the top of Sulphur Mountain. But as we drive toward the trail head, we can't even see the mountain for all the low lying clouds. Is this a good idea?
Most people arrive at the base of Sulphur Mountain to go to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. This was the reason that Canada formed this first national park--to protect the medicinal purity of the sulphur-laced hot waters of this magical spring. Today the masses are still soaking in the hot water on a cold rainy day.
We didn't go to the hot springs, as we are here to hike to the top of Sulphur Mountain on this rainy evening. We are still layered up with rain coats and sweat shirts as we start the steep trail up.
Unlike Johnston Canyon, we pretty well have the trail to ourselves--well except for those people buzzing overhead in the gondolas.
The mountain is covered with trees, but occasionally we get a view out through the clearing cut for the Banff Gondola. It's interesting to see the cars of gondola going up the mountain over our heads as we make our way higher up all those switchbacks.
The last section is rocky and steep. It's here that the person in the gondola that paid $50 to glide effortlessly to the top of the mountain might think that was a great value.
But we made it to the top for the views of the town of Banff from above.
After visiting the area for three days, now we can see how it all fits together. We see that the town of Banff is sitting in a bowl surrounded by big beautiful mountains. We are staying in Tunnel Mountain campground, and Tunnel mountain seems quite large to us. But now it looks like a little hill in the middle of the valley surrounded by the big peaks. We can see the shiny ribbon that is the Bow River as it winds its way around town. Banff Springs Hotel is in the bottom of the picture, now lit up with sunshine.
We can zoom in to get an aerial view of the same hotel we walked to in the rain on our first day here.
The top of Sulphur Mountain is quite commercialized with a big building filled with restaurants and bars and the gondola station. But there is also a board walk that takes visitors even higher.
Our legs have just enough left in them to walk the extra kilometer to the top of Sanson Peak for more views far below.
It's fun to be standing on top of a mountain, looking down on the peaks around us.
At the very top is the old weather station that has made it through all kinds of weather over the years it has set atop this peak.
After all the rain of the last two days, it is nice to be strolling in shirt sleeves again. We found more of the red adirondack chairs, placed by the Canada National Parks to indicate especially picturesque places to take in the park's scenery.
It's a beautiful place to propose marriage, as we watched this newly engaged couple taking pictures of the new ring.
We also found an old piano, with a written invitation to sit down and play a tune atop the mountain. Too bad that wet and cold weather has made most of the keys stick.
After a snack with a view, it was time to head back down the mountain. But this is the best part of the hike. That $50 gondola ride becomes free to hikers that make it to the top after 7:00 p.m. It is also available in the morning to hikers that arrive before 10:00 a.m. So we won't be making that long walk downhill tonight. Instead, we're gliding down the mountain in style!
The sun is setting as Mark hangs the camera out the gondola window for views of the sunlit mountains around us.
The mountain that took us two hours to climb up, is less than a ten minute ride down in a gondola. It's a good way to end our time in Banff, and after a couple days of rain it's nice to be wandering His wonders in the sunshine again!
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