A day in Banff AB

The day started with a whimper, and that whimper was "I don't want to get up early". The exception was Mary who was up and Adam. We three sloths dallied so long getting up and ready that our early start soon became 10.30am.

The plan for the day was to climb Sulphur Mountain and visit Johnston Canyon and the Inkpots. I had been suffering from cabin fever, moving on each day without getting any exercise or fresh air. This was a fairly physical day. Climbing Sulphur Mountain which overlooks Banff involved a 600m climb, and the Inkpots was 6km each way, also with some climbing. Our secondary agenda was to see wildlife. From this point of view our expectations were satisfied, if not exceeded… read on.

Not far out of town is the carpark at the base of the gondola for Sulphur Mountain. The track basically follows the route of the gondola to the upper platform, but obviously involves switching back and forth, so you pass under the gondola a number of times, each time gazing at smiling passengers who no doubt feel pity for you. 

The climb takes over two hours. The highlight for me was my first closeup encounter with a chipmunk- cheeky little creature actually touched its nose on my proffered hand (later I was informed of the rabies risk!)

The other highlight were these mangy looking mountain goats. They actually moult in June, so the appearance is probably not disease.

Once we reached the gondola platform there were spectacular views. On the one side was Banff far below and the winding Bow River, still swollen from weeks of rain, and on the other side the impressive Rocky Mountains; endless solemn snow covered peaks extending the whole length of the horizon.

 It was cool but relatively still at the top, which was great.. we didn't need coats as long as we kept moving. The actual peak of Sulphur Mountain was a few hundred metres away and a little higher than the gondola, so we wandered along the substantial boardwalk. This was where we had our first hoary marmot encounter. This little creature seems to be very economical in movement, only moving when it has to. If you ever visit Canada, I swear it may be in the same place we saw it.. we passed it and on return half an hour later it was still there.

At the summit is a Cosmic Ray observation station, set up in the 1950s to study the amount of ionising radiation reaching the earth's surface. It no longer operates, but a cabin sits at the site.

The gondola down was short and steep, both in gradient and price… over $15 per head! The views were good and the Starbucks at the bottom was also welcome.. There's something special about a "well earned" coffee! We had a delicious lunch en-maison en-car park and headed off to the next activity.

This involved a 20km drive. This is where we had an exciting moment. Turning off the highway we came into a traffic jam. Lots of vehicles all over the road with hazard lights flashing. A man informed us that this was because grizzly bears were there. We jumped out of the vehicle with cameras, keen to become bear bait. The views weren't great, but the bears were definitely impressive.. a large adult and a number of cubs! We took a few photos before the Rangers came and spoiled the party, moving us on.

OK.. so the view wasn't great.. but they are grizzlies

Johnston's canyon is a wonderful excised chasm through limestone and the water thunders through. There are several falls on the route which are spectacular and where you can get up close and personal with the spray. 

Above the upper falls is a lovely track winding through forest that looks like ideal bear habitat. The prospect of seeing a bear here is quite different to seeing one on the road. That is.. you don't want to see one at all. We had purchased bear bells and it was now quite late in the day, so we hung the bells from our backpacks and jingled along. It was quite a walk in and we were a bit hesitant about walking so late (7.30pm and growing dusk) but we continued throughout the forest. There was virtually no-one else on the trail now.. the tourists had all sensibly headed home. I hoped that the Inkpots were worth it. They were. These are natural springs, coloured beautiful shades from aqua to opalescent pearl, set in an expansive idyllic meadow. 

The Inkpots

That's rain, and that's a bird

Braving the bears in the deep forest

We savoured the solitude and the scene before heading home.

The ride home turned out to provide another highlight. Our grizzlies had come down right to the roadside and there were no other cars around. We had a wonderful unobstructed view. The huge adult was not visible, but three smaller bears were there. 

Now that's a better view of grizzlies. The adult is behind the cubs.
V took this photo

We took a quick lot of photos and movies before the owner of the car behind started walking toward us. He hadn't seen the bears and was quite at risk outside the vehicle. I felt responsible because I had stopped in the middle of the road with hazard lights on. He probably thought we had broken down.. I pulled away and he quickly returned to his car safely.

It was now 9.30pm and nearly dark. The supermarket in Banff stays open until 11pm so we did some quick shopping and headed back to camp. Dinner was a quick affair. W tried a TV dinner in the microwave and was quite impressed "the chicken tasted similar to chicken!"