Banff

 

 

 

 

Banff is spectacular; mountains soar up almost from the town centre. The hotel is well placed and eating places abound. We have excellent steak at Kegs. The next day is one of the days off that add considerably to our enjoyment. We have a number of alternative walks to consider. I discuss the Amphitheatre with tourist information. Who tell me there are two grizzlies in the area with cubs. I tell Meg about the grizzlies but not about the cubs. She has already decided that the less strenuous Tunnel Mountain sounds more attractive. I waste a lot of time trying to find out how to get to Sunshine Meadows with the help of tourist information, the hotel staff and the internet. We can find leaflets and web pages but none tell us where it is and where the courtesy bus stops. Well this is the Useless travel Guide after all.
Tunnel Mountain is delightful. The path in dappled shade climbs though a pine forest and gives us lovely views on three sides.
"Did you see the 2 year old elk at the foot of the path?" enquires a fellow climber. "No we missed that one but there are plenty of birds and squirrels. It was just the exercise we were looking for. In the afternoon we set off for the Marsh Loop but abort when the mossies turn up in force. Pity because this is supposed to be particularly good for exotic birds and the marsh contains tropical fish that survived after someone ditched their collection because of the warm sulphur springs.
Wyatt's question is "What is the significance of the train whistles?"
We catch the bus to the Banff Springs hotel which like Lake Louise has had loads of forgettable celebrities. We then cut through mosquito infested woods to a teleferique. We are wearing jungle strength repellant and it works because we are not bitten but the presence of them in their thousands is intimidating. Don't be put off by the price of the ride, the top is terrific. We rode up with a man and his daughter who had been named after the West Yorkshire town of Keighly. She had not met many people who had been there. There is a board walk to a weather station with splendid views and a ridge walk which we did not discover until too late. There is also a long descent which must be a great walk for which we did not have time. The queue for the lift was long and we were getting weary so it was a godsend when the couple with whom we descended offered us a lift back to Banff. We set off to dine at Melissa's Missteaks which is supposed to be on the corner of Lynx and Wolf. It appears to have changed into a petrol station. However having given up searching we trip over it. During the search we listen to train whistles. LONG LONG SHORT LONG. Sounds like Morse and it must be a little used letter, but which one and why?
The locals cannot tell us. Buying breakfasts is getting less and less successful. The supermarkets opening times are later, they do not open on time and they do not restock their shelves overnight. The after dinner drinking session is becoming more sociable and even grumpy man is joining in. We divi up $105 for the full day trip as do all the rest of the group. First stop are the spiral tunnels. The Canadian Pacific's surveyors recommended Yellow Head pass but the administrators chose Kicking Horse. There was a good case for building the railway as near the USA as possible to eliminate border disputes. Unfortunately Kicking Horse was too steep and derailments outnumbered successful journeys. The solution to the steep gradient was to dig two spiral tunnels in the mountain. They did this with precision the tunnels being only 2 cm out when they met. It is possible with their long trains to see a west bound train entering a tunnel going west, coming out going east entering the second tunnel and exiting heading west all at the same time. While we were watching the only thing that came along that track was a one person transporter. The modern equivalent of that device with two pump handles you see in westerns.
Kicking Horse pass is not a First Nation name. The doctor of one of the railway expeditions fancied himself as an explorer and set off on his own one day. His horse fell through the ice and after a heroic and successful attempt to save it the ungrateful beast kicked him and trotted back to camp. His comrades found him dead and lit a fire to warm the ground so that they could bury him. As they were sprinkling the first soil on him he came round. He was the only member of the party technically qualified to pronounce someone dead.
The otherwise decent buffet lunch at the Lake Louise ski lift included Naiomin bars accurately described by Wyatt as a local delicacy with absolutely no nutritional value. The lift passes over an area known to contain grizzlies but our barren stretch of wild life spotting continues unabated. Once again the views are terrific.
Lake Moraine is not formed by terminal moraine. The First Nations called it the Lake of 10 mountains and it has the best backdrop of mountains of all the lakes we have seen. It was used to decorate the Canadian $20 bill until recently. Meg is asked by a family to take their photo but is dissatisfied with their disposable camera so takes one with her SLR and promises to email it to them. Last stop of the day is Johnson Canyon. As usual most head for the gift shop while 6 of us head for the waterfall. It is another lovely walk. The river is very Derbyshire like and sure enough there are dippers. I was surprised to learn that Keith considered them a rarity. Many of the places we have walked have other and longer alternatives and another holiday here will allow us to explore them. On the drive back we at last spot some magnificent Wapiti but still have not seen big horn sheep.

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