Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Despite the rain, fog and mist today we managed to pack in a few of out "bucket list".
We headed off towards Banff from Lake Louise using the Bow River Parkway as this promised to be a more scenic route with better chances of seeing wildlife. This it gave us with 2 male elk, 2 large black bears and 3 mountain goats. Unfortunately we have yet to see cubs or female elk with their babies.
Our first stop was at Lake Minnewanka - Lake of Water Spirits. The beautiful blue of this lake which is surrounded by mountains is incredible. We went out on a cruise around the lake. Currently the lake is only 5 degrees Celsius but the tour guide says that it does not get much warmer even in the summer. We learned of how they have done prescribed (controlled) burns in the area in order to have new plants grow especially berries to provide food to the animals. We also learned that grizzly bears although huge are smaller here than on the West coast because the bears here do not have the salmon to eat and are basically on a plant diet here eating 200,000 berries per day!
Next up was the Banff Gondola ride. The start of the ride is at an elevation of approx 5,100 ft with the top being at 7,486 ft! That's a ride of 2,386 ft which felt like it was straight up! Unfortunately the fog and mist rolled it along with the rain so we did not have excellent views but what we did see as we walked along the 360 degree platform was great.
Back down the mountain we came and headed to the Banff Hot Springs and soaked in 40 degree Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) mineral waters. It felt good even though it was raining and it is outside. Only issue is that it turned the silver anklet I have been wearing for a couple of years, including in our hot tub, gold. Oops.
- comments