What do you do when resort prices exceed your budget and “No Vacancy” signs hang in the lobbies of hotels in your price range?You stage a “by-invitation-only” slumber party!
Betty Anne and I had been opting for a shared hotel room to minimize tight sleeping quarters aboard “Dolly’s Pride”.But when we reached Canmore, Alberta and the Banff National Park region, we agreed to sleep on cushions on the coach living room floor to stay within our budget.
One of us tried unsuccessfully not to snore. Another tried to get lost in a book. And, one just simply pulled a pillow tight to block lights and noise.
After several nights, I am not sure if it was the altitude, a stress buster, or just plain fun that caused us to break out the camera!
“Look at those amazing bighorn sheep,” I whispered and tugged on Ed’s arm to get his attention.Several bighorn sheep stood steady on the rocky hill along Stewart Canyon Trail.We stopped to watch them sure-footedly edge down the hill to the trail.Several others scaled the near vertical wall of the Canyon.When these three reached the trail, they claimed the right of way across the Canyon bridge. People hiking and mountain biking waited for the animals to cross the bridge.Their parade reminded me of the children’s folk tale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, “trip, trap, trip, trap!” went the bridge.How delightful!
The scenery along Stewart Canyon also gave us reason to pause as we walked this 1.4 kilometer trail.
Stewart Canyon is accessible from Lake Minnewanka, part of Banff National Park.
I rushed to pay the admission fee and hurried to catch up with the guide for the 11 AM interpretive tour at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site of Canada.He had already started his presentation when I waved my tour receipt proving I wasn’t just a sneaky tagalong to the group.He nodded in acknowledgement continuing to call on people to share the names of their hometowns.We heard: “Toronto”, “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” “Ingersoll, Ontario,” …
“Now that you have all made the journey to Banff National Park, what do you think is the main tourist activity here?” our guide asked.
Why had I come to Banff quickly went through my mind:Hiking, bicycling, visit to the Cave and Basin, a ride on the Banff Gondola, glaciers, a chance to see a bear, views of the mountains.Surely, this was why others came too?
His answer was not to explore the 2,564 acre park.His answer was not to view the more than 1,000 glaciers or walk the 972 miles of trails. His answer had nothing to do with these recreational activities.His answer was “Shopping.”
I did not want to believe this.Here in Canada’s first established national park, the world’s third oldest national park, established in 1885, how could shopping be the #1 activity! Since 1985, the Park was designated a United Nations UNESCO World-Heritage Site. Furthermore, the Park is managed by Parks of Canada, a part of the federal department of Environment Canada.I hadn’t come to the wilderness to shop.I tried to put this notion of shopping out of my head during the remaining interpretive tour and focused on the history of this Park and its natural wonders.
I learned that three men, workers for the Canadian Pacific Railway – Frank McCabe and William and Tom McCardell - discovered thermal springs in what would eventually become the setting of Banff National Park.Warm water still bubbles out of the side of Sulphur Mountain.I watched this natural wonder flow around me as I walked along the outdoor boardwalk.A grated view point protects the vent hole opening to the original cave where the thermal water pools.When I leaned over it, I could smell the sulphur vapors sting my sensitive nose.
McCabe and the McCardells built Banff’s first hotel here in 1883. From the archive photos, the building looked more like an unstable, leaning log cabin. They thought the thermal springs would make them rich. Tourists did come to enjoy the springs and so did the Canadian government.Following the United States examples in managing the Hot Springs in Arkansas and Yellowstone, the Canadian government dismissed all private claims to the Cave and Basin and, in 1885, established a Reserve belonging to all Canadians – the birth of Canada’s park system.A film reenacts the experiences of McCabe and the McCardles, chronicles the history, and recreates the experiences of early bathers.
The tour guide ushered our group to the to the Bathing Pavilion, featuring an outdoor pool and bathhouses.The site had gone through many renovations and reconstructions. The first pool was constructed in 1902. Then in 1914, it was replaced with a new structure that came to be heralded as the largest pool in Canada at the time. Bathers used this pool until 1976 when it was closed due to it age, deterioration, and difficult maintenance.Nine years later, in 1985, the site reopened with the new pool, exhibits, and replica bathhouse. Another seven years passed, and the swimming pool was closed again.This time more that structural and mechanical problems plagued the pool.Reduced visitation (Had the tourists all gone shopping?)and increased associated costs contributed to the closing as well.In 1994, the pool was converted to a reflecting pool. I walked around imagining what it must have been like to come here for a swim.
I could not linger here too long, because our guide has one more spot to show our group.He took us to the basin, an open air mineral pool with mats of growing algae.Here we saw the Banff Springs Snail clinging to the rocky basin edges.They are an endangered species so he warned us to look but not poke our fingers in the water. The snail, no bigger than an orange seed, is susceptible to human disturbances. The Banff Springs Snail lives in the warm mineral springs on Sulphur Mountain feeding on bacteria, algae and other micro-organisms.
From here, we could visit at our own leisure the remaining exhibits on the second floor of the bathing pavilion.I didn’t linger reading all the information, I made my way to what I had been waiting to see from the moment I got there.I followed the short, dark path to the cave to see this interior pool.I sat there for a while looking up at the original vent hole discovered by three railroad men. It was amazing that they ever discovered this place.It was amazing that from this mountain cauldron came the birth of Canada’s national park system.
July 10, 2008
Cave and Basin National Historic Site of Canada
311 Cave Avenue, Banff, Alberta
(403) 762-1566
A little note:I succumbed to shopping in Banff National Park.Rainy weather forced a change in plans to take a mountain top ride in a gondola.I ended up in downtown Banff having dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory – “Banff’s Best Dining Value” – 403-760-2779; 2nd floor Cascade Plaza. And, I shopped at the mall too. I was lured into buying a lemony soap at Lush Town ( www.lushtown.com ).
Banff National Park - Quick Facts found on www.rockiesguide.com confirms our guide’s surprising revelation on shopping.“Tourism infrastructures include: 1 golf course, 3 alpine ski resorts, more than 125 restaurants, over 220 retail outlets, 49 hotels (5,780 rooms), 36 Bed & Breakfasts and more than 1,150 businesses.”
This same website notes that over 4-million people visit the Park annually leaving behind a trail of spending. Estimates of direct tourism expenditures are as high as $750-million per year, some of which is attributable to shopping.
National Geographic calls The Icefields Parkway “one of the world’s ten greatest drives.” This endorsement alone made me persistent in my goal to travel this stretch of road through the heart of the Canadian Rockies.
Our motorhome “Dolly’s Pride” would stay parked in the Tunnel Mountain Village of Banff National Park site number 232. Driving our Toyota Corolla tow car would make it easier to maneuver into the numerous viewpoints and to see all that the travel books promised:“vast wilderness of magnificent peaks, ancient glaciers, diverse wildlife, waterfalls, pristine mountain lakes, and broad sweeping valleys.”
The Icefields Parkway stretches a full 144 miles between Lake Louise and Jasper.I would travel the only a segment of the road beginning at the Junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and the Icefields Parkway. I planned to head north 78 miles to the Columbia Icefield and Icefield Centre to visit the Athabasca Glacier.My first attempt to make this road trip failed, but I eventually reached my destination.
On Friday, July 11th, the Highway Patrol Officers diverted all northbound traffic from Banff off the Trans-Canadian Highway at Castle Mountain. We were five miles short of reaching the junction for the Icefields Parkway. A day later, word around the town of Canmore was that an accident shut down the Highway in both directions for nearly half the day.We had idled in that traffic jam for over an hour creeping along. Without a CB in the Toyota, we sat wondering why the route to the Icefields Parkway was as congested as Houston in rush hour.When we were forced to exit onto a secondary road near the Castle Mountain and head south on the Bow Valley Parkway, we turned back to the campground. We would schedule our Icefield trip for another day during our stay at Banff National Park.
Three days later, we tried to follow the route again.This time the journey took us to the Columbia Ice fields, a day-long round trip from Banff that ought not to be rushed.
Lake Louise was our first stop.This highly regarded community was way too crowded for me.People clustered around the turquoise colored lake photographing the towering backdrop of Victoria Glacier.The resort, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, dominated the scenery.This was definitely a hub for shopping at Samson Mall, eating and bumping into tourists.I need not have bothered to slip out of my embroidered, beaded Skechers sandals and lace up my Timberline boots for this brief visit.This was definitely a Skechers place.I secretly hoped that the rest of the drive would be less commercial, less crowded.
We hadn’t driven far out of Lake Louise before I realized my wish would be true.The pull-offs along the Icefields Parkway offered views of snow covered mountains and glacial lakes.The milepost guide from the National Park Service helped us decide which viewpoint to select for stops.Vehicles clustered in areas not designated as pull-offs gave us clues to wildlife viewing.We saw a black bear lunch on wild berries close to the highway. Another time, two grizzly bears quenched their thirst at a pond. We watched them a safe distance away with binoculars.
Our travel guidebook suggested that the drive from Banff to the Columbia Icefield would take 90 minutes.I suspect that must have been calculated at a rate of 55 MPH without stops along the way.By my calculation, we lollygagged nearly 3 hours.
At the Icefield Centre, visitors can opt for “Guided Ice Walks” or book a trip for Brewster’s Glacier Experience.We decided to take the 90-minute narrated journey aboard Brewster’s 6-wheeled Ice Explorer, a unique motorcoach shuttle bus that lumbered down a near vertical drop to the Athabasca Glacier.
Our enthusiastic guide feed our intellect with the cold historic and geological facts about the Columbia Icefield. She told us that the Icefield is the largest concentration of glacial ice below the Arctic Circle in North America.And, it is one of the last places in southern Canada where temperature, wind, and water continue to interact as they did during the last Ice age.She explained the extraordinary fact that snow melting from the apex of the triple continental divide on Mount Snow Dome is bound for one of three oceans: waters from the northern side flow to the Arctic Ocean, meltwaters on the west join the Pacific Ocean, and waters originating on the east will eventually make the journey to the Atlantic Ocean at Hudson Bay. Mount Snow Dome overlooks the north side of Athabasca Glacier, the glacier accessible from the mighty all-terrain Ice Explorer.
Before our group was allowed to set foot on the glacier, our guide warned us not to go beyond the bounds of icy surface.She pointed to some hikers in an area that could be dangerous for even the strongest of men.“One step into a crevice could land you deep below the surface of the ice.You might not be as lucky as one fellow who fell through the ice.He landed in a subterranean water passage.Fortunately, it had the force of an amusement park water slide.He slid out an opening at the base of the glacier.Others,” she paused effectively, “were less fortunate.”She promised we could easily and safely explore the glacier within the reasonable bounds of the ancient ice since in most places it measured 1,000 feet thick.
Then continuing in the spirit of her upbeat commentary on the Athabasca Glacier, she advised us all to take a taste of the glacier water running clear like a small spring.“Some say the water flows from a fountain of youth.One drink will take ten years off your life,” she winked.
Out on the glacier, I saw some old boys, 60+ take a hopeful sip.And, one fearful youngster complained, “If I take a sip, I’ll be back in diapers, Mom!”
I wandered around quietly on the massive ice field taking in the incredible, towering mountains.I breathed the cool air and felt content that I hadn’t given up on driving the Icefields Parkway, truly one of the world’s greatest drives.
Note: A Canadian Park Pass is required to travel along the Icefields Parkway #93
I walked a snow covered boardwalk on a sunny Friday morning.What’s so unusual about that? Had my experience been on a January day, a snowy walk might be expected but the day I shuffled through the four inch snowfall was a mid-summer day - July 11th!
I was on the Banff Skywalk strolling along the summit ridge of Sulphur Mountain, 7,486 feet on top of the world, a short five miles away from Banff, Alberta.From a view deck, I could see downtown Banff in the valley below. The snow hadn’t touched the streets there. As I took in the clear view of the town, I could see the castle-like hotel/convention center structure of The Fairmont Banff Springs and sparkling water of Lake Minnewanka. I was pleased that I took the sound advice offered a day ago.
“There’s still time for a gondola ride today.But, if you can wait until tomorrow, you’ll get a better view,” advised the summer staff in Banff’s Gondola.Though the afternoon downpour ended, ominous clouds hovered above shrouding some of the mountain peaks.Yes, I could wait and I am glad I did.
I arrived at the Banff Gondola Friday around 9 AM, well before the bus tour crowds converged on this tourist destination.When I squinted my eyes to see the summit, I made a quick assessment to buy the $26 roundtrip ticket versus $13 for a one-way down ticket.Hikers more hardy than I climb the summit and ride the gondola down; I preferred the 8 minute ride from lower terminal to upper terminal.The gondola travels at 13.3 feet per second.My trudge up the mountain would surely be much, much slower.
The gondola holds up to 4 passengers in a fully-enclosed cabin. As the gondola glided smoothly on the cable track to the summit, I shot photos of the Canadian Rockies. My view was unobstructed but did not compare to the 360° view from the Summit Complex and Boardwalk.
When I walked the circular viewing deck, I used the interactive compass display to find the direction and shortest distance to cities around the world.Houston, Texas, a city where I had been three short months ago, lay south some 1,807 miles from me now.There’d be no snow in Houston on this July day.
Here the snow still looked fresh with barely a footprint.My sister-in-law Betty Anne walked with me along the boardwalk path.We pressed our hands into snow on a picnic table melting shadowy prints, our signature mark.Some people on the summit with us had never seen snow.Children coxed by parents formed miniature snowmen at the some of the boardwalk view points.When asked, I paused and took a photo of a husband and wife both delighted to see snow for the first time.
“You ought to taste it,” I said.
“Taste it?” the woman asked.
“Sure, just pinch a bit off the pine needles.” I demonstrated by popping a clump of big flakes from a nearby evergreen into my mouth.
The woman followed my example. She must have liked her sample because she smiled broadly having had her first taste of snowflakes.
The elevated boardwalk along the summit ridge spans a full kilometer.Betty Anne and I laughed when we reached the trail end at Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station and Weather Observatory.Had we really walked that far? From the upper terminal complex, the place seemed so far away.I suspect, the scenery kept drawing us from one view point to the next until there was no further point.Not so far at all.
Turning to walk back to the gondola terminal, we stopped nearly as often to pause again looking at the rugged and snowy peaks of the Rockies.Now, the snow on the boardwalk had turned slushy with the warming sun and tourists’ footsteps.Drops of water hung from the pine needles, where earlier snowflakes clustered. And, water dripped from the picnic table where our hand prints once pressed into the snow.
From the Banff Gondola, I saw mountains and walked in the snow. The morning validated the words on the Banff Gondola brochure: “More mountains in a moment than most see in a lifetime…”I’d like to add more snow than some see in a lifetime, especially in July.
"The only thing better than telling old stories is creating new ones."
Some call it wanderlust. Others say my lifestyle is counter-culture. For two years beginning in September 2007, the journey began aboard our Prevost motor coach,bus conversion. We logged over 28,000 as I chronicled this extraordinary journey filled with experiences on this blog. Then in 2010, a new bold journey began - living in Switzerland and touring Europe.
July 8 -12, 2008
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