Day 6 April 25th Banff including gondola



one of our engines

Today also began bright, clear,

Fairmont Castle Banff Springs

warm and sunny at least at the altitude where we began it in our hotel in Banff.  I have included a picture of one of the three engines which pulled us from Vancouver over the height of the Rockie pass.  Quite impressive and I got into trouble for holding 

Bow River falls

everyone up on our coach as I went to get the photo but

bear paw prints in phone box

worth it!  I also include a picture of our lovely hotel, the Fairmont Castle Banff Springs which is situated on the outskirts of the town.  We slept well but had to be up by about 0700 for a coach trip which was leaving at 0805.  Our first stop was at nearby Bow River falls which is a bit picturesque and had a phone box in which a bear had left his paw prints!  After a few minutes we moved on to the 

the cable car in action

gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain, 

top of gondola ride

just outside Banff in the national park.  There was snow at town level but at the top of the gondola ride the snow thickness was much greater and there was a dramatic drop in temperature.  The ride was very smooth and  well organised and the views on the way up and at the top were breathtaking.  There is a webcam on the area at the top which I had looked at in the days before we left home - the 

Banff seen from mountain top

weather then was very misty and dismal with poor/no view.  We 

the observation station in the distance

were so lucky that our day was clear and we could see for tens of miles over stunning mountain ranges.  There was a good walkway from the top centre to the very top of the mountain where there was a 

descending in the cable car

station observing/measuring cosmic rays hitting the earth.  We did the walk but there was nobody at the station.  After getting back to the top docking station we had a coffee (Starbucks are everywhere out here) had a quick look at the exhibition and gift shop before making the descent.  I took a couple of short videos of the amazing landscape.

 

 

    

Lake Minnewanke

We had certainly had a wonderful time but soon we were back on the coach to discover more of this beautiful area.  We visited two lakes which are frozen but now beginning to thaw and went to an area which had geological peculiarities of standing pillars called the "hoodoos".  We then 

the "hoodoos"

returned to the hotel for lunch and reorganisation time before we took a walk along

downstream of River Bow

the Bow river into Banff town.  We crossed a footbridge which showed the water still frozen in parts. 

upstream of River Bow

We have been lucky to see so much snow because of the late cold winter.  Christine found a new friend in the town and we stayed to have a pizza dinner.  We caught a bus back to hotel after what had been a truly incredible day.  We felt so fortunate to have been able to experience it.

Christine's new friend