Day #11
Date: 07/31/11
Traveled: Banff, AB, CAN
Interstates: NA
Miles Driven: NA
Hours on Road: NA
Weather: Sunny & Breezy (70 degrees)
Well today got started around 9:30am for us. We awoke, ate breakfast and were on our way to find the Sulfur Mountain Gondola. On our way we came upon several more beautiful views. one of which was a large castle type building on the river which had been converted to a hotel. At the base of the hotel on the river were the Bow Falls. This was another fantastic site to see. The large castle with the mountains in the background on one side and then the waterfall with another set of mountains in the background on the other side. After that we continued on our way to try and find the Gondola but ended up getting a little lost. Once we found our way, we drove through the entire town. For those back home, imagine an upscale bigger version of Gatlinburg with large 7000'+ rocky mountains and flowing rivers all around.
After the drive through town, we made our way over to the Gondola where the crowds were beginning to grow. We finally found a spot to park after about 20-30 minutes. Once we did, we made our way to the ticket booth line where we were approached by a gentlemen we did not know. He asked if we were in line to get tickets for the Gondola, to which we responded "yes". He then said he had bought to many tickets and handed us a ticket for the Gondola for free. After that we went to the loading dock, where there were numerous families from all different countries. We finally boarded the gondola and began our 6.5 minute journey up the side of the mountain. This was a great ride as it gave us the opportunity to see some of the best views of the area… even better than those from the day before. We spent several hours at the top of the mountain taking pics and seeing the different sites. We then at lunch in the restaurant they had available there. After this we headed back down the mountain which gave us another opportunity to see everything from the gondola. Once at the bottom we loaded up and headed back down to town. On the way we saw an elk grazing on the side of the road. Once we made it back down to town, we stopped to walk around for a bit and see the different shops. There were lots of these, restaurants and other attractions to see here. After a couple of hours of walking, we loaded up and headed to Lake Minniwanka. This was rather large lake at the base of a mountain which had crystal clear/blue water. On our way across the earth dam, there was an entire family of Mountain Goats in the middle of the road, which included two babies. They seemed to be use to the tourists and would move out of the way of passing traffic. Once we were across the dam, we stopped to take some photos. While we were there, a couple of scuba divers came up out of the water in front of where we were standing. This caught everyone off guard at first but after looking around, there appeared to be a lot of divers in the water. After a few minutes by the river, we made our way back to town to fill up the truck and then back to the campground for the evening. Below are the pics and videos of the day, we hope you enjoy them.
Banff Pictures:
Banff Videos:
Tomorrow we plan to travel from Banff up to Jasper where we will spend the night. Once there we plan to take the Terarover out on to the Columbia Ice fields. We are all looking forward to this! We'll be sure to share pics and vids of this trip as well.
God Bless & Safe Travels!
The Moores
No comments:
Post a Comment