Alberta Rocky Mountain Tour – Banff

2020 AUGUST 27 —

Concern for wildlife in the mountain parks is no laughing matter. Every few miles you can see a bridge going over the highway. Some just look like an arched bridge, others are disguised with boulders and trees. These are animal crossings, so they can safely go from one side of the highway to the other. There are underpasses as well. The animals are not that smart as to know to use a crosswalk; there are very high fences on either side of the highway which prevent them from otherwise wandering into traffic.

We arrived in Banff to find the main street was blocked off to vehicles – pedestrians only. A very nice concept! However, the streets on either side of the main street were under construction. The King Edward Hotel is normally very easy to get to, but not this time. We had to park about 3 blocks away, on a residential street. We walked to the hotel and found that we could park in the 4 level parkade, which was only a block away. Ok, great. The trouble was, the fourth level required a permit and the remaining three levels were filled up. We went back to the hotel where the receptionist handed us a permit. Why didn’t’ she do that to begin with? Then she informed us that we couldn’t check in for another 2 hours. But, she did say we could leave our bags with her. Fantastic!

Banff also required everyone to wear a mask, even on the street. I had forgotten mine in the car, but thankfully there was a kiosk on the street with volunteers handing out free ones.

We were getting hungry. We came across the Grizzly House and I told Ed I wanted to eat there. I had been there before, with my daughter Sara, and we really enjoyed it. The serve a fantastic hot rock fondue. I was excited to have the exotic course. It is very expensive, but oh-so worth it! It comes with a starter salad, a vegetable or cheese fondue appetizer, a main course of alligator, kangaroo, yak, frogs legs, buffalo, venison and swordfish, and a melted Toblerone and fruit dessert. I am really glad we were super hungry! It was all delicious!

After lunch (which doubled as dinner) we wandered through the town. On the street corners were manhole covers with the name of the street and a picture. For example, Caribou Street had a caribou, Wolf Street had a wolf, etc. Very classy.

We went into a year round Christmas shop, where they had dozens of themes – everything from angels to super heroes to woodchucks.

One of the big ticket items in the mountain parks’ jewelry stores is Ammolite jewelry. Ammolite is an organic gemstone, like pearls and amber. It is found in south eastern Alberta, mostly near Lethbridge, on 70 million year old giant snails.

Scientists aren’t exactly sure how this fingernail thin gemstone is formed. It is extremely rare and is forecast to be all mined out within the next 10 years. It is iridescent and the colors shift from yellows to purples. Purple is the most rare. The gems are graded as to the number of colors seen, how much the colors change as the gem is rotated, and the degree of iridescence of the colors. (Dragon skin mottling looks cool, but reduces the value.) They are very pretty. Every time I walked by a jewelry store, I had to look at them. We went into a store that was advertising half off on the jewelry. I looked at a necklace and earring set. The lady told me to try it on. (clever girl) Ed asked the price. She gave him a price for the set. He asked if that was with or without the discount. She said it was with the discount. Ed pulled out his credit card, looked at me, and said “Merry Christmas!” I wore the set out of the store! Thank You, Sweetheart!

From there we bought some popcorn at Mary’s Popcorn Shop, and headed back to our hotel.

The next morning we headed to the Banff Gondola Lift. I had been up the Lift years ago, but due to a head injury and subsequent amnesia, I don’t remember. I do have pictures, though. Due to Covid, we had our own carriage on the eight minute ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain.

The view was spectacular. We could see the entire town of Banff. The Banff Springs Hotel looked like a reclusive mansion, and in a way it is.

Off in the opposite direction, the Bow River looked like it had tufts of steam spewing out of it. Were they hot springs?

We got out and wandered through the small interpretive centre. The top level had a huge look out veranda. A mirrored bear stood on the veranda. I was never able to find out the significance of the bear. My guess is that it is a tribute to the many Grizzly Bears in the region.

We took some pictures then sat down on one of the many adirondack chairs located by interspersed gas fireplaces. The sun was shining, the view was breathtaking, and we could have sat there for hours.

We checked out the Sky Bistro. At 7510 feet above sea level, the view was amazing, but we weren’t that hungry as to sit and have a full meal. So we headed down to the coffee shop and grabbed a coffee and some cookies. They asked to see our Gondola ticket. Apparently, if we had walked up (there is a trail) we couldn’t get served. Weird. The poor hiker needs the calories more than we did. We walked out onto the boardwalk and found a bench to sit and eat. A little bird flew up and landed on the railing, waiting for us to drop some crumbs. Then a little chipmunk showed up and ran about our feet, hoping to beat the bird to the crumbs. We ^accidentally^ dropped a few crumbs.

We headed back down the gondola and started towards Calgary. We made a quick stop in Canmore to top up on gas and to stop in at an ammolite factory. The sales girl was excellent at explaining all about ammolite. It was here that we learned about the grading system. When we were leaving the factory Ed said we need to check if my necklace had all the colors. I told him there was no need to check, I already knew it had all the colors!