Saturday

I know the date above says Monday, but you will see the posts are a bit off as I haven't had internet access! The post below is for Saturday. Ilene

This morning found the temperatures rather chilly, but the forecast was for a high of 80 degrees. This calls for layering. Dennis was taking pictures of campsites and recreational vehicles early. The campground is at the foot of incredible mountains. Surely these images will be saleable in the future.

A quick cereal breakfast and we are on our way. We are headed to Banff. The Canadian National Park System has an office there and we are certain we can get some valuable information. Additionally, we had read about a sophisticated self-guided tour system called, GyPSy. Notice that three of the letters are capitalized: GPS. You’ve got it. This is a system that gives you a pre-recorded tour of just about everything in the area based on your coordinates. It uses global positioning. Now, we already have a GPS system (Garmin) in our vehicle to get us places. However, it doesn’t have every nuance about every site and sound of the area. This GyPSy system does. It rents for $39 per day, but when you consider how much commercial tours cost and the fact you can’t go at your own pace on commercial tours, $39 is a bargain.

Before we got to the town of Banff to pick up GyPSy, we needed to actually enter Banff National Park. $15.30 later (daily fee), we were in the gate. The town of Banff is beautiful. Although the main street is completely dug up right now, it still has character and almost a German like appearance. Despite the fact the main street (Banff Ave.!) is under construction, Dennis manages to take some great shots of the town from Cascade Gardens. This is a well-photographed sight.

We learned all about how to operate GyPSy. I think we’re going to like this little critter and who knows, maybe we’ll only have one or two arguments today. This could be one way to save a marriage. lol. We decided to rent it for two days and we can drop it off in Jasper (175 miles away).

Ready or not, here we go. First stop, Sulphur Mountain. Not bad, GyPSy talks to you, but not too much. Gives a little bit of information about different things along the way. Even gives you choices. Adds helpful hints about where to park, etc. We plan to take the gondolas (otherwise known as ski lifts) to the top of Sulphur Mountain. GyPSy even tells us how much time to allow. Nice.

Not much of a wait at the gondolas. For $50, we are up, up and away. We share the ride up the mountain with a couple from London, England. She is deathly afraid of heights. This could be a problem, since we are headed to the top of Sulphur Mountain, which is over 7,300 feet high. She makes it without more than two or three screams. Just kidding, it was only one.

Once at the top, we are in for a real treat. The vistas are incredible. Everywhere you look, you are treated to breathtaking panoramas. I decided to take an extended trek across a series of stairways to another mountain. I am not kidding, they have built a walkway that takes one from the top of Sulphur Mountain to the top of Sanson Mountain. Sanson Mountain is 7,700 feet high and once served as an observatory to study the Northern Lights. The observatory stopped being used in 1981, but the building still stands atop the mountain.

Being at Banff reminds me of begin at Niagara Falls. No, I know they don’t look anything alike, but what they do have in common is their international magnetism. I don’t think I heard more than four or five people speak with an American or Canadian accent on my ascent to the mountain. If I were a linguist, I would be in seventh heaven. Niagara Falls is the same way. No matter what language you speak, you know beautiful scenery when you see it. Everyone had a camera and was snapping at every turn. In addition to the great views, mountain goats abound and are always looking for a handout. None of them are shy, either.

After forty-five minutes or so, we headed back down the mountain. Once again, we were treated to some great views. GyPSy was right, it took about an hour.

Our next treat was to view Bow Falls and the Bow River. Two famous blondes have been in pictures that were filmed here. Can you name them? Okay, Marilyn Monroe and Lassie. Along the way, we also see a couple moose. Must have gone to the same charm school as the goats. They are not camera shy, either.

Next, we wanted to check out the historical and famous Fairmont Hotel in Banff. Built with a baronesque architecture, it was originally constructed back in the days when folks came to Banff via train. Just beyond the hotel is a 27-hole golf course. Imagine teeing off and lining up your shot with a snow-capped mountain. Unreal.

Wow, where is the day going? It is past noon and we are just leaving Banff. We wanted to see a reputedly awesome lake, Lake Minnewanka. Oh, it is. We park the motor home beside it and enjoy our lunch. Not a bad table view. The lake appears to be dammed.

After a few shots of some of the boats, we head back to Hwy. 1. We want to edge our way to Lake Louise, which is 25 miles north. We have two choices: Hwy. 1 or Hwy. 1A. We selected the latter, as it promises the prospect of more wildlife and is a slower paced trip. GyPSy will let us know about everything along the way. If you miss something said, you can repeat it. If you come to a spot where caution is needed or a direction needs to be provided, it will stop the chatter and give you the lowdown. Maybe we should buy stock in this company.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip on 1A, albeit we didn’t see any more critters. It was mid-afternoon and it was probably too hot.

By the time we get to the town of Lake Louise, it is almost four o’clock. We had better search out a campsite, as this is Saturday and Banff National Park does not allow you to “dry camp” (side of the road without electricity, etc.). We quickly find Lake Louise Campground. How did we find it so fast? GyPSy? No, the long line of recreational vehicles trying to do the same thing we were doing. Uh oh. After about thirty minutes, we approached the registration station. You will not believe it but it’s true, we procured the very last site with electricity. The poor folks behind us.
We check out our campsite (Site #1 no less) and then decide to take off to see Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. These two lakes are probably the most famous images of the Banff area. In fact, Moraine Lake used to be on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. Both lakes are gorgeous, but we quickly surmise that they need to be photographed in the morning due to the direction of the sun. We will be up early Sunday morning to photograph these two wonders of nature.