A lot cooler today- a change from the 30-35 degrees we have been experiencing. Great to sleep in for awhile this am, breakfast overlooking Lake Louise, named after Princess Louise the daughter of Queen Victoria – just beautiful – the lake is a turquoise colour due to the melting glacier silt. Chris canoed the length of the lake and back! Mark and I walked around the side – great views of Mt. Victoria and Victoria glacier until the rain set in!!
We set off for Banff in dry weather again along the Bow Valley parkway- picturesque and we saw some bears – mum and 2 cubs gamboling on the verge and then across the road. Black bears not grizzlies (grizzlies are more aggressive, bigger and have rounder faces and a big muscle across their backs).
Banff is in the Banff National park and therefore has a population cap of 8,000 people and you can only live there if you work there or own a business. We took a ride up Sulphur Mountain in the bi-cable gondola (8 mins) for expansive views of the town, Banff Springs Hotel (castle!!) and surrounding mountains. The dominating mountain is Mt.Rundle (2,949m) which actually has 7 peaks. We dined at the top of the gondola and then had drinks down below in the very posh and expensive Banff Springs Hotel. This hotel is another Fairmont property – the Company which Chris works for. Our Lake Louise and Jasper stays were also with this 5 star chain – Chris has enjoyed experiencing and evaluating how other hotels operate, and we have enjoyed the luxury!
Sussed out the golf course for Chris Mac (cost a million to build in 1940’s), 27 holes – had a 4.5 mil upgrade of 18 holes in 1999. Very impressive as it runs along the Bow River. Met some elk grazing around town – they wander freely as do other livestock and speed limits are set low on the parkways to accomodate them. Chris met friends who now live and work in Banff and stayed on to check it out (he’d look good in a kilt working at Banff Springs – the uniform of the doorman who greeted us). We drove back to Lake Louise in some difficult driving conditions just after dark.
