Wow, still amazing! It was fantastic to see the mountains in summer time...still a bit of snow, but nowhere near the amount we saw when we were here in early May.
We strolled along the SummitWalk for a ways, and then before I knew it, Ben and I were going all the way to the "other side" - the Cosmic Ray Station National Historic Site of Canada and the historic Sanson's Peak Meteorological Station. It is a relatively easy 1 kilometer walk, but lots of steps! As with most things in Banff, it was worth the extra effort! Beautiful scenery and wildlife along the way. I was so impressed with my little hiker, we made it! Although, I did find myself giving a piggyback ride on the way back...
From the gondola, we headed back into downtown Banff for some lunch. Then, it was off to see more sights at Bow Falls. Again, this looked completely different than it did just a few months ago. Lots more water coming over the falls. In early May, the riverbed rocks were showing...not now! It was full of water and flowing right along.
We were ready for some R&R, so we decided to call it a day and head to the hotel. Dad and Sherry did end up running back into town to pick up some Chinese take-out for dinner, and I took the kids swimming in the warm pool. The temperature outside was a bit cool, but the pool really did feel nice. Even made some friends to play "what time is it Mr. Shark?" with. :)
On Monday morning, we started the day at Cave and Basin National Historic Site of Canada, where Canada's National Parks system began back in 1885. In 1883, during construction of Canada's transcontinental railway, three Canadian Pacific Railway workers discovered an underground cave containing a hot spring at the foot of Sulphur Mountain. They were not the first to discover the site, but they were the first to recognize its commercial potential and staked their claim. Visitors were allowed access to the cave and pools were added for swimming. The pools have been closed since 1993, but there is still the chance to see the cave and original vent hole and to smell the sulphurous "aroma" of the waters.
Here we go, into the cave! Once you get to the basin, you have to be careful not to touch anything, as it is home to the unique Banff springs snail, found nowhere else in the world. Ben and I looked really hard for the snails, but given that they are the size of an unpopped kernel of corn, I wasn't too surprised that we didn't see any.
From the Cave, we drove to Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hotel was built as one of Canada's grand railway hotels and opened to the public in June 1888. It has a 'castle' theme to it and is very near to Bow Falls with beautiful views of the mountains. We wandered around the grounds and shops for a while, and I even came home with a piece of art. Hope Greg likes it! :)
We had two full and fantastic days in Banff, and now it was time to get back to Calgary. I think Grandma, Dad, and Sherry give Banff six big thumbs up!
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