Banff, Alberta and Banff National Park

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Day 19

36 miles

Daisy and I spent three nights at a campground in Canmore, Alberta, to give us two full days to explore Banff National Park. Our first day was cool with some rain, so we decided to focus on indoor tourist activities. To plan this, we made the visitor information center our first stop.

We drove to a free RV parking area near the Canadian Pacific Railway depot, which also housed the Banff Visitor Center. Some of our friends have toured Canada via the Canadian Pacific, and someday we might do this too.

Banff has an excellent system of public transportation, and we took one of the Roam buses to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site. The portholes you see in the windows below are clear glass to allow photography.

Long before the Cave and Basin were discovered by Europeans, they were used by the First Nations Peoples as a sacred place. Roland Rollinmud, an elder from the Stoney Nakoda Nation, painted this mural and described the meaning of the Cave: “Stoney elders climbed down into the Cave on strong rawhide ladders and settled in a small circle within the cave. Drums, songs, prayers, and whistles echoed in the small chamber. Mother Earth’s Church was alive with sound and a sense of magic! The sun shone in from above illuminating the images in the rocks. Stories and prayers were shared with the Creator, and He blessed His People.”

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was stretching across the continent in the 1880s, opening a path for thousands of pioneers to start new lives in the west. In 1883, three railway laborers stumbled upon natural hot springs at the base of Sulphur Mountain. Recognizing the commercial opportunity of the discovery, several other parties tried to claim the hot springs. To quell the disputes, in 1885 the federal government passed an order to establish the Banff Hot Springs Reserve. 

The Historic Site includes an opportunity to see the original cave and the basin of sulphur water inside. The odor was distinct, but not a strong as some sulfur water locations we have visited.

There is also a pool of the sulfur water outside the cave, and it was a poplar attraction early in the history of the reserve. The waters of the Cave and Basin and the surrounding mountains have nourished stories and storytellers for thousands of years. Different people, different stories, different connections to the land.

Two years after the Banff Hot Springs Reserve was established in 1885, the Canadian government expanded the original reserve into Canada’s first national park, Rocky Mountains Park. It was largely inspired by two American sites: the spa resort at the Arkansas Hot Springs and the world’s first national park at Yellowstone. Additional park reserves were created at Yoho and Glacier in 1886, and at Lake Louise in 1892.

By 1930, Rocky Mountains Park had grown from only 26 square kilometers to a massive 6,641 square kilometers and was renamed Banff National Park. Today, Banff welcomes over 4 million visitors each year from all over the world. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee recognized a number of Canadian protected areas for their value beyond Canada, to the planet at a whole. Banff National Park is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

Soon after the creation of the Banff Hot Springs Reserve, the CPR realized the potential of tourism in the new mountain park and declared, “If we can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.” They quickly set about making plans for the lavish Banff Springs Hotel to lure affluent travelers to the mountains. With the influx of visitors, many new ventures sprang up, offering year-round activities like mountain hiking, trail riding, golf, and skiing.

We got back on the Roam bus and rode to downtown Banff to explore the city setting.

I’m sure you learned in your American history class about the Hudson’s Bay Company (founded in 1670) and its role in opening up the western and northern territory of North America. Banff has a Hudson’s Bay store, the first one we had ever seen. It is interesting to know that a modern form of this historic company still exists. There were no furry trappers, beard traders, red-jacketed Mounties, or indigenous peoples hanging around the premises. 

I went into the store to find some suspenders and decided I could not afford the deluxe leather version they offered.

Daisy and I had lunch and local brews at the Banff Avenue Brewing Company, a much newer establishment (2010). My beer was a Banff Avenue Blonde Ale, described as a clean, crisp blonde ale with subtle fruity and herbal aromas.

Daisy selected a Plaid Goat Red Ale, a traditional amber ale with roasty characteristics and a low hop presence. It was a tasty thirst-quencher after a morning of sightseeing.

We selected two items from the appetizer menu to share: Crunchy Fried Broccoli (with muhammara roasted red pepper and walnut dip, lemon bread crumbs, and Aleppo chili flakes) and Fried Alberta Chicken Wings (with sweet soy and lemongrass sauce). They were both delicious, and we are going to try to duplicate the broccoli dish at home.

We got a chuckle from this message on a sign at the brewing company...

…and another laugh from these magnets at one of the gift shops. We hope you share our humor.

You could even buy edible chocolate "poop" candies, supposedly from moose, deer, bear, mountain goats, or elk. 

And for those looking for warmth on cold chilly days there are the knitted "willy warmers."  I purchased the candies for my grandsons, but regarding the other item, my size was not in stock.

Then back to our campground for a quiet evening with impressive mountains in the background.

Wednesday, July 4

Independence Day (USA)

Day 20

36 miles

Daisy reflected on this date about the celebration of U.S. and Canadian Independence Days with this Facebook post:

Chip and I are observing the U.S. Independence Day of July 4^th in Canada this year, and July 1 was Canada Day. This gives us pause to consider the fact that “independence” certainly has its values, but whether you are considering relationships between people or nations, it is also good to think about the importance of “interdependence.” In the words of John Donne, “No man is an island, entire of itself,” and the same is true of countries.  

We wanted to do something special to celebrate the day. We were glad to wake up to partly clear skies so we could enjoy an excursion on the Banff Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. 

Later we went to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, another special attraction in Banff.

We parked our truck camper near the train station/visitor center then had a 15-minute walk downtown to the Elk and Avenue Hotel and bought tickets for the 12:30 gondola excursion. There is a free shuttle to the departure point for the gondola, and the bus itself is an interesting sight. 

The Banff Gondola is the only bi-cable gondola in Canada. It was also the first of its kind when it was built. This photo shows one of the cars leaving and examples of two previous styles on the right. The elevation of the lower terminal is 5,194 feet, so it is already almost a mile high.

A continuous procession of gondola cars goes to the summit of Sulphur Mountain (7,486 feet) and back down.

Of course we had to get a photo of the two of us as we were ascending, with mountains in the background.

Our partners for the trip up were this couple from Delhi, India. They were traveling in Canada for two months and seeing as many of the sights as possible.

 The attendants quickly unload and load the 4 passengers in

each car.

 

I took this photo of Daisy showing the gondola and mountains. We still had some clouds, but great views.

No this wasn’t my Forest Service buddy Smokey Bear, so I guess we could call him Shiny Bear.

There is a boardwalk to the nearby Sanson’s Peak (7,402 feet), but we decided not to make the walk—the scenery was just as good from the viewing platform.

In the valley is the city of Banff with Tunnel Mountain in the center and Bow River to the right.

The temperature at the summit is 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than ground level, so they suggested wearing additional layers, and we did. When we were there, it was 48 degrees F on top of the mountain, so we had dressed appropriately.

We had lunch in one of the restaurants in the visitor center on the summit: Alberta prime rib with roasted potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Daisy's beverage was a local hard cider.  

Before our ride down in the gondola, we wanted just one more photo of the beautiful view from the top of Sulphur Mountain.

On the descending ride, our companions were these two women from Australia. This is definitely an international attraction!

At the bottom of the lift we had a photo taken of us in the gondola which we purchased as a memento and memory.

When we got back to the quaint village of Banff, we decided to walk to another local attraction.

The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is a place to discover the art, heritage, and history of Banff and the Rocky Mountains. The Museum originally opened in 1968 as the Archives of the Canadian Rockies. The founders, Peter Whyte (1905-1966) and Catharine Robb Whyte (1906-1979), were local artists and philanthropists. This painting is “Athabasca Glacier” by Peter Whyte. We especially liked this artwork because we had walked on this glacier.

Peter Whyte was born in Banff then studied art in California before being encouraged to go to the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Catharine Robb was also studying there, and they later married and moved to Banff where they began their artistic careers. The Whyte Museum exhibits an impressive collection of their works as well as those of contemporary artists. This painting is “Banff Area” by Peter Whyte.

The mission of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is to welcome those who are drawn to the power and inspiration of these mountains. It holds some of the most comprehensive and valuable collections on mountains in Canada. Seen here is “Mount Victoria and Lake Louise” (which we had visited previously) by Catharine Robb Whyte.

In addition to excellent exhibits on the history of western Canada, the Whyte Museum has an extensive collection of artifacts from the indigenous people of the area, primarily the Stoney Nakoda people who form part of the Sioux Nation. Peter and Catharine Whyte had a close relationship with the Stoney Nakoda people over many years. This is a photo of Peter Whyte’s painting, “Stoney Encampment.”

And of course there was also a lot of natural beauty in the flowers outside the museum.

On our way back to our campground in Canmore, Daisy continued to take photos looking up at the mountains from ground level. We never tire of these majestic images of mountains, deserts, or plains. We are ever in awe of them all.

The next day we would head to the Calgary area to visit Canadian friends that we met on our trip in Baja California, Mexico.

That night, we relaxed in our home-on-the-road under a clear sky for moon watching.