Day Eight

The first thing today we rode the gondolas at Sulfur Mountain overlooking Banff, Alberta. After reaching the restaurant at the top, many of us hiked the remaining distance to the 7,486 foot summit. A small watchtower I’m told is a weather station, occasionally manned to this day, has a primitive but fully furnished living space beneath it and gives a birds-eye view of mountain ranges in every direction.  Far below a miniature Banff lies visible, surrounded by rivers, mountains, matchless beauty.  I don’t have adequate  words so I won’t waste my time trying.  Sometimes silence is the best accolade.

And then there is Lake Louise.  Someone was telling me it is the most photographed place around.  I don’t doubt it.  Majestic, surreal, awe-inspiring and so on and so on. It just makes a person want to stand there and worship the Creator. 

We ate at Deer Lodge, courtesy of Green Country Tours.  It was kinda swanky.  A sit-down meal with a chef doing the cooking, I’m pretty certain.  We all put on our company manners and behaved ourselves.  The food was delicious, which is more important than presentation.  In this case we had both.  Paul had a burger so big even he couldn’t finish it all.  Elk and buffalo mixed.  And he looked well-pleased.

Bow Lake merited several stops.  The blue sediment from the glaciers suspended in the water made our pictures look photo-shopped.  One view from above looked like something out of a Bond movie.  Not a ripple moved the water and it was easy to imagine it was actually not water at all but a retractable surface hiding a full-scale evil scientist installation underneath.  Well, who knows.  . . maybe it was.

Story-telling erupted again on the drive toward our evening destination, along with much laughing.  Getting to know our fellow-travelers is leading to new friendships that will last a lifetime.

A quick stop at Athabasca Glacier for a preview of what we’ll see tomorrow demonstrated its enormity when compared with the miniscule buses driving tourists to and fro.  The air was chilly; I think I’ll wear warm clothes tomorrow.

We arrived at our hotel a little earlier tonight; we are staying in Jasper. I find it so interesting how different the hotels and towns and, well, everything is from back home.  Cross a simple, mostly invisible border and the differences are subtle but definite.  Our hotel last night had an electric tea pot but no discernible air-conditioning.  Same story with the one tonight.  Fortunately the weather is mild and the fans are provided so I think it will be quite pleasant.  I have the windows wide open and there was a dog howling (not barking but howling mournfully) until a few minutes ago.  For some reason I just wanted to giggle, thinking about who will be annoyed and who won't care at all. 

Everyone else scattered to find a place to eat.  I opted to wait until later and work on this blog instead.  There are rumors that we may go out and try to see some wild animals before nightfall. And we've been told this is a safe town and we should feel free to walk wherever we want without concern.  All of these things sound like good options to me.

The dog is howling again.