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So today was the day that we actually got to explore around Banff. To be fair there was a lot that we could not actually do as the roads are closed as soon as you try to head east and a lot of the paths and hiking trails are closed off due to landslips or flooding making them impassable on foot so this was a day of doing what we could.

First stop of the day was the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. Now the mountain that the Gondola rises up is called Sulphur Mountain as this is where the original discovery of geothermal waters were first found.

The history of Banff goes that this was a mining area for coal and when three miners were prospecting in the area they discovered the thermal source and opened up a baths.

Like with most thermal baths in victorian times, they claimed health benefits and it became very very popular. So popular in fact that the Canadian Government came along and claimed the area a National Park and took control of the Spas. The gondola sits right next door to the baths themselves although they are not the original ones that were found way back when, these are once again like the ones we visited in Jasper more like a modern swimming pool that is filled with the geothermal waters, but at least these ddi smell a little of sulphur.

So back to the gondola, this four man pod took us to the top of a very cloudy Sulphur Mountain at quite a rate. Once at the top you could walk around a raised decked walkway that climbed further onto the mountains summit and an old weather centre. Although the weather was cloudy (see the picture above) we did have amazing views back down over Banff and the twisting Bow River. The top of the mountain was not without its animal inhabitants as we encountered a herd of mountain sheep that seemed obsessed with eating the wall of the gondola station and the beyond cute squirrels that seemed to be incredibly tame as they came right up to your feet standing on their rear legs and begging for a morsel of food. The other albeit temporary inhabitants of the top of the mountain were a bus load of Chinese tourists who seemed to be taking pictures of everything and everyone (nice to know that some stereotypes dont change). Having taken in as much of the views as we could we headed back down the mountain and onto the Banff Upper Hot Springs. Now as we said earlier we did not stop for long here as we had only just had this experience the other day in Jasper and with the weather being a little dodgy we moved on.

Next stop was a corner in the road, sounds exciting huh?? Well this particular corner is called Surprise Corner ( I think that someone was having a sense of humour failure) because the surprise is that it is a good view of a hotel. Now ok the hotel is not your normal concrete carbuncle it was the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel built in the chateau style like we had seen in Victoria, but its hardly a surprise to anyone with even a tiny sense of direction that its going to be here. Yes it does look majestic and grand but surprise......no!

We followed the road round to the Tunnel Mountain Road. Now you would think that this road would pass through a tunnel, reasonable assumption ?? Well no, it has no tunnel but it was intended to have a tunnel. When they were planning on bringing the railway into Banff following the success of the baths they original surveying and engineering team had planned to bring the railway through this way and it would have meant mining a tunnel through here. Ultimately the railroad company found another way to bring the railway into Banff but the road and area name stuck and so it is called Tunnel Mountain Road.

One point of interest along this road was the Hoodoo (seriously this is what it is called). A hoodoo is a strangely shaped rock pillar that is caused by erosion by winds and rains and snowmelt. Over the years this erodes the soft rock making these strange pillars. I would imagine that the name came from the original indian inhabitants of the area but the information did not give us a clue?

Having exhausted all the roads that we could access in the immediate Banff area we headed out back to highway 1 in the direction of Jasper as we wanted to see the ski area. The ski areas of Banff are actually all a good fifteen to twenty five minutes by bus away so this was like a reconnaissance mission to see what it was all about. Unfortunately just as it had been in Jasper the road to Sunshine Village Ski resort was closed. Apparently the resort is usually open in the summer but due to the floods it had been closed off. We were told by a friendly waitress (from Essex) that gondola pods were floating around up there in the water so it was understandably closed.

Back in Banff we went for a walk down to the riverside park and strolled as close as we could to the river. You really got a sense again of how high the waters had been as underfoot it was definitely soggy and squelchy. At this point the heavens decided to open on what had become a lovely day in Banff so we cut sideways back into the town and the safety and free wifi of the local Starbucks.

Refreshed we went back to the hotel and went our separate ways (it had also stopped raining). Trevor went off to the laundrette to get some washing done whilst Jonathan went out for a run. Now the highlight os this run was running along a path beside a lake and encountering two mature elks right in fornt of me on the cycle path. Now being the only person there it was actually a little scary as your'e not really sure what to do. The elks did not seem interested in me at all and I took as wider berth around them and their antlers as I could and carried on. Unfortunately I did not get a picture, being out for a run I did not have anything on me.

Reunited back at the hotel we got ready to go out for dinner at a local bar and said our goodbyes to Banff high street.

Its a shame that we did not get to see more of the surrounding areas like the ski area and Canmore but who knew that Alberta would see the worst floods it has ever seen?

We still dont know what the plan is yet for tomorrow but somehow we will eventually get to Calgary.......fingers crossed!

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