On my early morning walk, I came across this friendly fellow.
There were more than 100 wildfires burning in British Columbia, including one some 15 - 20 SSW of Banff. The smoke was filling the air Monday morning. The first photo is Monday, the second was from the day before, Sunday.
Again, the first is from Monday, the second from Sunday.
After coffee, I walked the Fenland Trail - it starts about 500 yards from our hotel and makes a loop through the marshy area where the Bow River snakes through the northwest side of Banff.
There were still wildflowers as the river meanders along.
There were markers along the trail with photos trying to show what the area looked like before people. There were also warning signs for bears and for elk, but I saw nothing other than birds and a few squirrels.
Patty and I decided to hike the trail to the Tunnel Mountain Summit. We started at the lower parking lot.
Not far up the trail, we met this friendly fellow grazing on the side of the trail.
The trail is is never narrower than what is needed for two people to pass and is a gradual incline for the entire trail, constantly traveling back and forth along the side of the mountain with many switchbacks.
Many varieties of wildflowers were in bloom.
After 15 - 20 minutes, we crossed at the upper parking lot and continued upward.
As we neared and then reached the top, the views were somewhat obscured by the smoke that continues to come from the many forest fires in British Columbia - the news was reporting that the winds were taking smoke and ashes as far east as Calgary (some 80 miles east of here).
There were pretty good guardrails at locations with a view.
And there were signs congratulating climbers for making it to the top.
On the way back down, we noticed more fields of wildflowers, especially near the lower parking lot.
We then drove to Cave and Basin National Historic Site parking lot and used one of their picnic tables for our lunch.
After lunch, we walked to the internment museum where we learned about Canada's internment of "enemy aliens" during and for two years after World War One. While Canada had wanted Britons, western Europeans and Americans to immigrate and settle the western provinces, they could not attract enough immigrants - so they started recruiting immigrants from Eastern Europe, with the biggest numbers coming from what is now Ukraine. Since that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when the war started, Canadians of Ukrainian descent were considered to be "enemy aliens" - many were rounded up and interred in camps, especially in the western provinces. Since the budget for National Parks was limited in the war, the Parks director had interment camps built in the parks and put the internees to work building roads and buildings for the parks.
For dinner we went to a very busy restaurant and ate outside. The waitress gave us "house made, rosemary infused chili sauce" and honey - she said to mix them and dip your pizza in it. We had never heard of this - but decided to give it a try. Wow, it was amazingly good!! We had the daily special that had chorizo, roasted red peppers and feta cheese, and a second one with bison, edamame, onions and manchego cheese. Add local beer and margaritas, and we had an excellent night out (and enough left over pizza for lunch the next day).
There were more than 100 wildfires burning in British Columbia, including one some 15 - 20 SSW of Banff. The smoke was filling the air Monday morning. The first photo is Monday, the second was from the day before, Sunday.
Again, the first is from Monday, the second from Sunday.
After coffee, I walked the Fenland Trail - it starts about 500 yards from our hotel and makes a loop through the marshy area where the Bow River snakes through the northwest side of Banff.
There were still wildflowers as the river meanders along.
There were markers along the trail with photos trying to show what the area looked like before people. There were also warning signs for bears and for elk, but I saw nothing other than birds and a few squirrels.
Patty and I decided to hike the trail to the Tunnel Mountain Summit. We started at the lower parking lot.
Not far up the trail, we met this friendly fellow grazing on the side of the trail.
The trail is is never narrower than what is needed for two people to pass and is a gradual incline for the entire trail, constantly traveling back and forth along the side of the mountain with many switchbacks.
Many varieties of wildflowers were in bloom.
After 15 - 20 minutes, we crossed at the upper parking lot and continued upward.
As we neared and then reached the top, the views were somewhat obscured by the smoke that continues to come from the many forest fires in British Columbia - the news was reporting that the winds were taking smoke and ashes as far east as Calgary (some 80 miles east of here).
There were pretty good guardrails at locations with a view.
And there were signs congratulating climbers for making it to the top.
On the way back down, we noticed more fields of wildflowers, especially near the lower parking lot.
We then drove to Cave and Basin National Historic Site parking lot and used one of their picnic tables for our lunch.
After lunch, we walked to the internment museum where we learned about Canada's internment of "enemy aliens" during and for two years after World War One. While Canada had wanted Britons, western Europeans and Americans to immigrate and settle the western provinces, they could not attract enough immigrants - so they started recruiting immigrants from Eastern Europe, with the biggest numbers coming from what is now Ukraine. Since that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when the war started, Canadians of Ukrainian descent were considered to be "enemy aliens" - many were rounded up and interred in camps, especially in the western provinces. Since the budget for National Parks was limited in the war, the Parks director had interment camps built in the parks and put the internees to work building roads and buildings for the parks.
For dinner we went to a very busy restaurant and ate outside. The waitress gave us "house made, rosemary infused chili sauce" and honey - she said to mix them and dip your pizza in it. We had never heard of this - but decided to give it a try. Wow, it was amazingly good!! We had the daily special that had chorizo, roasted red peppers and feta cheese, and a second one with bison, edamame, onions and manchego cheese. Add local beer and margaritas, and we had an excellent night out (and enough left over pizza for lunch the next day).
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