Our goal today was to drive to the Cave and Basin National Historic Site and then hike out to Sundance Canyon, returning by much the same route except for following the Marsh Loop on the last half of the way back.
As we walked to the parking garage to get our car, we came across this unusual activity by a relative of the friendly fellow I saw last night.
After parking at the Cave and Basin, we walked past the park store to the entrance to the cave and museum. Patty found an interesting truck out front.
We learned about the cave and the rest of the museum, and then headed out toward Sundance Canyon. We passed the building and memorial about internment of aliens and P.O.W.s during World War One. We planned to visit it on the way back.
As we continued on, we came by an info kiosk to educate us about our hike.
There is a system of paved multiuse trails that go for many miles beyond Sundance Canyon. The paved portion allows cyclists, hikers and wheelchair users while the dirt portion is for the many horseback riders.
The trail follows the Bow River for the first couple of miles, providing beautiful scenery.
After about three miles, the pavement ended and we reached the entry to Sundance Canyon - a beautiful slot canyon. Muck like our visit yesterday to Marble Canyon, the trail proceeds upstream and has five bridges as the trail zigs and zags back and forth across the raging water. But there the similarities end - in places, you needed to be a mountain goat and there were many places where the trail was less than a foot wide with no railings except on the bridges.
We stopped because we were at the end of the time we wanted to hike rather than the end of the trail. Part of this is that unlike Marble Canyon, the only signage for Sundance Canyon is the one sign at the start of the unpaved portion of the trail.
On the way back, we turned off the main trail and followed the Marsh Loop which follows the river and goes through a marshy area before returning to the parking lot by the Cave and Basin.
It was extremely windy, so our planned picnic at one of the outdoor tables at Cave and Basin were scrapped - our lunch salads would have been blown away. So we had our lunch in the car. And instead of walking the half mile or so to the internment center to learn what happened during World War One, we took our tired bodies back to the hotel. Eight plus miles of hiking had us to the point we wanted to take it easy.
Late Saturday, we learned that parts of the Kootenay National Park and Banff National Park were being closed because of a fire about 15 - 20 miles SSW of Banff. Also on Saturday, we noticed that occasional ashes were falling on us. Today, the strong winds are really pushing the smoke over us, as evidenced as this photo from our balcony outside our hotel room.
As we walked to the parking garage to get our car, we came across this unusual activity by a relative of the friendly fellow I saw last night.
After parking at the Cave and Basin, we walked past the park store to the entrance to the cave and museum. Patty found an interesting truck out front.
We learned about the cave and the rest of the museum, and then headed out toward Sundance Canyon. We passed the building and memorial about internment of aliens and P.O.W.s during World War One. We planned to visit it on the way back.
As we continued on, we came by an info kiosk to educate us about our hike.
There is a system of paved multiuse trails that go for many miles beyond Sundance Canyon. The paved portion allows cyclists, hikers and wheelchair users while the dirt portion is for the many horseback riders.
The trail follows the Bow River for the first couple of miles, providing beautiful scenery.
After about three miles, the pavement ended and we reached the entry to Sundance Canyon - a beautiful slot canyon. Muck like our visit yesterday to Marble Canyon, the trail proceeds upstream and has five bridges as the trail zigs and zags back and forth across the raging water. But there the similarities end - in places, you needed to be a mountain goat and there were many places where the trail was less than a foot wide with no railings except on the bridges.
We stopped because we were at the end of the time we wanted to hike rather than the end of the trail. Part of this is that unlike Marble Canyon, the only signage for Sundance Canyon is the one sign at the start of the unpaved portion of the trail.
On the way back, we turned off the main trail and followed the Marsh Loop which follows the river and goes through a marshy area before returning to the parking lot by the Cave and Basin.
It was extremely windy, so our planned picnic at one of the outdoor tables at Cave and Basin were scrapped - our lunch salads would have been blown away. So we had our lunch in the car. And instead of walking the half mile or so to the internment center to learn what happened during World War One, we took our tired bodies back to the hotel. Eight plus miles of hiking had us to the point we wanted to take it easy.
Late Saturday, we learned that parts of the Kootenay National Park and Banff National Park were being closed because of a fire about 15 - 20 miles SSW of Banff. Also on Saturday, we noticed that occasional ashes were falling on us. Today, the strong winds are really pushing the smoke over us, as evidenced as this photo from our balcony outside our hotel room.
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