Banff

Well, what a delightful day. The scenery has been glorious. Douglas fir, white spruce, larch, pine; & snow still on the high peaks. Just what you'd expect of Canada.

So, from 25 deg C in Niagara yesterday, here we are in Banff this evening & it's 7 deg C - bloody cold. We have put the fire on in our room (yesterday we were in t-shirts!).

We left Calgary this morning in a very nice Volvo C30 (sunroof - AND heated seats! Boy, is My Friend in 7th Heaven!).

Absolutely picturesque drive to Banff. A touristy town, but small; & everyone just seems so happy to be here! And talk about outdoor heaven! There is mountain biking galore, hiking, skiing (in winter). Lots of outdoor shops: yes, Ali, we have been shopping!

We took the Sulphur Mountain gondola which ascends 698 m & whilst we were at the top it snowed! There were lots of cute golden-mantled ground squirrels which were very friendly. We had a picnic lunch at Bow Falls then drove up to the Hoodoos at Tunnel Mt. & walked the Marsh Loop Trail where we saw some pretty birds (American Redstarts with beautiful bright orange colours; large robins with brown chests - Merle d'Amerique; red-winged blackbirds) - & chipmunks (which Wiki tells me are "small, striped squirrels).

Near our B&B when we were going out for dinner, elk (which are large deer) were grazing across the road - & were fortunately quite undisturbed when My Friend set off the car alarm (for the 2nd time today)!! This one pictured here is genus Ear-plug Elk.

And we enjoyed a drink (at a price of course!) at the Fairmont Hotel looking over to the snow-capped peaks. Very nice.

It's light here until at least 9.30 p.m. - & it's raining now.