Day 39 – Monday June 26/17  

(Editor's note: These daily reports are being posted over a week later partly because the bloggers were too tired to write after their long, full days and partly because there was a great deal of difficulty over the past several days getting access to the internet for cell phone or Wi-Fi. Hope you enjoy the experiences despite the delay.)

A slow start to the day. So slow in fact that Michael had to get an extra boost of energy. (photo) 

By noon we were headed to Banff town site to do a little shopping. Traffic was very heavy and we once again reminded ourselves of how good it feels to take the road less travelled, as we have done throughout most of our trip.

We continued to head east and found a picnic site on the Bow Valley Parkway about halfway to Canmore. We stopped for a sandwich in the lovely sunshine and for the third time found ourselves in the Parks Canada red chairs.(photo) 

Nancy has a goal to be photographed in as many of these chairs as possible. Today added two more locations to that goal. Read on the find the second location today.

Our destination on this jaunt was east of Canmore to the pick-up location for a white water rafting adventure. There was a rather slow start to the rafting as we were part of a group of about 60 who filled 6 rafts. Being issued with wetsuits, life vests, neoprene water shoes and splash jackets took a while and the mandatory safety lecture even longer. 

But eventually we got on the bus and were driven to the launch site. There were a few marvelous thrills as we paddled into some large rapids. One bump hit the raft with such force that Michael’s glasses came off. Fortunately he had tied them on with string as the guide suggested. This was Michael’s first experience with white water rafting and as we slowly approached the end of our trip he said next time we should try a bit more challenging course. As this was Nancy’s second white water adventure (the first being a considerably faster paced experience near her sister’s place in Costa Rica) she immediately agreed. (No photos as we protected the phones/cameras by not bringing them on the raft.)

We left the rafting company in rather a hurry at 5:10 pm. We had 6:10 reservations for the gondola up Sulphur Mountain in Banff. We had 53 km to go, town traffic to negotiate and a parking spot to find. Amazingly as we walkied into the loading structure the electronic sign informed us that the 6:10 departure was loading now. On we walked and went swiftly to the top. (lots of photos) 

The views in 360 degrees were beyond description – even the thesaurus can’t help. To the east toward Canmore we could see dark cloud and to the west toward Lake Louise there was bright sunshine. We walked around the open air fourth floor of the mountaintop gondola station. The wind was fierce but added to the fullness of the experience.  




We walked the outdoor boardwalk path that lead toward the weather station on a slightly higher peak and then rewarded ourselves with a roast pork dinner looking north towards the Banff Spring Hotel and Golf Course. 

Our dinner view - Not Bad, eh?

This was a meal we’ll never forget. Futher exploration of various displays and a final view from the very top rounded out this memorable excursion. 

We were heading home by 9:00. Being determined to take full advantage of the lengthy days when the sun doesn’t set until 10:00 pm we decided to take the scenic Bow Valley Parkway to Lake Louise.  This twisty route was far more enjoyable than the busier and faster TransCanada route. We came across a monument to Hungarian immigrants to Canada who were interred in the park during WWI. (photo) 

The man is asking the question, "Why?"
Another part of Canadian history that cannot make us proud.  These men and boys, just regular immigrants to Canada, worked in forced labour gangs to build the road we were driving on. 

On a happier note we also spotted some elk grazing near the road by the side of the railway line. (photo)

It was 10:30 before we were home. Straight to bed after a wonderful day of new adventures and views.