Banff

I had a work trip up to Calgary this week for a conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, and when the conference wrapped up a little early on Wednesday some time opened up before my flight on Thursday afternoon to do a little exploring. So I checked out of the hotel early and booked a place in Canmore near Banff. A quick hour drive west of Calgary and I was in the mountains. I dropped my bags off at the Bear & Bison Inn and drove on to Lake Louise for a walk out on the ice and some stunning views through the snowy skies. Driving back from Lake Louise I was planning on doing just a quick drive around Banff before, but a trail marker on the side of the road caught my eye. The Tunnel Mountain Trail, 1.8 km to the summit, perfect! The hike was great, and the trail offered some stunning views of the town, the Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Valley and Mt. Rundle! Then back to Canmore for some duck wings and a beer with great views of the mountains.

In the morning after a delicious breakfast at the Inn, I had enough time for another quick drive up to Banff before heading to the airport. I decided to check out the lookout on Mount Norquay and boy was I glad I did. There were 10 cm of fresh powder on the ground and all the trees were dusted with snow. I walked out onto the snow covered mountain side meadow to a stunning panoramic vista. Clear air, dramatic clouds, mountains and valley below, the fresh snow creating an incredible quiet that was only broken by the beating wings of a raven on the hunt. There was one other person there, a local who worked at the Sunshine ski resort who saw the weather in the morning and knew exactly where he had to go to take it all in. Then he quietly told me to look behind us, and laying in the snow at the edge of the trees not more than 20 meters away were about twenty bighorn sheep, with a giant proud looking ram staring right at us! I stood in the meadow for about an hour taking it all in, holding onto my last few minutes in the mountains before heading for home.



(click here for all the pictures)