Lions and tigers and bears... well, maybe "just" bears!

We left Airdrie and headed to Banff.  It really is as breathtakingly beautiful as anyone who has been there will tell you!  We stopped in the town of Banff first and took a little bike ride along the river, before we headed to our campsite in a place called Tunnel Mountain Trailer Court, a short drive away.  We took a walk after dinner and on the way back to our camper, we had our first wildlife sighting, 8-10 elk just hanging around the campsites.  Got close enough to get some good pictures. There are lots of warnings posted about how dangerous they can be, so of course I was a bit nervous, but they seemed very uninterested in our existence and just munched the grass and kept on going down the road.  

Day 11 - Sandra and Rene came and took us up to one of their favorite hikes - Johnston Canyon. 

They often hike this in the winter, which would look completely different than how we saw it at this time of year.  There were deep gorges along the canyon and beautiful waterfalls.

And a crooked tree (where we stopped for the obligatory  picture).

After our hike we drove back into Banff and ate a picnic lunch along the river.  Then we drove up to the Fairmont Hotel, a castle-looking (upscale) lodge.  We just wandered around the lobby, balcony, restaurants, and used the washroom :).   There is also a hot springs pool at the top of the mountain.  It looked more like a swimming pool but the sulphur smell gave it away.  We took another short hike to another waterfall. They are all amazing.  Did I mention I have been getting in over 10,000 steps a day?  A short distance from our campsite was another, much smaller set of hoodoos.  We hiked up to those after dinner.  

Day 12 was “Lake Day”!  We got up super early to ensure a parking space at Lake Louise.  Saw a grizzly bear with 2 cubs on the side of the road on our way. 

Lake Louise was gorgeous.  We hiked up to a lookout point.  I sang songs along the way to alert any bears since there were not many people on the trail.  Bear sightings are really cool, in my opinion, viewed from inside a vehicle.  I really have no desire to see one up close on a trail.   By the time we came back down, Lake Louise was already getting crowded.  We decided to go see Moraine Lake next.  Along the way, we saw another grizzly. This one was very close to the road (and our car).  They really are amazing creatures.  Moraine Lake was smaller than Lake Louise but even more picturesque.  The mountains were closer and there was a long, fairly flat trail that ran right along the lake.  We took a leisurely hike along that path and saw a deer.  We had a bite to eat in the RV before we headed to the next lake.  Traveling in an RV is so convenient.  We can snack anytime we get hungry, pour a cold glass of something to drink or even take a nap if we feel like it.   
We decided to head up along the Icefield Parkway.  The next stop was Peyto (Pee-toe) Lake.  I think this one was the most beautiful of all.  We hiked up to a lookout point and the colors and view - well - WOW, that's all I can say. You get to the top and it is très joli.  Ok, I am running out of adjectives to describe how pretty all of this is! 

People kept telling us about the glacier, so we (actually David) kept driving to get to the Athabasca Glacier. You can't really get out onto this glacier unless you take a tour. We were running out of time so we opted out.  It is truly unfortunate to see how far the glacier has receded over the years.  There are markers showing where it used to be as far back as 1890. We had a coffee at the restaurant, admired the view and then headed back to Banff. Along the way, we saw a black bear on the side of the road. We drove across the border, into British Columbia, so we could add that province to Gibby’s log book. 

This was our last day in Banff. I wish we could have stayed longer but we got a wonderful snippet of what there is to offer.  We will be back!    Tune in for the next stop ... Grasslands National Park.