Information Echo

We awoke to brilliant sunshine outside our bedroom windows. I cranked open my blinds and sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the view - and wow, what a spectacular view - one of the 8000 foot snowcapped mountains that surround the city of Banff are my morning scenery.

We fix another big breakfast while the kids sleep in a bit, and then rouse them when it’s time to eat. Coffee once again ensues although the anticipation of the day ahead has me anything but sleepy.

An hour or so later we pack up our gear and head off for the 10 minute drive into downtown Banff, trying to beat the crowds that I guess will build later in the day. It’s a short drive and it doesn’t take us very long to find free parking in the downtown core. This is a very tourist-friendly city, and there is free on-street parking, parking lots, and even RV parking right in the core. Unfortunately the main street, Banff Avenue, is under construction and closed to traffic. Construction crews are busy jackhammering the street and installing new textured crosswalks.

After parking we grab our camcorder and camera (assuredly the locals have no problem spotting the tourists here) and make the one block trek from where we parked to Banff Avenue.

The scenery is simply amazing as are all the shop fronts, - it’s hard to beat a city nestled in between several major mountain ranges, with every single building in the city maintained to impeccable standards and many exhibiting the attractive “mountain cabin” style of architecture. Even the local three level parking garage was made to blend into the mountain-town style of the city. The landscaping and parklands were maintained to what were clearly very high standards, and everything seemed perfect - except for the construction barricades and ongoing construction itself.

It wasn’t long before we found a shop to visit - one of hundreds on Banff Avenue alone. Most shops are based (unsurprisingly) based around the tourists, offering a mix of unique and interesting items, plenty of clothing stamped prominently with “Banff”, and of course, a broad mix of incredibly tacky (yet apparently still sellable) “souvenirs”. There’s also lots of food shops ranging from a unique artisan bread shop to on-site made fudge and other assorted sugary treats. Of course there’s also a few of the big chains - McDonands, Subway, and Starbucks, but a curious lack of a (normally ubiquitous) Tim Hortons coffee shop.

Within an hour and a half we had visited probably 6 or 8 shops and spent nearly $100 already, but considering we had spent very little of our entertainment budget to date, that was OK.

After a few hours in town it started to get noticeably busier as many of the other tourists wandered into town along with us. We decided it was time to grab a bite to eat - the kids wanted McDonalds, Christie decided to take in dish from a local restaurant, and I chose Subway. Unfortunately the laid back pace of living here also seems to translate through to at least some of the restaurants - service at the McDonalds was dismal with it taking almost 15 minutes from the time I ordered to the time that someone actually taking the kids meals (which had now sat on the warmer for over 5 minutes of that time) and packing them into the happy-meal bags for us. Service at the Subway was better, and Christies dish at the restaurant was also served promptly.

One of the most curious (but strangely entertaining) stores we visited was the “Cows” store where there was a mix of products all built around a Cow them, and another notable one was a huge gemstone store where there was every imaginable (and some mind-numbingly expensive) pieces.

We retired to the local park for a rest, and then decided to head to the Sulphur Mountain tram experience for the afternoon.

The admission to the tram wasn’t inexpensive at nearly $80 for the family, but wow, what an experience - an 8 minute ride takes you to around 8000 feet to the center at the near top of the mountain, and the view is nothing short of excellent. From where the tram lets you off, there is about a one kilometer long staircase that takes you from the observation center / tram station literally to the peak of sulphur mountain where a historic cosmic ray observatory is located. The hike took us about 40 minutes on the way up - despite being an excellent system of staircases up and down with rest stops (and scenic lookouts) on the way, the simple fact that you are at 8000 feet of elevation (at virtually the tree-line) means that effective oxygen transfer becomes more difficult, especially when your out of shape like me. Even after small uphill climbs we found ourselves stopping and resting.

Arriving at the observation station itself presents an interesting lesson on the history of the station, and wow, what a view. It was however somewhat windy and chilly, unsurprising for being at literally the highest peak of a mountain. We took countless pictures and probably a half hour or more of video of the mountain vistas, the town of Banff far below, and all the surrounding scenery. Unfortunately the mountain goats that my daughter had been anticipating were curiously absent, although there was lots of interesting animals around to see none the less.

The hike back to the tram station went quicker as it was mostly downhill, and we then spent about 30 minutes in the station at the gift shop and upper observation level.

At about this point my neck started to stiffen. About 6 years ago I had a C1/C2 cervical spinal fusion, and I live with some constant residual pain as a result, but this was an unusual level. Once we boarded the tram for the trip back down the mountain the pain only got worse until we reached the bottom where I was in probably the worst level of pain I’ve experienced with my neck since the surgery itself. I don’t know whether it was simply a result of me craning my neck around constantly without noticing it, or something to do with the rapid altitude changes, but it was quite unpleasant. It was tolerable, but unpleasant none the less.

We packed up and headed back into town to pickup some groceries, and then headed back to the campsite for dinner. I immediately took a bunch of Tylenol and relaxed to see if my neck pain was just muscular, or something worse. Thankfully the Tylenol alone seemed to relieve most of the issues, so it must simply have been too much strain, perhaps accentuated somewhat by the altitude extremes.

The rest of the evening was enjoyed at the campsite, exploring the grounds. Deer and elk are often within a hundred feet or so of the campsites, and we have seen at least one wolf, one fox, and there was reports of black bears in the area.

Just another day in Banff. :-)

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