Day 8: August 16
Transportation taken:
City Bus
Non-air conditioned shuttle bus
Dusty School Bus
Ski Tram
Provinces: Alberta, British Columbia
Idle time: 2 hours
Altitude: 9,000 feet above sea level
Highest Wifi HotSpot: 9,000 feet above sea level
Memories:
Grace: Beavertail
Danny: Smoothies, Ski life and Wifi Hotspot
Therese: The excellent Ramen
I tried out my griddle again in the morning making pancakes. The results were mixed. I need to practice with the temperature regulation a little more, or maybe it’s time to look into a new camp stove. We started late so we got a late start getting the bus to Banff. Although in this case, it wasn’t late enough. The half-hour bus schedule didn’t start for another half hour so we waited at our camp bus stop for 30 minutes for the bus to arrive. This was foreshadowing for what was to come.
We got into Banff and checks in at the visitor center about the trip to the Sunshine Meadow mountain wildflower fields. We got minimal information and it felt a bit like a lot of waiting in line for not much new info.
Next it was time to find lunch. We decided that since we started so late, we would get lunch in town and have a cooler lunch for dinner that night. We stumbled on a Ramen place that turned out to be out of this world! We took our noodles to go and ate in a park on the Bow River with hazy mountains in the distance.
We learned there was a free shuttle to the parking lot of the Mountain Meadow tourbus so we decided to leave the driving to someone else and catch the shuttle. That left us with just enough time to taste the local delicacy: Beaver Tails. Beaver tails are basically a flat pastry baked fresh and topped with any number of decadent options. One was plenty for the four of us. We decided Smoothies would take the place of Ice Cream today to alleviate the possibility of a massive sweetness overdose.
We caught the free shuttle to the Sunshine Meadow Village Parking lot which was basically a restaurant, gift shop and a lot of room for very long lines during the ski season. From there we rode the bus up to the tram. We learned that in the winter, the only way up to the tram spot which is also located at a mountain hotel, is by Gondola. If it can’t go in the gondola, it doesn’t go up. The gondolas only run on the weekends in the summer so that left us with the dusty school bus. After a moment of panic at the tram stop where Gordon thought he lost the lift tickets, he found them in his back pocket. We took a very quiet, serene, scenic, slightly scary ride up to the mountain top. It was super windy up there which makes sense as it was the highest peak in sight. Much to our surprise, we realized we were actually in British Columbia and on the other side of the continental divide. All water from this spot flowed to the Pacific Ocean. We climbed the viewing tower to look down on the beautiful valley and meadow below. In the summer, this place is supposed to be a sea of colorful wildflowers. Fall brings a more muted tableau but still beautiful. We got a kick out of the “Wifi Hot Spot” sign at the top of the mountain. Because of our low batteries, we couldn’t make much use of this big altitude opportunity.
We began a hike down the mountainside with a divided opinion on how much hiking we should do. The kids dug their feet in and declared they wanted to catch the 4:30 shuttle back to Banff. The next shuttle would be 5:45 and they didn’t want to wait that long. Unfortunately, all the decision making time and an oversight over which bus left at 4:30 meant we arrived at the lodge just shortly after the dusty school bus left to take visitors to the 4:30 shuttle. So we were stuck. We took the 5:00 bus down to the now empty “village” and sat in the empty lobby trying to entertain ourselves with nothing to read and no electronics since our batteries were very low. Finally the bus came and took us to the bus back to camp.
This time it was me who wanted to squeeze in one more activity on our last day. So after a quick cooler dinner, we got in the car for a drive to Lake Minnewaska. Our virtual tour guide took us on a route that went past a few other points of interest and another beautiful lake - the only beach in Banff. I grabbed some sand just in case it was glacial sand. We were also able to observe a couple loons calling out on the lake. Lake Minnewaska is the most popular lake in the city of Banff. But when we arrived there was almost no one there. We spent a quiet half hour watching the hazy silhouette of the mountains in the west turn pink. The kids explored the rocky lakefront and we watched cut birds hopping around. It was a very peaceful way to end the day.
We were all tired so we went to bed shortly after we got back and slept peacefully until some roadie people arrived in the campground around 12:30 am - - well after the 11:00 quiet time.
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