26th September 2016

Given the altitude, it was hardly surprising that the night turned out to be rather chilly. Jamie didn’t sleep well, though he kept this to himself until around 6 am when he turned on the furnace to heat the RV and relocated his sleeping bag to the floor next to the heating vent.

I was first woken at 4:45 am by the distant sound of a train blaring its warning siren, likely signalling its entry into a tunnel (wherever that might be). Sound certainly travels far in the mountains! I reluctantly got used to the Canadian railways’ timetable in this region: 5:45, 6:45, 7:45, and so on.

After getting dressed, I made us both some warming coffees. While Jamie took a shower in the RV, I walked over to the toilet block. At that hour, the earlier queue of bears desperate for a pee had vanished, and I had the place all to myself.

Returning to the RV, we had a breakfast of cereal with cinnamon. It was ok, nothing special.

We could have caught the local bus into town from the campsite. It’s free on the way to Banff, but costs just $2 for the return journey, quite a bargain! Instead, we drove and parked in the same spot as the previous night. The town had a quieter, more relaxed vibe, still bustling but in a laid-back way. Since it was the end of the season, many shops had sale signs in their windows. We took advantage of this and bought a pair of gloves each, and I couldn’t resist a rather nice jacket with a hood.

From the town bridge, we set off along the trail to the ‘Caves and Bowl’. The track followed the banks of the River Bow, and like in the park in Calgary, we spotted many black squirrels, the local cousins of those in the city, leaping from tree to tree, completely undeterred by our presence.

When we arrived at our destination, we paid the entrance fee of $3.95 and entered. The museum/heritage centre celebrates the area’s first white settlers in Banff as well as the indigenous Stoney Tribe. The cave/grotto was used by the native people as a place of worship, and they accessed it through a very small opening in the roof via a rawhide ladder. This was later discovered by trappers, who built a shack above it, recognising its future potential. The cave has a hot spring flowing from a hole in the wall, forming a small pond. Many years later, below the cave, which had been opened up with an access tunnel, a thermal swimming pool was constructed as a tourist attraction. This has since been removed, and a museum now stands in its place.

After enjoying the cave and museum, we climbed partway up the mountain along wooden walkways and platforms, stopping to visit a series of thermal pools along the way.

 

We queued again to return to ground level, and once more nearly had a gondola to ourselves, but were hurriedly joined by an American couple. In her rush to board, the wife sat on me by mistake, then proceeded to apologise profusely.

Our next stop was the thermal swimming pool halfway up the mountain. With trunks and towels in hand, we made our way to the entrance, eager to experience the 40-degree sulphurous water. However, upon seeing the pool from above, we were put off. It looked rather disappointing, packed with bodies lounging in the water and resembling a tired small-town lido, all tiles and no character. We decided to give it a miss.

Instead, we enjoyed lunch at the ‘English Pub’, where we had chicken wings and fries, before driving to Vermillion Lakes on the other side of Banff. There, we stopped at one of the viewpoints and took more photos. It was very peaceful.

On our way back to Banff, we found ourselves caught in a traffic jam. As we slowly neared the cause, we discovered it was an elk calmly munching grass at the side of the road. Everyone else had left their cars to capture photos of the animal, so we joined in as well. You could easily spot the locals, as they stayed in their cars, hooting to try and frighten the elk away. They were in the minority, though, and the elk seemed to enjoy being the centre of attention, refusing to budge. A star in the making, perhaps a relative of Elkie Brooks?

Parking again in town, we visited the supermarket and bought sausages and mushrooms. We still can’t figure out how they price their food items here; there are always two prices displayed, and neither seems to apply. It’s always more expensive than both, and no, you don’t add the two together; it’s even dearer than that. Perhaps the lesson is to always eat out, so you know exactly what you’re paying.

We then came across a ‘Dollar Store’, where Jamie bought a hot-water bottle ($4) to ensure his comfort during the night. It’s a shame they aren’t edible!

We stopped by the local cinema to see what films were showing and were pleased to discover that the 10 pm showing of ‘The Magnificent Seven’ was going to be half price. We weren’t interested in the other offerings, ‘Dory, Such’, or ‘Bridget Jones’.

After ‘hooking up’ back at the campsite, Jamie made a very tasty dish with the ingredients we’d purchased earlier. With our stomachs full, we sat listening to the radio until it was time to drive back into town.

At around 9.30 pm, we made our way into town and joined just three other people in Banff who were keen to watch a western at such a late hour. The cinema had a bar at the back of the auditorium, so we bought a couple of peach ciders and settled into our seats. The film wasn’t bad, with plenty of grit, like the original; it required a bit of imagination as to what was possible. I suppose it makes up for the endless news of murders and shootings by their neighbours to the south, which seemed to play on the TV every time we switched it on in Calgary!

After driving back to the RV site, Jamie realised he’d left his coat in the cinema. We would have to sort that out in the morning, as it was already past 1 am and too late to return and see if the cinema was still open. Jamie filled his bottle, and we snuggled into our sleeping bags, easing into sleep to the distant wail of ghost trains.