Day 11 - May 24th
Today we were going to do our second leg of travelling to Banff. Slept in again and hence missed breaky. To make matters worse the water in the showers was really crappy. So we packed the van and headed off into the distance, until 5 minutes later we realised we were going in the wrong direction. We chucked a u-turn and drove half an hour to our old favourite, Starbucks. I finally got my breakfast a healthy start to the day, 2 brownies and a coffee even though it was a bit rushed. As usual the drive was mixed up with some wonderful scenery thrown in. We saw a bear really close to the road, but as we were doing mach 4 on the wrong side of the road overtaking, it was a little difficult to stop. So that makes it Bears 4 - Camera 0. As we drove through the little town of Golden, Jutta was pulled over by an inspector. Half an hour and a nice lecture later we were back on the road.
We arrived at Banff at 4:45. So we got to look around for and hour and a half. It was heaps bigger and more commercial that I though it would be. Then off to the campground we went. As we went up the hill we saw a nice big elk. Ohh quick get a photo, as you do and we did. We got back in the van and went around the corner and saw another Elk, and another and another. There were heaps of them. The campground was situated up on tunnel mountain, giving a great view of the valley and the surrounding mountains. It was very woody and reports of wildlife were plentiful.
Bear awareness was always very high and signs were everywhere. We had big bear boxes where we had to put anything that smelled into before bed, you name it food, deodorant, toothpaste. After dinner the plan was to have a couple of drinks before bed to keep us warm, as it was a bit colder up at the campground when compared to the town. In the end two bottles of J.D went missing as did my memory from certain parts of the night. Apparently it took me an hour to put the toothpaste in the bear box. Oops : )
Back to Canadian Parks West Page or on to Day 12.