Only two more days to do everything I want to do in this amazing place.
I better get started!
In 1883, three young prospectors noticed steam rising over one of the mountains and investigated. Climbing down into a hole on a tree trunk ladder, they found a cave filled with stalactites and warm water bubbling upward with a sulfuric smell. They thought they had found “liquid gold.”
The men promoted their discovery building a rough lean-to shack for guests.
Warm springs had been acknowledged for centuries in Europe to cure physical and emotional ailments. The smell was due to hydrogen sulfide, H2S, a gas released from organisms living in the springs.
Unable to legally claim their discovery since it didn’t fall into mining or agricultural categories, the government decided to make this hot spring available to all Canadians. In 1886, the basin was enlarged and a bathhouse was built with stone from Mt. Rundle nearby.
Guests were encouraged to swim and drink the mineral rich water for relief from a wide variety of ailments including rheumatism, digestive problems, stress, and gunshot wounds!
In 1887, the Cave and Basin was the foundation for Canada’s first national park, Rocky Mountain Park whose name was later changed to Banff NP. Today, this park is the most visited one in Canada with over four million visitors a year.
Although the bathing pools have been filled in, the outline remains along with the original stonework and views guests would have enjoyed.
On a tour, I learned some interesting information. Natives used buffalo horns to carry hot embers to different camp sites when they moved.
The natives used parts of the wild rose to extract Vitamin C and the bark to smoke for religious ceremonies. It is now Alberta Province‘s native flower.
Beauty surrounds you here, and it’s hard to stop taking pictures. Glad this isn’t film that has to be developed!
An ideal way to experience the area is to ride the Banff gondola to the top of Sulfur Mountain at over 8,000 ft. I start up and all I can say is, “Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!” It is so beautiful I cry to have the opportunity to see this.
It is just breathtaking!
At the top are platforms to view the scenery that surrounds you. How do you pick the best picture to do justice to this place?
The weather is constantly changing here. I’ve observed rain, snow, and clouds on the mountain tops. I can imagine living in the mountains and seeing what mood the peaks are in throughout the day!
On the ride down the mountain, I see the other side.
The Hot Springs Hotel is an iconic structure built in 1888 as one of the Canadian Pacific Railroad grand hotels along with the one at Lake Louise. They used the same stone from Mt. Rundle as the bathhouse building.
Bow River Falls has a nice walkway and boating activities from canoes to rafting to paddle boards.
However, I am on the search for animals.
A golf course nearby looks like the perfect place for wildlife, but I only find the remnants where deer, elk, and bear have scratched antlers and claws on trees.
I find two female elk in town on a side street quietly grazing. They have probably calved and temporarily separated from the herd until the fall.
I wish the three young people giggling and talking while taking pictures would be as quiet. I finally shush them!
This male deer was practicing his contortions by the river. Wonder if he got that itch scratched!
I drive to the ski resort which is a mountain bike trail in the warmer months. Pretty views but no wildlife.
It’s dusk so I head to the Bow Valley Parkway, Highway 1A, and drive quietly and slowly.
No moose at Moose Meadows. Who would want to stay at Mosquito Campground?
I’m finally rewarded with a black bear on a hillside in the distance before he disappears. Suddenly, a huge black bear is by the roadside totally ignoring me before he shuffles off into the bush. I think tonight’s wildlife hunt has been successfully!
Bow Valley Parkway is closed 8 PM to 8 AM until later in the month. I’ve seen the gates, and it is almost 8. Wonder if I will be trapped here for the night? Me and wildlife! Yu-Hu!
Driving towards the gate, I see it is open until it slowlyyyy closes right in front of me. I’m trapped by a long red and white striped wooden bar!
Where were those bears?
Wondering what to do, I finally see a sign...pull up and gate will open. Guess I won’t be spending the night in my car.
Mt. Rundle looks exceptionally interesting tonight as the fading light reflects off its slopes and the spines that create the continental divide.
As I park at the hotel, black and beige bunnies jump from the bushes. More wildlife!
I am still wearing sunglasses when I go out for dinner after 9 PM. I should probably be going to bed, but it has been such a fabulous day of seeing God’s creation. The weathermen keep saying 60% chance of rain, but they must not have consulted the man upstairs. He has decided for it to be gorgeous with incredible blue skies!
Thank you, Lord!
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