We took a yellow taxi up to the Banff sightseeing gondola on Sulphur Mountain. There were quite a few clouds but we still had some good views of our hotel and the golf course. We followed the long wooden walkway all the way to the Cosmic Ray station and saw the site of an early weather station built in 1903. There were many very tame striped ground squirrels and we guess some naughty people must have been feeding them. We looked out over the mountains and endless ridges as far as the eye could see. This is Banff National Park, the first National Park in Canada.

At bottom once again we met up with Max for our afternoon tour of Banff. First stop was at the Banff hot springs where we saw the original hot spring and felt the lovely warm water. We also saw the swimming pool where several people were enjoying the waters, although there is some dispute as to whether or not the water actually comes from the hot spring or not these days.

We continued our tour around Banff and stopped at Canada House, office of the Banff Park superintendent, to admire the beautiful gardens which are protected from marauding deer by fences and grills. At the Cave and Basin we discovered that this is where the original hot springs were found and we learned about the rare Banff Springs snail which is only found in these sulphur springs and nowhere else. We paused to admire the Banff Centre which is a source of great pride to the locals. It is a large and growing cultural centre for art, artists, musicians and mountain enthusiasts which hosts many festivals attended by people from all over the world. We saw a curious deer wandering between the cabins, which only goes to show just how wide is its cultural appeal!

At Surprise point we had a wonderful view across to our hotel and we also saw a collection of Douglas Firs. At Tunnel Mountain there were many small hotels with great views and we passed one of the biggest campsites in North America with over 1000 camping spots. We stopped at Rundle Park and gazed across the Bow Valley to the magnificent Rundle Peak. Of great interest here were the Hoodoos, strange shaped pillars of rock which have been eroded over the millennia into their current forms because of the caps of much harder rock on the top which have protected the rock beneath. We took a stroll along the path but were very mindful of the many warnings about bears in the area and didn't want to stray too far.

After coffee at the White Bark café in Banff we drove on to the Minnewanka Loop road. We saw a ranger at the side of the road and thought it might be a bear. No, it was someone dressed up as a bear. Yes, really! Standing at the side of the road and posing for photos, now that beats it all! At Two Jack Lake we stood down by the water and looked over at Mount Rundle once again. It’s really peaceful in the sunshine although the water feels quite cold. We see a Columbian ground squirrel dashing about here and there, in fact there are two of them putting on a show!

At Minnewanka Lake and dam we take a stroll down to the jetty to watch the small boats. This large lake used to be several smaller lakes but became one when they built a dam during World War 2 to provide electricity to Calgary. A small town which was there became flooded in the process and the buildings which are underwater are now of interest to scuba divers. In the toilet block we spotted a cheeky robin (not our British kind) who had built a nest tucked up under the roof support pole. He was sitting up there happy as Larry, pooing on the unsuspecting below. Lucky I noticed him!

Our last stop was at the ghost town of Banks Head which used to be a thriving railway town but faded away when the coal became too expensive to mine and also the National Parks did not want such industry within their borders. Looking at the photos was a poignant reminder that you may have a happy life but you never know what’s round the corner.

We stopped in Banff and set off to find some dinner. We ended up at the Rose and Crown, the oldest pub in Banff, and enjoyed some good old pub food and a bottle of wine before getting a taxi back to the hotel.